Shop heat

[PlymCrazy]

So it's sort of a forced-air house type, except with a hot water "coil"?
This intrigues me. I need to do some research, thanks!

The setup sounds similar to hot water baseboard heaters we have around these parts up north. The heat is provided by a "boiler" in lieu of the hot water tank described above. Each "zone" is controlled by it's own thermostat which signals to circulate the hot water to each zone when called for. Main difference here is there is a fan that blows the heat being radiated, baseboard heaters typically don't have the fan.

 

[moparwacko]

A buddy of mine has a closed loop system for radiant floor system in his shop. The heat source is an electric water heater- 40 gal?
I'm no plumber, but know it does have a circulator pump and expansion tank. I've thought about doing something similar in my shop with heat exchanger units since my floor is done.
I also know he uses some kind of antifreeze in it.
I currently heat my shop with 2 5000 watt electric hanging units with fans. It gets expensive though with continuous use. I also re-purposed 2 ceiling fans from remodel projects, they work great.
Edit- shop is 30 x 32 with 10ft ceilings, fully insulated.

 

[sam dupont]

I almost bought a very nice '67 Camaro to make into an autocross car. The drivetrain parts were all good and the shell had been stripped of every bit of glass and plastic to lighten it.

The glass, tires, and plastic had been stripped by a shop fire that almost took out the shop that was made of a converted house. They were draining the gas when fumes traveled from one room, through the doorway into another, and around a corner to find the house's original natural gas furnace on the floor. The pilot light lit the fumes.

With an ignited pan of gas under the Camaro, all they could do is run and call the fire department. This was in the days before cell phones and the Camaro burned long and hard. Every panel was warped, but it was pre-stripped and I figured with white paint, it would look good enough for a race car.

 

[Triplegreen500]

I heated my old house with a pellet stove. Takes the electricity of a 60w light bulb, to run the feed augers and the 2 blowers (one for combustion air, one for heat into the room). To heat my HOUSE, I would go through about 2T of pellets a season (50-40# bags). I'd get them by the ton (on a pallet, it would squat my Ram 2500 about 1.5") at the local Southern States for a good price. Make sure to get LOW ASH pellets.

Trust me.

Loved it.

Outside air intake for combustion (2.5" PVC pipe through a hole in the wall, wrapped with insulation); 4" double-wall, 0"-clearance-to-drywall chimney. Mine had the ability to hook to a normal thermostat, which I had upstairs (split foyer house, stove was in the finished basement), and it worked like a champ. Keep the hopper full and you have heat. Twice a month I'd let it burn out so I could de-ash the burn pit (shop vac if COLD, or just a garden trowel if still warm and I needed to fire it back up fast). They have them now that are dual-fuel and will also burn corn. Not sure about efficiency on those...but it could be an option depending on your region and market availability.

Over the years (I used it for nearly 20 years) I started keeping a spare blower motor on a shelf, just in case, and if I used it I'd order another immediately. Ditto the auger motor (which I'm not sure if I ever replaced, just kept one on hand "in case"). Other than occasional motor replacements (like, maybe once every 3 years or so - remember, this was my sole heat source in the HOUSE), it was a great system. Had a cleanout on the chimney outside, and a brush-on-a-stick, to de-ash every month or so....and that was it.

On "low" heat...it would burn for 3 days on a single 40# bag, and keep the house above 50 degrees.

Great system if you have a dry place to keep a ton of pellets. If they get wet, you now have a solid 40# brick of sawdust and glue - just like a wet bag of sakrete. Keep them dry! I had a covered patio just ouside the basement entrance - 15' from a parking (unload) space, and 20' from the stove inside.

 

[Hey-O]

I've had three of these and love them. Natural gas or propane. They come bigger. They will run you out of a 600 square foot room and I never noticed a big increase in my gas bill. Read the features. I heated my home for 10 YEARS with wood and oil when I first got married, screw that. I'm so done with wood chopping, smoke, keeping it going and monitoring it 24/7. The initial investment to set up and buy a wood burner is stupid. I've had 8 homes and 8 freestanding units and four fireplaces and you couldn't give me any of it again. I'm speaking for myself and the heat from all of them are great, I'm just personally done.

https://www.menards.com/main/heatin...99-c-6861.htm?tid=8818704438206226297&ipos=19 I have one brand new still in the box for natural gas that I didn't use and never took back to the store. I'm a just in case kind of guy.

https://www.menards.com/main/heatin...10-c-6861.htm?tid=5683261622634198011&ipos=18

 

[1STMP]

So it's sort of a forced-air house type, except with a hot water "coil"?
This intrigues me. I need to do some research, thanks!

I was curious as to why he used a
water/ethylene glycol mix and he
said it was to reduce water
stagnation, not so much to control
fluid temps since this was a closed
system.

 

[Triplegreen500]

I know systems in my area (Maryland) that use any sort of hot water circulation, tend to have at least SOME (if not 50/50) antifreeze, just to avoid ruptured plumbing in case of system fail/freeze.

 

[Black_Sheep]

I keep the garage at 45, when I want to work out there I crank it up and it’s 70 in about 15 minutes. No muss, no fuss…

 

[hunt2elk]

I've had three of these and love them. Natural gas or propane. They come bigger. They will run you out of a 600 square foot room and I never noticed a big increase in my gas bill. Read the features. I heated my home for 10 YEARS with wood and oil when I first got married, screw that. I'm so done with wood chopping, smoke, keeping it going and monitoring it 24/7. The initial investment to set up and buy a wood burner is stupid. I've had 8 homes and 8 freestanding units and four fireplaces and you couldn't give me any of it again. I'm speaking for myself and the heat from all of them are great, I'm just personally done.

https://www.menards.com/main/heatin...99-c-6861.htm?tid=8818704438206226297&ipos=19 I have one brand new still in the box for natural gas that I didn't use and never took back to the store. I'm a just in case kind of guy.

https://www.menards.com/main/heatin...10-c-6861.htm?tid=5683261622634198011&ipos=18

I am not a big fan of those style heaters because of a couple things. All exhaust/carbon monoxide is added into the building. As well as causing high humidity/moisture issues. They also deplete breathable oxygen while running. They work ok in an old leaky building though. This is all just my opinion of course.

 

[moparedtn]

I don't have the option of gas here (it never got run to the house when I but it up here in '99 -
the local vendor wanted a kings' ransom to do so. Told 'em to stuff it).
Of course, a tank of something could be placed here now (they're sort of part of the landscape
of rural America, you know) but then you're at the whim of the uncertainty of market prices at fill up time.

On the other hand, it's been a goal of mine to get a whole-house backup generator for some years now,
which would necessarily require one or the other type fuel - and if I do that, there's the fuel for a garage
heater by default, too.

What's the pricing like on a tank of gas, i.e. LP or propane or such anyways?

 

[hunt2elk]

What's the pricing like on a tank of gas, i.e. LP or propane or such anyways?

It is a terrible time to buy LP gas and tanks right now Ed. Gas is around $2.00/gallon. Not all that long ago, tanks could be bought for around $1 gallon. Now, however, if you can find one, a 500 gallon tank is going for over $2K. Crazy....

 

[moparedtn]

It is a terrible time to buy LP gas and tanks right now Ed. Gas is around $2.00/gallon. Not all that long ago, tanks could be bought for around $1 gallon. Now, however, if you can find one, a 500 gallon tank is going for over $2K. Crazy....

Good Lord....so much for that idea.

 

[Hey-O]

I am not a big fan of those style heaters because of a couple things. All exhaust/carbon monoxide is added into the building. As well as causing high humidity/moisture issues. They also deplete breathable oxygen while running. They work ok in an old leaky building though. This is all just my opinion of course.

I've been using them for about 35 years and have never had a problem. If you read the instructions you'll see the they come with a vent. Actually they produce a very dry heat and don't heat the room, they heat the objects in the room making it nice if you go in and out of the room a lot, you really don't lose heat like you do when you heat the air in a room. With a forced air heater the room air is heated first and when you open a door, you start the heating process all over again to heat the air that was lost. My house is air tight and all of them were and are brand new. You're right it's just an opinion.........

 

[PlymCrazy]

I've had one like this in my 2-car garage since 2007. 26,000 BTU, propane, ventless. High humidity and at best takes the chill off of a 0-20 degree day. I use it when I want to take the chill off of a 30-40 degree day in the garage when working out there.

I have a 150,000 BTU, kerosene-fired salamander heater(similar to below) in the garage I've used for many years as well. It makes all things metal sweat in a hurry. But will get that garage from 20 degrees to about 90 degrees in roughly 15 minutes. I'll open an overhead door a foot or so and also open a window to vent the fumes. I've used this less and less over the last few years as I'm trying to graduate out of my "young and dumb" phase in life.

When I was just out of high school I worked in a garage that had heaters like @Hey-O posted. They did a far better job at "heating objects" as opposed to raising the room temperature significantly. So the people in the area and also the vehicles would be warmed. Never noticed an issue with high humidity or moisture with these, as they were vented.

The shop we built a couple years ago is where I keep the cars I care to preserve, not the garage. I don't have heat of any type in there yet. And I won't until I can properly do so without subjecting the environment to high humidity. Still have some wiring to finish in there, then we can insulate and install permanent heat out there. Slow go, but we're getting there.

 

[Hey-O]

The shop we built a couple years ago is where I keep the cars I care to preserve, not the garage. I don't have heat of any type in there yet. And I won't until I can properly do so without subjecting the environment to high humidity. Still have some wiring to finish in there, then we can insulate and install permanent heat out there. Slow go, but we're getting there.

Infrared for Garages & Classic Cars - Blog | Heatingpoint

 

[bm02tj]

I've been using them for about 35 years and have never had a problem. If you read the instructions you'll see the they come with a vent. Actually they produce a very dry heat and don't heat the room, they heat the objects in the room making it nice if you go in and out of the room a lot, you really don't lose heat like you do when you heat the air in a room. With a forced air heater the room air is heated first and when you open a door, you start the heating process all over again to heat the air that was lost. My house is air tight and all of them were and are brand new. You're right it's just an opinion.........

The high intensity infrared is not vented and needs ventilation added to space
Low intensity tube heaters are vented outdoors

 

[Hey-O]

The high intensity infrared is not vented and needs ventilation added to space
Low intensity tube heaters are vented outdoors

They come with a vent, yes, you're right.

 

[hunt2elk]

I've been using them for about 35 years and have never had a problem. If you read the instructions you'll see the they come with a vent. Actually they produce a very dry heat and don't heat the room, they heat the objects in the room making it nice if you go in and out of the room a lot, you really don't lose heat like you do when you heat the air in a room. With a forced air heater the room air is heated first and when you open a door, you start the heating process all over again to heat the air that was lost. My house is air tight and all of them were and are brand new. You're right it's just an opinion.........

Not trying to argue, but both links you posted above clearly state the heaters are non vented. That was what my reply was based off.

 

[Hey-O]

The high intensity infrared is not vented and needs ventilation added to space
Low intensity tube heaters are vented outdoors

They come with a vent, yes, you're right.

Not trying to argue, but both links you posted above clearly state the heaters are non vented. That was what my reply was based off.

Not a problem, on the top link, after opening it, go down to features and you'll see it comes with a vent.

 

[68 HEMI GTS]

I run a normal forced air house furnace in mine. Works well. Had the same set up at my old place. Put its own LP tank outside.