In floor heating vs. radiant vs. forced air in shop??

[jgrreed]

Is there such a thing as an 'in slab' temperature probe that gives feedback to the thermostat based on the slab temp rather than the air temp?? Or is that a stupid idea because the main goal is warm air, not a warm slab??

-Jer.

 

[PILOON]

Is there such a thing as an 'in slab' temperature probe that gives feedback to the thermostat based on the slab temp rather than the air temp?? Or is that a stupid idea because the main goal is warm air, not a warm slab??

-Jer.

YES

In that electric floor heating calls for a thermostat with a remote (6ft) probe.
Costly however, like probe alone is in the $200-250 range.

Careful reading of the electric installation manual however shows how to use a standard air thermostat.
Main differance is time lag and less than instantanious response.
Who really cares if not instantaneous unless you walk barefoot!

I would not be concerned about runaway heat as hot water tanks have thermostat controls built in.
It would a simple excercise of close monitoring over the first days of operation.
Also any wall mounted thermostat wired in series with the hot water tank could be made to control (On electric power line if electric tank, or gas furness thermostat for gas fired tank)
But then gas fired tanks also have thermostats built in!

I for one would have a thermostat located at opposite side of the room from doors and heat source (tank) for better regulation.

If feet are warm, generally the rest of you is comfortable.
Heat rises.

 

[xkbal]

Hello,

For what it's worth, in a previous life I worked in a hangar in Grande Prairie, Alberta, and it had a heated slab. Rally enjoyed working in there. It was nice working on a heated floor. They didn't use a boiler, just a large water heater. I was amazed at how quickly the hangar warmed up after moving the aircraft in or out, even at -40 it would b good to start working in about 20 minutes.

As others have mentioned you can't really turn the heat up and down with this system, best to leave it at one setting. A friend out by Camrose has a 30' X 50' shop heated this way but he just has the floor set so it keeps the shop at about 8-10 C and when he is going to work out there he lights his woodstove. According to him it doesn't take long to get the shop toasty.

Hope this info is useful,
Al

 

[Slackdaddy]

I built a 24x32 CMU walled shot 16 years ago, It was non insulated.
The slab had 3 loops of Poly from "radiantech"
I then installed a 20 gallon oil fired water heater, circulation pump tied to
T-stat.
This worked perfect, I kept the T-stat at 45-50 deg in winter and it was WARM in there.

Slack

 

[brandoro]

If/when I get to build one for myself instead of buying what is available my shop will for sure have heat in the floor and the slab will be insulated at least as well as the outside walls and ceiling. The shop I have now has a woodstove and ceiling mounted forced air heater, I can heat the air up fairly quickly but hardly ever get the slab up above freezing by this time of year. Consequently ice melts off the vehicle, drips on the floor and refreezes. Even given the long time it takes to raise the slab temperature with warm fluid it will still be faster than trying to warm the slab by blowing warm air over it.
I have worked in a couple of shops owned by friends that had heat in the floor, they couldn't quit talking about how great it was and I had to agree.

 

[mjncad]

My garage/workshop is very similar to yours, 32'x40', metal clad, 12'ceilings and a 10' garage door. Mine is insulated and drywalled with a concrete floor. I have a natural gas radiant direct vent wall heater. http://www.cozyheaters.com/pdfs/products/spec_sheets/DirectVent.pdf
I have to say that this heater was not properly sized for this shop space. Mark

If you figure the average home's forced air furnace is in the 80,000 - 100,000 BTU range, this unit's maximum of 33,000 BTU is definitely too small for your space. However, a unit like this may be just the ticket for my future shop's office, mechanical room and bathroom.

 

[mjncad]

Roberts Gordon is the product that I used and will undoubtedly use again.
ROBERTS GORDON ｮ Infrared Heaters, Forced Air Unit Heaters and Radiant Heating Systems

This is the type of radiant heater I'm thinking of using; but you need enough ceiling height for one to work. I think 12' is usually the bare minimum.

 

[Sackett2]

Had to give a lot of thought about heat in my small shop:
It was on my parents property and didn't need any "Surprise" electric bills so electric was out.
Do not have natural gas run on the property
Didn't want a big propane tank and all the stuff code would have required.
Needed to stay away from "open Flame" ie wood stove as someday I plan to do some auto painting.
We settled on a diesel heat furnace- had to go through 3 of them to get one to work. Got a big tank from a family member. This is a great option for a shop (IMO). we have it switched off unless we want to work in there. the t-stat stays at 50 degrees, hit the switch and within 5 minutes the building is very comfortable. Gas use is minimum, for if we work in it on a cold night, the insulation holds the heat in it most the night. we finally burned up our first 100 gallons this winter- been about 4 years. (not a ton of use in the shop, but I figure if I were to burn 50 a year in it it would be a lot of time out there.
The wood shop has a wood stove- that is a given!
If I get a chance to paint, I can crank up the heat then shut it down prior to painting.

 

[mike69440]

Are you going to live out there, as I used to do when I was younger or just use the shop now and then. That should answer the question.

Me. Heating a garage slab is for the filthy rich or hard core.

Mike

 

[Egon]

By doing a Goggle many sites giving information on "In floor heat" show up.

One such site: HeatLink

Go to the catalog portion of this site for information on the tools, materials, sensors etc. that may be require for the installation of in floor heating systems.

It could remove a lot of the conjecture associated with the topic.