Shop heater

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dag1450
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Shop heater

Post by dag1450 »

So in moving some "furniture" around and redecorating my garage work shop this summer I had to remove my wall mounted electric heater. I just recently picked this up for like $90 at northern website. It has a 3000 and 5000 watt setting. My old one was 4000 and did a great job with no fussing around. eBay and Amazon have something that looks just like it but with a few little differences. On Amazon people really like the heater but say the fan comes shipped with the set screw basically loose and falls off if not tightened. One thing that I'm trying to work out is it's made for the ceiling but all the controls will then be too high to reach. I don't want to bypass the t-stat as this has a built-in fan delay after electric element shuts down. Might just keep a step stool near by. Idk. Let me know if any of you guys have something like this and how its working. Or post what you have for shop comfort. I know as I'm ageing heat is important. :lol:
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davis2
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Re: Shop heater

Post by davis2 »

I use a salamander.

JMotuzick
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Re: Shop heater

Post by JMotuzick »

Dag
In my workshop I have a wood stove. I have a large wood shed and can keep almost 3 years worth cut/split/stacked. I’m only in the shop weekends, as it’s a bit to much to heat things up for only a hour or two. Ive thought of adding one of those 5k units to maintain. During the week with lows in the teens the lowest I’ve seen is 40. I still keep the garden hose off for the winter. The line was craked and off when we bought the place, so it did freeze at least once.

The house is a bit different, we have a raised ranch. If your not familiar google should help. The 2 car garage has the water line form the well going through there. I was concerned about that line freezing so I added a heater like you posted. I don’t do work in the garage, just store our daily drivers. The heater is set so 2’ off the floor is always 45. It works great, but then I never mess with it! The ceiling is about 9’ and it hangs low enough that I can easily adjust as needed.

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BigMike
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Re: Shop heater

Post by BigMike »

I keep the shop warm with a propane unit heater.
When I am out there I use a radiant construction heater.
Of course it helps that I work for an industrial gas company that also sells propane.

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dag1450
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Re: Shop heater

Post by dag1450 »

Mike, I'm not familiar with a radiant construction heater? Are you talking a high hat heater? I have a couple of them. They are awesome but to big for my little shop. 11'x24'
I got the heater mounted last night then hooked it up this afternoon. Works great. I installed a power shut off switch on the wall that I will try to only use once the t-stat shuts off the unit. For now if I stand on a five gallon bucket I can just reach the controls. So far I would highly recommend this unit, wisper quite, cool led indicater lights, t-stat seems to work good too.
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dag1450
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Re: Shop heater

Post by dag1450 »

Dave, those salamander heaters are very powerful... but every time I have been around the ones powered by kero I end up smelling like a gas station attendant...lol. Couple years ago I did get a small salamander powered by lp. I should have big Mike swing by with some bottles, I go through quite a bit of gas here on the homestead.100 pounders would be great Mike.
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BigMike
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Re: Shop heater

Post by BigMike »

Dag,
This is what I have,
https://www.reverberray.com/products/co ... e-heaters/
bought it used. It's 32,000 btu.
Your work space may be a little small to use an unvented heater. You COULD have an issue with fresh air. I hear all kinds of stories about how unvented will make everything rust from the water vapor the heater produces but I have absolutely never had an issue.
I have a customer that uses 100 lb propane in the field. They will exchange cyls regardless of what is left, they CANNOT run out and are not allowed to carry smaller back ups. Winner, winner, chicken dinner for me as I order, stock and return all of the cylinders for our location. They return on half full, I leave it until I need it :)

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dag1450
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Re: Shop heater

Post by dag1450 »

Joe..that does sound like you have had good success with these little electric jobs in your car garage. My house garage is attached to the house and it's insulated pretty good. About once a year it might get down to around freezing where I get nervous for my sink. I'm thrilled with this so far.
Yeah that bottle exchange program your on Mike sounds great! Now if you could get a part time job in the rental car industry you could get half tanks of gasoline too :lol: Do you have any smell from your heater? With my construction high hats, when I run a small tank or getting closer to empty they can give off a good oder and burn your eyes a bit. When that happens I normally just leave the job....but the drywall guys cry the blues :cry: correct me if I'm wrong but the bigger, say 100 pounders don't seem to cause that as much.. not sure why.
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BigMike
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Re: Shop heater

Post by BigMike »

I don’t notice any smell.

davis2
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Re: Shop heater

Post by davis2 »

Dag, my salamander is only 75,000 btu and is thermostatically controlled. Mine doesn't stink at all. I use clear kerosene, the dyed stuff stunk in my kero-sun. My 2 stall drafty garage and workshop heats up quick.

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chzuck
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Re: Shop heater

Post by chzuck »

One bay of our two car garage is my workshop and I heat with a Corona brand Kerosene heater. I had a salamander style heater and it smelled when it shut off, but I was using the red dyed kero at the time. Anyway it was too large for the garage anyway. A fellow co-worker gave me the Corona heater and when real cold I start it ahead of working in the garage. Garage is well insulated and attached to the house, so it is relatively easy to heat. This bay was added to my existing one-car garage in 2003. The garage floor is above outside ground level and the existing bay always had an ice cold floor in the winter. My feet were always cold. When building the additional garage I had the builder install 2" thick foam on the inside of the block from floor level to footer. What a difference. I can actually be on the floor and not feel cold after the heater has warmed the garage.

My brother got a ceiling mounted gas heater with thermostat control for his detached 2 car garage and that works great as well. If I worked out in the garage more than I do, I would consider that. Takes up no floor space and is automatic, just like the OP unit. For my area electric heaters run the bill up too much for me.
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dag1450
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Re: Shop heater

Post by dag1450 »

I have a 1980s kerosene heater that I keep around for an emergency. My only problem is I have no kerosene. In my area (suburbs) kero is very hard to find. In a pinch...or emergency I wonder if diesel would be safe? I remember growing up in the late 70s having a kerosene heater right in the kitchen every
Cold morning. I wonder if people still do that. Seems rather ....well.... old-school.
Here is a quick chart I found on the different fuel cost. While electric is the highest...it's also the easiest. That's how I justify it in the small workshop. Probably the safest also, aside from an indirect heat source.
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Tom Scott
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Re: Shop heater

Post by Tom Scott »

I had a torpedo type kerosene heater but it is unavoidable that they stink on shut-down even with high quality kerosene. It was also larger than necessary now that I have an attached garage and it was like working next to a jet engine. I now use radiant kerosene heaters and I love them. I have two of them, but unless it's unusually cold, one heater is generally enough for the garage. I heat primarily with wood in the house, but on days when it is too warm for the woodstove I place one of the radiant kerosene heaters right in front of the woodstove and still have a nice low "fire" at the hearth. Something nice about a point source of heat. You can move closer if you're cold and further away if you're hot.

If you keep your kerosene fresh and maintain the heater properly they burn very clean. Maintaining the heater is mostly burning the wick dry every other tank to clean it. That and you have to start and stop them outside as they stink on startup and shutdown. But even with the hassle, I like them.

Electric is definitely good for instant heat. The kero isn't worth fooling with for anything less than an hour of garage time.
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JMotuzick
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Re: Shop heater

Post by JMotuzick »

To add to the discussion, the old house had the garage under the house. The furnace (oil) was in a room just off the garage, we had a separate zone for the garage with a Coil/fan. Leaving the door to the furnace room open, it would stay around 45 in the 20x30 garage. Kick the fan on for 20 minutes and the garage would be 60.... it was great!

I agree with slow start up the wood stove takes at least a hour to warm things up. I had a few days off this week, the cold start times where much shorter warm iron makes for a warm shop!

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dag1450
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Re: Shop heater

Post by dag1450 »

I posted those data sheets and now I'm just thinking. The first chart has a column for efficiency. In our shop type settings wouldn't kero and propane be almost 100% efficient? As there is no exhaust on portable heaters. That chart is probably for large permanent type heaters.
So no one has a waste oil heater? It looks like a "hot" topic. Lol. I'm just thinking out loud...can they burn synthetic oil? Couple years ago I saw a homemade version and looked super simple. Just drips into a pan. This sounds like a great setup for you Joe! :beer:
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Re: Shop heater

Post by JMotuzick »

Dag
The set up was at the old place and it worked great, that was just a starter house, no real yard and less the 1k sq feet.

After our outage I’m guessing you didn’t need heat last weekend but do today! Let us know how well it gets things back up to temp.

2 nights in a row I had guys stopping over to my shop, I got home an hour or two ahead of them and lit the wood stove. Yesterday I was running wide open and after about 3 hours the shop went from 45 to about 60. A bit wasteful but it helps the BS session be more comfortable.

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Re: Shop heater

Post by JMotuzick »

Single digits this morning, started the stove at 8 and it’s just finally 65ish. I went through 4 of the “all day” logs. Along with some of the smaller stuff. I had both overhead doors open a few times so that would let a bunch out. Also brought in a wagon full for tomorrow. With these temps I’ll be dragging in more again tomorrow ! At least the cubs get run a bit each time I bring in a load.

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l palma
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Re: Shop heater

Post by l palma »

Joe,
Do you heat your house with all that wood you have also?

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Tom Scott
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Re: Shop heater

Post by Tom Scott »

Dave, you are correct, your efficiency chart is misleading for propane and kerosene because those efficiencies are for units with a heat exchanger and vented (to a chimney). For the common propane and kerosene heaters we are using they are small enough that they can be non-vented, i.e. no exhaust ducting/chimney. The reason we can get away with that is they are nearly 100% efficient when burned properly. So, your cost comparison should be based on 99% efficiency for these non-vented heaters. My kerosene heaters do not foul the room at all as long as you start and stop them outside and burn the wick clean occasionally.

Oh, and please don't even consider diesel in these kerosene heaters! They will not burn properly and will likely kill you! Some torpedo heaters are dual fuel, but I wouldn't want to be around one burning diesel. Kerosene exists for a reason, it burns very clean.

Lew, I've been heating my house primarily with wood for about 18 years. I have a single woodstove insert in my family room and it heats the entire typical two story house without any other heat source. The house heat only runs in the morning when the fire has gone low in the woodstove or when it is real cold out, like down at 12* F and below for an extended time. I make all my own wood, burn about four cords each year. It's a lot of work, but I like that lifestyle.
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JMotuzick
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Re: Shop heater

Post by JMotuzick »

Lew
Colleen says no to wood. It bothers her asthma, plus it dries her out. She says the boiler dries her out and runs a humidifier often. I go through 2-3 cord a year that’s enough work!

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