Additional Heat for Shop

Concours.John

Concours.John

Auto Detail & Restoration
I was wondering if those of you that heat your garage or shop what you use for additional heat. The space has an electric box heater on the ceiling in the corner. The space is 1200 sq. ft. w/15ft. ceilings. All block walls. This thing is going to run non stop if it stays like this all winter.

This is just a temporary space till a bigger place comes around.

The problem is I cant use kerosene due to a restoration I'll be doing over the winter. I already have to take the car back and forth to a paint booth elsewhere. I don't want any contamination during the stages before paint.
I want to get the dust creating part over so I can bring in details and not have to put everything in "car bubbles" when I work on it.

Any input would be appreciated. Thanks!
 
Would radiant propane cause particulate issues?

I found several options by googling "indoor propane heater" including a $225 option that will supposedly heat up to 3,000 sq ft.
 
MDerleth said:
Would radiant propane cause particulate issues?

I found several options by googling "indoor propane heater" including a $225 option that will supposedly heat up to 3,000 sq ft.
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Not sure havent used one. I do know I can get my grill tanks filled for $10 going directly to the propane company locally. Just don't know how much that unit would consume per hour.
 
Concours.John said:
Not sure havent used one. I do know I can get my grill tanks filled for $10 going directly to the propane company locally. Just don't know how much that unit would consume per hour.
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if you use a tank a day that could get pretty expensive ...
I'd suggest one of these

IMG_3940-2.jpg
 
Good one Steve!! Have one. But two hmmm. That could keep the shop nice and warm. I'll have to check with the wife. :)
 
Propane is very expensive..That's what my house runs off of and I hate it. We have natural gas at work along with a wood stove and my shop (with 30 foot ceiling) stays at 70 during the winter. However, cutting wood is a pita everyday and since we paint in here a lot the wood burner scares me a little lol.
 
i have a propane jet heater to warm our 6000+sq ft shop. 175k btu will go through a 15 pound propane bottle in 4 hours if run at full tilt....i run it for a while to warm the air then shut it down. made it through 2 days so far....of course the average temp those 2 days was about 40*
 
Something else you may want to consider is putting in a temporary drop ceiling and lower the ceiling to like 10 feet or so. This will help with your heating issue as well since all the hot air will not be floating up that extra 5 feet.
 
420 to fill what used to be a 20lb propane gas cylinder sounds cheap. even the local propane distributor gets $20+. Purchase a 200-500 gallon LP tank to run an infrred heater or 2. they heat the surface not the air. Some are set on thermostats and are controllable that way. Ive got one thats around 10,000 btu with a thermostat setting on it. Other than that awood pellet/corn burning stove is used in the used car dealers detail shop. Wood pellets are reasonable right now, corn kinda pricey but hasnt been in the past.
 
Steve said:
if you use a tank a day that could get pretty expensive ...
I'd suggest one of these

IMG_3940-2.jpg
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I will dis-connect my natural gas furnace if you will just send two of these over. I will do my best to snuggle and keep warm. As far as what the wife may say , let her stay in the house. :rofl :drool:
 
Paul S said:
I will dis-connect my natural gas furnace if you will just send two of these over. I will do my best to snuggle and keep warm. As far as what the wife may say , let her stay in the house. :rofl :drool:
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are you sure you could handle two of those :notme: :D
 
GothamAuto said:
Something else you may want to consider is putting in a temporary drop ceiling and lower the ceiling to like 10 feet or so. This will help with your heating issue as well since all the hot air will not be floating up that extra 5 feet.
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That would be my preference but this is temporary. I'm working with a comercial realtor who owns most of the buildings he leases. He just does'nt have anything zoning wise that suits the restoration part of my needs ie: putting in a paint booth.
 
I've been working on heating my shop lately as well. This will be my first full winter and while my location isn't temporary some of this may help you out. I have a 1600sqft shop with a 9ft ceiling. Last year while we were hanging the drywall I ran a 10kw 240v heater that has a dial thermostat(no temp just numbers). It did practically nothing until we finished the the ceiling, now it keeps it at a workable 60ish degrees if it's above 20 outside. A big help was insulating the garage doors. Bare metal doors will wick the heat right of the room. I used 3 garage door insulating kits from Lowes to cover two 10x8 door. The kits were on sale for $36 a piece so it only cost a little over $100. I also use a kerosene heater on the cold days. Technically we should never use anything open flame and all our heater should be at least 6 inches off the ground but I only run this one if I'm freezing. Currently we're finishing up with a new furnace. It's a no-name brand but, it built by York so it should hold up well. It's only a 15kw but, it moves 2200cfm. This should be enough to move the air around the shop before it has a chance to cool off. We are temporarily going to mount it on a plywood box in the shop and then later in the spring we'll be putting it up in the attic. It only cost $500 which is the same or cheaper than most of the hanging heaters you see in Northern and other places on line.

IMG00213.jpg


IMG00212.jpg


IMG00211.jpg
 
chet31 said:
I suspect expenses would be extremely high w/ this option.
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nah, can't you see :inspector: she doesn't eat much :notme:


on a serious note, going back to the OP , if this is only a temporary place, then just use the current heater to keep the place comfortable during the day and just pay the piper. It's not worth investing into equipment you may never need again unless it is something you could use. Use this place as a learning experience for your next place as for set up and requirements. :)
 
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