Shop heat

[Dusty MI]

I have a LPG tube type radiant heater, it heats objects like the sun does,
nice heat.

 

[Brown David]

This will be your fastest heat
That said they make me nauseous if I work under them to long

Haven't heard many others complain about that so im probably an oddball

Well, I mean, that's been quite obvious for some time.














Lol, just kidding..........the door was wide open.

 

[DanielW]

I have a LPG tube type radiant heater, it heats objects like the sun does,
nice heat.

+1 for the radiant tube heaters. Every shop I've worked at uses them. Especially if you're not heating it all the time, you want a radiant heat source. Radiant heat transfer is occurring by radiation - directly between you and the heat source. Completely independent of the air in-between (or, at least, 'independent' for the purposes of this discussion). Far more efficient, especially if not heating all the time because you don't have a mass of air to heat up before you start feeling it. In a building with a properly designed radiant heat source, you can be comfortable even while the air around you is still quite cold, because the heat transfer is occurring independently of the air.

Any forced-air heat source heats by convection: Instead of heating directly from body-to-body (radiation), it heats the air, and the air heats you. Much more energy required, and for a cold shop it has to heat a pile of air before it starts to heat you. Far more mass for it to heat up before it starts to heat you up, and it'll take much longer before you start to feel comfortable.

If you're keeping it heated all the time and everything is at steady-state, there's far less difference.

 

[Texasmark]

I have an L.P. 4 inch tube radiant in my shop, it has an aluminum reflector above it.

Well that's fine if you are wishing the "bandwidth"....I guess..... it still won't beat the portable tank in efficiency.

 

[rrlund]

For a few hours now and then, get a torpedo heater with a thermostat. We use one to heat the greenhouse, but she doesn't start using it until late March, early April. I use it in the shop the rest of winter.

 

[timcasbolt]

For a few hours now and then, get a torpedo heater with a thermostat. We use one to heat the greenhouse, but she doesn't start using it until late March, early April. I use it in the shop the rest of winter.

That's what I used to do when kerosene was cheaper. Problem was the fumes. Every time it starts up the smell would knock a buzzard off a manure spreader. (See how I cleaned that up a little

 

[rrlund]

That's what I used to do when kerosene was cheaper. Problem was the fumes. Every time it starts up the smell would knock a buzzard off a manure spreader. (See how I cleaned that up a little

I just use off road diesel.

 

[joeysmith]

I just use off road diesel.

I have seen a few melt down using a winter blend diesel
I to use it but I derate the fuel pressure a little.

 

[rrlund]

I have seen a few melt down using a winter blend diesel
I to use it but I derate the fuel pressure a little.

According to what it said on the box, mine was made for kerosene or fuel oil.

 

[joeysmith]

According to what it said on the box, mine was made for kerosene or fuel oil.

Yea I have ran diesel in them for years to
Not sure if we got some winter fuel that was double treated by accident or what
But after seeing a few melt down from it I got in the habit of backing them off a little.

 

[m16ty]

For a few hours now and then, get a torpedo heater with a thermostat. We use one to heat the greenhouse, but she doesn't start using it until late March, early April. I use it in the shop the rest of winter.

That's what I'm leaning toward, but I think I want one that runs off natural gas. Problem is, you can get a 120k btu propane heater for around $300, but a 120k natural gas heater will cost $800 plus. Why?
I wonder how easy it would be to convert a propane one to natural gas? On most stuff you just change the orifice and maybe adjust the air intake a little, but I've never fooled with that on a torpedo heater.

 

[timcasbolt]

I just use off road diesel.

More power to ya. Mine said it could use #1 or #2, but I always figured the smell would be even worse with #2. I had also been told by a trusted friend that diesel was dirtier and could plug it up. Never tested that theory, but sounded believable.

 

[ss55]

I have a wood stove in my shop and I can build a good fire in it where you can work in your short sleeves in there in the winter. That is great when I'm going to be in there most of the day like the weekend but I'd like to go in there and work a couple hours during the evenings when I get home from work. The wood stove doesn't really work for that, by the time I get home and build a fire it will be bedtime before they wood stove heats everything up. I had a old forced air Ready heater that I ran off diesel that I would use to knock the chill off quicky in the shop, but it took a dump last year.

Other than leaving heat on in the shop all the time, I need some way to warm the shop quickly so I can work a few hours in the evenings. I was first thinking of just buying another forced air diesel heater, but while looking around on the web I came across natural gas forced air heaters. I do have natural gas at the shop. What does everybody think is the best, diesel, propane, or natural gas? I'll still use wood heat mainly, just need something to knock the chill off on the evenings I want to go out there and work for a few hours. Also, is there some heat setup people use that I don't know about that works better than any of the above mentioned?

The only real down side I see with natural gas is portability. I'd be tied to however long the hose is I use to go from the gas service to the heater.

First off check your local fuel prices, you should find that natural gas is far cheaper per BTU than propane, diesel or electric. Insulation and sealing drafts can help your heating fuel dollars go further.

From your descriptions and replies it sounds like you might need two heaters: a portable heater that you can wheel to projects but exhausts combustion gases inside the shop; and a stationary heater that utilizes the wood stove chimney to exhaust combustion gases outside the shop. Fans can distribute heat from the stationary heater around the shop.

Efficient combustion forms water and carbon dioxide (sometimes a little carbon monoxide too). Unless your shop is extremely drafty like a pole shed, exhausting all your combustion gases inside your shop dumps a lot of water vapor inside your shop. That damp environment could eventually lead to water condensing on surfaces causing rust and mold. You don't have that moisture problem right now because your wood stove exhausts out the chimney.

 

[Ultradog MN]

I have a wood stove in my shop and I can build a good fire in it where you can work in your short sleeves in there in the winter. That is great when I'm going to be in there most of the day like the weekend but I'd like to go in there and work a couple hours during the evenings when I get home from work. The wood stove doesn't really work for that, by the time I get home and build a fire it will be bedtime before they wood stove heats everything up. I had a old forced air Ready heater that I ran off diesel that I would use to knock the chill off quicky in the shop, but it took a dump last year.

Other than leaving heat on in the shop all the time, I need some way to warm the shop quickly so I can work a few hours in the evenings. I was first thinking of just buying another forced air diesel heater, but while looking around on the web I came across natural gas forced air heaters. I do have natural gas at the shop. What does everybody think is the best, diesel, propane, or natural gas? I'll still use wood heat mainly, just need something to knock the chill off on the evenings I want to go out there and work for a few hours. Also, is there some heat setup people use that I don't know about that works better than any of the above mentioned?

The only real down side I see with natural gas is portability. I'd be tied to however long the hose is I use to go from the gas service to the heater.

I went through that a year ago - posted about my progress here.
We have nat gas to the house but had to have the gas co pierce a new line from the street to the house and do a meter/pressure upgrade. I ran a line from the basement and trenched it to the garage.
Put a used a 65K HE furnace in there.
No duct work. I just let er blow straight up.
I don't heat it 24/7. Could turn it up to 80 degrees in there but don't
It can be 20 degrees in there and I flip a switch and in 15 minutes it's "light jacket or a sweater" warm in there. Takes a couple/few hours to warm up the several tons of heavy iron but for for tinkering on stuff a light jacket is fine.
It does add noticeably to our fuel bill!
But you know, We work our butts off all those years - scrimping, saving, working overtime - making do in the cold. And finally, if were lucky, we can have a light jacket warm garage instead of a heavy parka and gloves garage.

 

[Bob Bancroft]

I have a wood stove in my shop and I can build a good fire in it where you can work in your short sleeves in there in the winter. That is great when I'm going to be in there most of the day like the weekend but I'd like to go in there and work a couple hours during the evenings when I get home from work. The wood stove doesn't really work for that, by the time I get home and build a fire it will be bedtime before they wood stove heats everything up. I had a old forced air Ready heater that I ran off diesel that I would use to knock the chill off quicky in the shop, but it took a dump last year.

Other than leaving heat on in the shop all the time, I need some way to warm the shop quickly so I can work a few hours in the evenings. I was first thinking of just buying another forced air diesel heater, but while looking around on the web I came across natural gas forced air heaters. I do have natural gas at the shop. What does everybody think is the best, diesel, propane, or natural gas? I'll still use wood heat mainly, just need something to knock the chill off on the evenings I want to go out there and work for a few hours. Also, is there some heat setup people use that I don't know about that works better than any of the above mentioned?

The only real down side I see with natural gas is portability. I'd be tied to however long the hose is I use to go from the gas service to the heater.

I worked one time in a newly constructed farm shop about 1980 where the propane heater hanging from the ceiling was not exhausted. I remembered that when I built my shop. I have a small propane burner/blower which, when I used to work in the shop regularly, I kept at 40 degrees. When I went in to work, turn the thermostat up and in minutes it was comfortable. Tools and such maintained above freezing didn't seem cold. I suppose everyone has a different reaction to different fuel type exhaust. I don't like kerosene or fuel oil. The propane has never bothered me.

 

[Ultradog MN]

I worked one time in a newly constructed farm shop about 1980 where the propane heater hanging from the ceiling was not exhausted. I remembered that when I built my shop. I have a small propane burner/blower which, when I used to work in the shop regularly, I kept at 40 degrees. When I went in to work, turn the thermostat up and in minutes it was comfortable. Tools and such maintained above freezing didn't seem cold. I suppose everyone has a different reaction to different fuel type exhaust. I don't like kerosene or fuel oil. The propane has never bothered me.

Unvented gas heaters also put a Lot of moisture in a shop.
Learned that with the high efficiency furnace I put in. In addition to the steam that is exhausted out the PVC pipe to the outside they have a drain on them.
I ran that drain into a 5 gallon pail in the closet of my little shop office - which I always keep above freezing. If I am running the furnace regularly I have to empty the pail often. Like every other day. That's a lot of moisture that will condense on cold tools and machines and cause rust.

 

[Texasmark]

In general there is not any more economical way to heat anything other than good old, reliable and inexpensive natural gas.

Well rural folks around here don't enjoy that delicacy......Natural gas is reserved for cities....but that makes sense.....the payback is there for the companies. In rural America, the supplier spends a lot on infrastructure and gets little payback due to the few subscribers.

 

[TerryfromSWIowa]

when I built my shop I put tubing in the floor. Added the controls and boiler about 4 years later so I could work in there in the winter. I keep it at 45° most of the time, if I need more heat, I have to turn it up a couple days ahead. Wish I would have ran some tubing for geothermal to help with the heat but getting too old to do so now.

 

[m16ty]

Well rural folks around here don't enjoy that delicacy......Natural gas is reserved for cities....but that makes sense.....the payback is there for the companies. In rural America, the supplier spends a lot on infrastructure and gets little payback due to the few subscribers.

I live way out in the country, but right off a main thru road. Which is why I have natural gas available.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

I have a wood stove in my shop and I can build a good fire in it where you can work in your short sleeves in there in the winter. That is great when I'm going to be in there most of the day like the weekend but I'd like to go in there and work a couple hours during the evenings when I get home from work. The wood stove doesn't really work for that, by the time I get home and build a fire it will be bedtime before they wood stove heats everything up. I had a old forced air Ready heater that I ran off diesel that I would use to knock the chill off quicky in the shop, but it took a dump last year.

Other than leaving heat on in the shop all the time, I need some way to warm the shop quickly so I can work a few hours in the evenings. I was first thinking of just buying another forced air diesel heater, but while looking around on the web I came across natural gas forced air heaters. I do have natural gas at the shop. What does everybody think is the best, diesel, propane, or natural gas? I'll still use wood heat mainly, just need something to knock the chill off on the evenings I want to go out there and work for a few hours. Also, is there some heat setup people use that I don't know about that works better than any of the above mentioned?
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The only real down side I see with natural gas is portability. I'd be tied to however long the hose is I use to go from the gas service to the heater.
[/QUOTEt


I hate working on fuel oil heaters.If you do the math I think diesel fuel costs the most for the BTUs they produce compared to high efficiency gas furnaces