i'm insulated to the hilt walls and blown in in the attac my garage is brand new thay make a garage heater for the outside burner its 7k to do the house and garage with enough to do it right in the real shop that im building in 2 years well alot to think about it will just stay unused this year

 

A torpedo heater/construction heater will do the trick in the meantime I think.

 

New construction, put in floor hot water. It is recirculated and cheap. Heat a 30x40 for under a $100 a month.

 

Yes, but, you must be careful of Carbon Monoxide fumes that can be lethal.

 

Ax - man, I hate to seem "argumentative" as you are almost always spot-on, but I have to disagree with you here. We have tube-type overhead radiant heat in both the shop, and closed dock at work. True, it heats the objects, but it doesn't stop there. The objects in turn heat the air and the air CAN be circulated. Also, the other side does get warm, because of the air. It's a very nice, even heat throughout both buildings. And the biggest advantage over forced-air heaters, is when you open a door. The dock has trucks coming all night, with the doors open and closed constantly. A forced-air heater has to re-heat all the air, which takes some time, and on a dock or shop, where the doors are opened frequently, they have difficulty ever staying at a constant temp. Not so with the radiant - as soon as the door is closed, it's warm. The other big advantage is that is heats the floor as well, it's nice when you have to lay on the floor to get under a truck!

I have since put radiant tube heat in my 28 X 40 shop, but I have to modify the trusses to lift it up a little, about 3 feet. You have to be careful to have enough clearance underneat, and it wasn't a problem with just me, until I brought the truck in, then it's a bit too close. Not going to do that until next summer. It's a 20 footer, 100K btu, found it for $250, like new. It is also claimed that it's one of the most efficient to use, cost-wise, with a lot of bang for the buck. And you can buy all different sizes/configurations for just about any size garage. Mine was $1200 new, so I couldn't pass up the price, that's the only reason mine is so big.

Of course, now I'm heating it with a "salamander" - the construction kerosene fired heater, 115K btu. Costs me about 1 1/2 gallons a day in kerosene, or $6.00. But I'm not in there every day, especially now, since I am working 7 days a week until after Xmas. Hmmmmm....Money for Toys!!!

Just my $.02 worth...

R

 

My shop furnace looks like this!




When I change my oil I just pour it in and fire it up!!

(My neighbors bring me oil too!)

Cheers,


Rick

 

No argument here! You are correct. The radiant heater will eventually heat the air from the objects it heats re-radiating the heat into the air. But as you said, it needs to run nearly constantly to do that. Most of us don't heat our shops constantly or keep it at a reduced temperature most of the time, so radiant isn't as good a choice, especially if you live in a cold climate. To raise the air temp you first have to raise the objects inside's temp which will eventually raise the air temp to a comfortable level. That could take several hours to a day or more to happen. If you say wanted to do some body work on your truck on the side opposite the radiant heater, you may have to run the heater for a long time to get that side warm enough to putty. Not a practical solution if you only get a few hours at a time to work. IMHO radiant is best as either a continuous heating source or in portable configurations as a supplimental source.

 

Just curious - do you have any experience with the radiant tube heat? It can get rather cold here in Indiana - sub-zero a bit of the year, but usually between 0 and 20 degrees during the cold part of winter. It has been my experience, that the tube heat brings the temps up very quickly, not hours or days. You leave it idle about 35 degrees, when you come to do some work, you boost the thermostat, grab a cup of coffee, and in 20 minutes, it's very comfortable, nice even heat, and the floor, walls, and your tools are warm. As opposed to forced air, where the air is warm in 15 minutes, but takes hours for everything else to warm up...the radiant is a much better heater of solid objects than air.

As they say, your mileage may vary, but penny for penny, pound for pound, I'll stick with radiant tube heat. Now, radiant heat in the floor would have been my first choice, but the initial expense was way to high, as well as if you have problems in the concrete, it can be a real pain...

R

 

No personal experience with the tube type, only with the space heater/portable type.
I researched the tube type, only in gas fired not electric, but decided financially it didn't make sense in my climate where I really need more coolig than heating. The space heater type I've used were like sitting in front of a fireplace, warm and toasty on the front, cold on the back. All the research I did said the same. (in fact my research for a baking oven for powder coating said you could use a propane fired radiant heater as a heat source for PCing large pieces out in the open but that you had to use an infrared pyrometer to keep track of the surface temp and rotate the part or the side facing the heater will bake and the other side not.)

 

My shop is gas fired, but we have a "butt-hut" at work, about 12 X 12, open-framed with T-111 siding (no insulation) with a 12" X 15" electric heater, on a manual timer. It's outside in the weather, but if you go in, set the timer (turning it on), in less than 2 minutes, the picnic table is warm to the touch, and within 5 minutes, the whole hut is comfortably warm, at 20 degrees outside. I would think that the heater efficiency would be based on the size of the room to be heated. If you are outside, of course, only the things immediately in the path, would be warmed. But, there are a lot of them sold, for hanging over a work area, from above, that make the entire area warm and toasty.

On the aside, I just found out that the mechanics shop at work, they turn the heater off entirely, and in the morning, even on the coldest days, it's up to temp within 15-20 minutes.

R

 

Yeah, that's why I have to raise mine - it's about 9 feet above the floor, supposed to have a 3-4 foot clearance below it, but the F2 is so tall, I'm worried about roasting the top of the truck. So, I have to raise it. Not looking forward to it, I'm not an engineer, and I have to modify 24 feet of truss, to raise it.

R

 

I've been told to, that if you are building a new shop and planning on using the radiant heaters, use a red concrete hardener and that will also aid in the adsorption of heat into the concrete mass and concrete will radiate heat back out into the workspace.

 

Re the Dayton 240v electric from Air & Water. I like the looks of this for my 2 car garage. But the docs say not to use where gasoline or paint is stored. Does gas in a truck count? Any firefighters out there?

 

i was planning on using the radiant heaters the tube type but the budget made the celings 9 ft so i cant northern has them

 

I do believe there are radiant tube heaters, tube-type, for lower ceilings. They have either a 2 or 3 inch tube. But, clearance might be a problem. I'll try to find them, in my "research", and post them if I do...

BTW, Joel, just sent you a letter today...about time!!



R