How Do You Heat Your Workshop

[Scharms]

My machine shop is in a 15' x 20' partition of a 20' x 40' building. Insulated ceiling in the shop, insulated walls throughout. I run a ceramic heater for 3-4 hours a night in the winter months just to keep the old South Bends from freezing (we have -20 + temperatures for weeks to months at a time)! I also have a wonderwood wood-stove in the NW corner of the shop. I keep another small ceramic heater near the tractor to aid in starting (diesel) for snow removal time...

 

[longshot47]

I'm using a 100K BTU propane furnace in a 25x32' section of the barn with 6" insulation in the 10' ceiling, 6" in the walls and a bank of northside windows. Floor is concrete, uninsulated. I seldom run the furnace until I'm in there, unless I'm doing glue-ups or finishing.
Ambient temp comes up to 60 degrees in minutes. It's a powerful and convenient system.
Used kerosene heaters for 4 or 5 years, but I found them to be an inadequate PIA......and my eye color was starting change! :hmm:

 

[Roy]

Wood stove here...

me too

 

[GANGGREEN]

My shop is in the upstairs of my 28 X 48' barn, uninsulated and so far unheated. I do have a ventless gas heater that I intend to eventually hook up downstairs, another for upstairs and a ventless fireplace for upstairs as well. I suspect I can probably keep it comfortable enough if I keep the heater and fireplace close to my work area.

 

[brownie1934]

My shop is detached and is 8 + 11 so CEAMIC HEATER WARMS IT UP IN 30 MIN.to 65+.
Here 25 is pretty cold on Vancouver Island.
Sm\ll

shop EH!!

 

[Otony]

I am following this thread pretty closely. We recently bought a new property and now have a 34x40 shop :grin: along with a seperate 5-car detached garage (and yes, these features were a large reason as to why we bought the place)! :wink:

The shop used to have an old oil burning Lenox furnace with an in-ground oil tank, but my insurance company had me pull the tank and the furnace was pretty old, so now I am in the process of looking for an alternative system.

We intend to split the shop into equal sized rooms, one side as a boy's Club for Men (read Tony's workshop and cigar parlor) and the other side as a sewing studio for my wife, thus two rooms 34x20. So I need an effective heating system. Originally thought about a small gas stove for the wife and a pellet stove for my side, but am now considering gas heat for both sides. Any thoughts on the matter?

 

[sc45-70]

My shop is 18x24 inside a 54x30 insulated shed.

Shop has 6 inch insulated walls and 12 inch insulated cealing. Planed ahead when I built it and put 2 inches of foam under the concrete floor and put in floor hot wated heat in the concrete.

I heat it with a 40 gallon electric hot water heater and it costs less than $1.00 aday to heat.

SC45-70

 

[Capt. Jas.]

Not in the frozen north but I basically freeze :grin:
I have a 24x32 concrete floored shop that is actually one of the uninsulated metal carport varieties that is fully enclosed and has doors and windows.
Right now I use a small electric heater or two near me and if really cold, I use a kero/electric forced air blower type thingy that is really loud. I also dress in layers.

I have a large wood burning furnace with thermostat in the basement that we do not use any longer. I want to install that but I need to build a detatched type of chimney system first.

 

[Davemuzz]

These Hang 'em from the ceiling are the greatest thing since sliced bread!!!

 

[Robby]

My shop in in the basement for now, which I don't heat, but my mistakes keep me warm, or make me hot, or fuel my fire, er something.
Robby

 

[Mike Brooks]

I am following this thread pretty closely. We recently bought a new property and now have a 34x40 shop :grin: along with a seperate 5-car detached garage (and yes, these features were a large reason as to why we bought the place)! :wink:

The shop used to have an old oil burning Lenox furnace with an in-ground oil tank, but my insurance company had me pull the tank and the furnace was pretty old, so now I am in the process of looking for an alternative system.

We intend to split the shop into equal sized rooms, one side as a boy's Club for Men (read Tony's workshop and cigar parlor) and the other side as a sewing studio for my wife, thus two rooms 34x20. So I need an effective heating system. Originally thought about a small gas stove for the wife and a pellet stove for my side, but am now considering gas heat for both sides. Any thoughts on the matter?

In your case I'd install a regular high efficiency home furnace.

 

[paulvallandigham]

N4ext year, spend some time and money adding more insulation to the shop walls, ceiling, and FLOOR. People tend to forget that the floor needs to be insulated. Of course, if the floor is a concrete slab, its too late to do anything, other than put in a wooden flooring on top of it, and perhaps hot water heating coils under the wood flooring. That might required you to raise the ceiling if you are tall like me. Even putting cheap Styrofoam insulation between the flooring frames will give you more insulation against the cold ground than doing nothing.

Cold floors sap a lot of heat out of garages and small shops. When I was 15, I had a job working part-time in a wood shop belonging to a neighbor, who converted part of his garage to that purpose. No insulation in the wall, nor ceiling, and concrete for the floor.

He was so cheap, he turned the heat off at night, making it below freezing in the place when we arrived in the morning. That electric space heater ran all day long, and at the end of the day, it might be 45 degrees in that garage. Its hard to get much work done when you hands are so cold. Of course, he didn't want to pay to heat the building day and night, which I can understand. But, it was ridiculous for us to try to work in that garage when our breath was forming clouds of steam( below zero air temperatures) that reduced visibility in the place. We worried about water condensing on the few light bulbs, fearing we might short them out.

Learn from the mistakes of others. Its easier on the toes and fingers. :grin: :v :haha: :hatsoff:

 

[stoneview]

G'day, Building a shed at present. planning on using a sump oil heater. growing up a neighbour had a 20' x 40' shed that he heated with a sump oil burner. you can retro fit a slow combustion wood heater by running a copper pipe through a hole in the side of it, dripping into a ceramic ash tray. light some kindling in there and turn the tap on. the oil is in a 20 litre drum on a stand and the outlet has a quater turn tap. the copper pipe goes down through a bucket ot water and up into the burner. so you set the tap to just drip and there you are no more splitting wood. it used to heat that shed fine. you can also make them more efficient by dripping water in as well. it boils and atomises the oil for a betterr burn. there is some smoke but when it heats up the oil burns fully and there is no black smoke. and sump oil is free!

 

[Birddog6]

In your case, I would use forced air Gas or Propane furnace, whichever serves you the best there. And back it up with a Ceramic gas heater...... those lil buggers will really heat a place & if the power goes out, you still go heat.

I have a ranch house & have a fireplace in the basement with ceramic logs.... power goes out it will maintain the upstairs to 60-65 deg when it is 10 deg outside.... Best upgrade I ever did to the house. If I didn't have the fireplace I would have the ceramic heater on the wall, with thermostat & auto ignition.
2nd worthwhile upgrade was add in 12" of additional insulation in the attic. that cut my heat bill ALLOT. People don't realize the heat going thru the ceiling.....

Keith Lisle

 

[zimmerstutzen]

My work shop is in the unheated barn, cold as can be, but that is where the tools and benches are. With the hay and straw piled up against the west and north walls, the sun heats it up during the day some times to the 60's even when freezing out side. When it is just plain too cold for fine dexterity work, I move the project and necessary tools to the old dirt floor part of the basement.

I installed an old cast iron radiator connected to the upstairs hot water heat and the basement stays above 60 degrees unless the outside gets below 10 degrees, which happens only 7 to 10 days a year here. Mrs. puts up with a lot, but won't stand for any fumes or odors coming up through the floors. So no painting, finishing etc.