Heating source in the workshop

[Back2Jake]

Well we've gotten a need to move my car out of the garage this winter and make the garage a space to work on some bigger projects.

Being in Canada, I need to find a reliable heat source for the garage - that is safe since there will be spraying of finishes, and sanding/cutting ....

Installing a woodstove isn't a solution, so I'd like to hear what others have used to heat their workshops?

Take care
Toni

[SharonW0111]

Toni -- have you given any thought to a forced fan electric heater- I have use them with no problem -- and a fireplace beats that but then you have a tendncy to burn scrap you could use later. --- Unlike me once when I decided to clear the shop of bits and pieces of scrap- threw it all in the fireplace and struck a match to it -- but I forgot to open the damper -- in my town when your fire alarm goes off in your house ( then it was air horns) no one heard them and paid no attention to the smoke rolling out of my house --lol
Sharon

[Gill]

I use an oil-filled radiator. It takes a while to warm up the shop, so I usually switch it on about an hour before I go in. If you're going to be working regular hours, you could connect your heater to a timer so that the shop will be cosy for when you're ready to start.

Gill

[William Young (SE BC)]

I use a 4800 Watt construction heater. It doesn't take up any floor space . I have it hung high on chains and pointing slightly downward so rising warm air is retunned back down.
It heats my shop quite economically and will heat any single or double size garage if properly insulated.
I have the front grill off mine in the picture for easy maintenence.
It is safe and efficient and they can usually be found at hardware stores on sale for around $69.00 Cdn this time of year. .
They are not a pretty looking heater and that is why they are called a construction heater instead of a home heater.
They have a built in thermostat on the back but I wired in a high quality wall mounted thermostat for convenience instead of reaching up to it to adjust temperature. I turn it to about 50 degrees F when leaving my shop and back up to about 70 F when I come back in. I like to work in my shirt sleeves in a nice warm shop which also helps for curing finishes. The heat recovery from 50 to 70 is very fast .
W.Y.

[Back2Jake]

Thanks everyone!

We were looking at the oil filled radiator as our first choice but wanted to throw this question out here to see. Today I have to make a decision because I need to be spending more time working the table saw and that just isn't coming in the other part of our workshop.

Take care
Toni

[BobD (Archive)]

We use an oil-filled radiator in our basement as well. It works great, but as Gill said, it takes a while to heat up the area. I think a timer is a great idea (and one that I may steal <GRIN>)

Bob

[Rolf]

I just replaced my furnace and hot water heater so while I was at it I plumbed a ceiling mounted radiator that has a fan on it. It's a zone with its own circulator and thermostat.
It heats the basement very quickly. I never had much luck with the oil filled radiators maybe I wasn't patient enough.
I also used a radiant dish for a while and had it aimed at my back that really warmed me up.

[William Young (SE BC)]

Are those oil filled radiators still only available up to 1500 Watt ? I tried one about 5 years ago before getting my construction heater which is 4800 watt. .
My shop is quite small . About 13 x 19 and the oil filled radiator wouldn't give me near enough heat. It was running continuously on cold days and my feet were cold because the heat was all up around the ceiling.
Fortunately the hardware store where I got it refunded me the price of it.
The 4800W heater only cycles on for a couple minutes at a time to keep my shop cozy warm. With it hung high and sloping down it captures the warm air that naturally rises and circulates the heat from the ceiling back to the floor making it very efficient..
Perhaps just installing a ceiling fan would help considerably when using space heaters that are situated at floor level
W.Y.

[workin for wood]

My post was lost I guess.
My shop is 32x40 , 6 inches in the walls and 10 in the ceiling blown insulation. Gets real cold here in michigan. I am running the "Hot Dawg" furnace by Modine. It is small and directly bolts to the ceiling rather than hanging off chains, and runs 75000 btu. On the coldest day it is -10 outside and 40 inside with the heat off. takes about 5 min to get up to 65. last year I used about 180 gallons of propane. I have a 250 gallon tank and used only threequarter of it. thats about 2 sometimes 3 days a week usage costing about $200 for the whole winter. The furnace was $1000 installed. It is a low fire risk because it is drawing in air from outside to burn, and venting gases back outside too. Beware of some heaters, not just the obvious open flame hazzards, but an unvented fireplace gives off 1 gallon of water per 2hrs of use. That is alot of humidity. A furnace like mine is the most efficent for dollars spent. A UV Tube heater is the most efficent and safest shop heater of them all, but is very costly to purchase. Be sure to build a frame and cover it with plastic on the outside of your garage door too. That helps keep out the drafts.
Why is it I cant use the upper comma button? or the regular slash button? makes the screen jump on this board.