I broke down and bought a 35K btu propane heater for the shop. It's one of those Mr Heater torpedo style. I got a surprise from work today "hey, want you to stock X on your truck" My response: " I can't fit X, I don't have the room." Yeah, but you need to." So I had to head home and mod my workvan to fit some extra parts and didn't want to do it in the cold.

I'm not sure if it's truly 35k or not, but this is the one I was looking at for a permanent set up:Mr. Heater Propane Garage Heater — 45,000 BTU, Model# MHU45LP | Propane Heaters | Northern Tool + Equipment

A was going for that one at 45K btu, but don't like the idea of a propane bill or a contract for it. Had a house once I rented and had a propane tank that cost about 800 to fill. I didn't even use it that much!

So, The shop isn't well insulated at all. In fact it has terrible gaps etc and is made of steel. I plan on getting it as well insulated as possible, it is a Quonset hut though. The 35K could only warm the shop from 35 up to 45 degrees. Better, but could still see my breath.

So, I got to thinking (a dangerous thing).. I only want to heat this when I'm in there working and was thinking what a used HVAC system (heat pump) would cost? I mean, don't most HVAC shops recycle them when they replace them? I wonder If I could get one for cheap and play around with it. I have the power at the shop to do it so that's not a worry. I know some people have the used oil heaters, but afraid of trying to secure a supply of the stuff.

 

The only problem with a heat pump is just when you really need it, the efficiency drops way down. They work great till the temps drop below about 30 deg......

I had an old oil furnace that worked great, but the cost of stove oil ( about $25-$30/day was just too much.

I would check the local shops around you first, and see if you can get a supply of waste oil. If you can get some close to where you live, a waste oil burner would be much better!

Another thing that would help is a couple of ceiling fans mounted at the peak of the shop with variable speed control to "push" the hot air from the top of the shop to ground level. I added two to my last shop (20' ceilings...) and it cut my fuel usage by 50%!

 

If you know someone that is into HVAC, check with them. Or stop a HVAC van and ask the driver. But I agree with Don, if you are going to spend a grand or so on a used system, go with what he has, the used oil burner. I just put in heat pump, and I have the old handler, heater, from the house, my wife whats to hook it up in my shop, but to put a heat pump on it, new will cost about $1800. Iwould have to check about a used one. But for now, I will use the ele. air handler alone.

 

HA! You had me excited for minute thinking I was about to score a unit! Yeah. Northern has a 130K? btu one I think for about 1500. Looks nice. Right now oil supply wouldn't be a problem I could get a few gallons here and there from work, but am wanting to future proof the set up. If I change careers I might not be able to get a good source of used oil.

Unless I run across a used unit for nill or very cheap I'll have to save my pennies for a while. Bought a truck not to long ago and the wife's at the U of O for another four semesters. Can't wait for her to graduate!

 

You told me the kind of Waste oil heater you had Fabman, but I forgot....lol

I saw this one Eliminator Shop and Garage Waste Oil Heater, Model# AENH-001 | Waste Oil | Northern Tool + Equipment

Oh so many dreams if I only had the money!

 

http://www.wasteoilheater.net/Wasteoil.pdf

I have the "papa-burn" And it works really great!

 

The one Northern has on sell is similar in price (minus shipping) and btu as yours. If I had the money I'd grab northerns. The one you have is pretty nice. Does it have the drip/pan style burner or the babbit style? The babbit style is similar to a torpedo heater where it acts like a large stove burner and the drip style feeds a pan that holds the burning oil and gravity feeds it with small drips to supply the flame.

 

Mine is completely different than most on the market. The local shop has one of the HF ones, and won't use it anymore. He says it's a real pain in the butt to keep clean.

Mine is made in Walla Walla,Wash so no freight, and it's designed by farmers!


It has a variable speed pump for the oil, and a variable speed blower for cumbustion air, plus a 3 speed blower for the warm air.

I've been around a few waste oil heaters, and I wouldn't trade any of them for the one I bought, and it even works with waste veggie oil.................

 

This looks interesting.Waste Oil Heater Plans | eBay Burchams scrap in Albany would have all the junk I'd need to build this thing. It'd be a long project, but possibly fun. Especially with the possibility of blowing ones self up. Those are the best!

HF? Harbor Freight? They make them? I'd trust one cobbled together by me and the dog over one of those.

I re read through that literature and it looks like yours is a pot style, but burns more efficiently. Wish they had better pics of the burner style. Looks like all these places keep their designs pretty close to their vests. I like that it's made locally. Did you pick yours up? I wish that mama kit was in the 500 range. I'd jump on it fairly quickly.

Saw a complete w/tank old oil furnace on craigs list for 200 bucks. There's articles about converting them over to waste oil, but sounds like almost too much work. With all of the work it needs to convert, you're better off with a kit or DIY.

 

Actually, I got mine for FREE!

One of my best customers ( and friend...) is a local farmer that is also a County Commissioner. He had it installed for the last 5 years at his shop. Last winter I installed an oil furnace in his shop for him. He decided to give me the waste oil heater this fall, so I said YES!

I've got an old oil fired furnace that I was going to use biodiesel in, but with this my cost for oil is 0, and the bio costs me $1/gallon to make..............

 

You might want to look into a couple of other "home built" systems. One is called a "Turk" burner; Turk burner, and the other is a "Babbington burner" http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...CP9PPt3-SH5x7w.

I built a Turk burner for a buddy, and it works great, but is kind of a pain to clean. I'd planed on building a babbington burner for my new shop, but Mike said he'd give me this one so I jumped at it!

I'll take some pics of the one I've got. I think a guy could build one from scratch for maybe 1/3 of the asking price. I know I could!

 

That's a great site!

I'd love to see some pics of the innards of yours. I think I'll make it a summer project and start stock piling some oil for next winter.

 

How big is your shop? Dad has a 42x60' quonset hut with a house built inside. Anywhere he needed to insulate the steel, he got 4x8 sheets of flexible 2" foam panels from Home Depot and just glued them to the walls with construction adhesive. Since it is somewhat flexible, it bent with the curve of the walls. It worked pretty good.

 

I believe it's 20x30. Insulation is non existent and since the slab for it was not either poured level or it settled uneven there's big gaps in the big sliding doors. We had the ends put on recently and the contractors told me about the unevenness. They tried their best, but it is what it is. I plan on throwing up some insulation and plywood on the vertical walls. Not sure about the foam on the arch though. I also have lots of roof leaks to deal with. Couldn't tell they were there until it got sealed from the weather. I'll seal them up this summer.

Got a spare oil heater huh Don?... lol