Heater Advice

mopacman · Nov 30, 2006

when working in the cold put a heat lamp on the tools to keep them warm. when you pick one up it will warm your hand. Larry

mrkool · Nov 30, 2006

Well, strange you started this subject just as I was replacing my garage heater with a slightly larger model and moving the hot water coil from the return side to the supply side, and the cooling/heat pump coil from the supply
side to the return side.

The garage is 3 1/2 cars, 50' x 24 with an upstairs, shop down on one end,
been using heat pump for the mild weather, then a Hardy wood/water furnace when it's fired up, then if that goes out, the 90% propane gas furnace kicks in, a 100 lb bottle lasts all winter.

If I had your shop/garage, I'd probably use 2-100% eff wall heaters that run on propane, and get 2-100 lb tanks, one connected, one for backup.

I put a couple in the basement of a house about the same size, and on a 20 degree day, they'd run you out of there.

I'm also looking at some electric (110 volt) fireplaces, a fella said he's got one, it has a remote thermostat and looks real, and heats almost as good as gas, I'm going to look at a couple this week, might be interesting.

Dusty · Nov 30, 2006

It gets a lot colder in Canada than it does in Tennessee. He is going to need a lot of BTU's to keep everything toasty warm.

Jerome · Dec 1, 2006

Rule of thumb here in Ontario is 40,000 BTU PER 1000 feet. Slant fin makes a wall furnace that fits in between the wall studs (16 inch centers) and would vent through the roof. goes for about $2500 email me sidley@csolve if you need more information.

Jerome · Dec 2, 2006

Sorry Slant fin makes boilers who I ment was Empire wall furnaces the model I mentioned would fit in the inside wall and blow heat into both sides of the shop.

LBrown59 · Dec 2, 2006

randy41 said:
you could use electric baseboard heaters. they are fairly cheap to buy and if you have the skills they are easy to install.

And very expensive to operate.

LBrown59 · Dec 2, 2006

Dusty said:
Just make sure that if you purchase a propane heater that you install a propane gas leak detection device. A friend was telling me about a home in Ohio that blew up as a result of what is believed to have been a gas leak.

Does this mean if ya go with natural gas and ya don't hafta worry about an exposition.
>>> >>>

LBrown59 · Dec 2, 2006

WHAT ! Nobody has suggested an outside heating & cooling unit:

LBrown59 · Dec 2, 2006

Dusty said:
Check Northern Tool for heaters. I assume that they will ship to Canada. I have a 75,000 ceiling heater that works well, and the cost was reasonable. I did the work myself, and the heater and all the plumbing and vent parts cost me under $500. I don't use it that often to worry about efficiency. Also, how well insulated is the building? The better insulated, the less BTU's you will need. Mine was made by Mr. Heater.
Dusty

I have had 3 MR HEATERS blow up and catch fire.
No more of them for me!

thcri · Dec 2, 2006

LBrown59 said:
I have had 3 MR HEATERS blow up and catch fire.
No more of them for me!

3 of them??? I have heard nothing but good things about them. Is there a common denominator here or are they all different models?

bamatoolmaker · Dec 2, 2006

My shop is 4400 sqft and fully insulated with r19.Last winter it was costing me $400.00 mo. to heat with propane.This year we installed a 25 hp screw air compressor that runs 24-7.I think this was coldest morning yet here 29 deg. 8:00 am it was 75 deg. inside.No gas bill and no increase on electricity.I know it might not work for a small home shop but might be worth thinking about.Oh yeah the compressor was used and I got $1000.00 in it but will pay for its self in 3 mo.

LBrown59 · Dec 2, 2006

MikeD74T said:
KubotaOne said:

Check with a mobile home dealer in your area for a new or used forced hot air furnace. Would be sized about right & easy to install. Easy to set up heat zones. Run ducts across the ceiling to put the heat where you want it. Gas or oil. I'd go oil as it's also a reason to have a steady & convenient supply of low tax tractor fuel. MikeD74T

Click to expand...

But will you spend more on diesel than on gas?
Going gas might save enough to off set the cost of the tractor fuel and leave money left over.

PineRidge · Dec 2, 2006

thcri said:
3 of them??? I have heard nothing but good things about them. Is there a common denominator here or are they all different models?

Murph, the common denominator is the same guy installed all 3 heaters.

Sorry couldn't help myself.......

LBrown59 · Dec 2, 2006

KubotaOne said:
I'm looking to have heat installed in my shop for this winter. From what I've read so far, a vented, propane wall mount unit is probably my best option. My shop is a total of 800 square feet, fully insulated. There is a wall in the middle, with a man door for access to both sides. My questions are:

1. how to heat both sides with just one heater?
2. what size BTU? (remember, I'm in Canada, so it's cold)
3. Are the wall unit heaters quiet?

I've included a picture of my shop (and no, it's not that clean anymore, lol)

thanks for any advice!

1*I plan to use an out door Combination Furnace and AC unit centered along the outside back wall with a tee with one line going to the left and the other line going to the right of the center wall partition.
The beauty of this set up:
1*Does not take up any floor space
2*No venting is required
3*Cheeper to install due to a very mim amount of ductwork.
4*Safer~no flames inside the building to ignite fumes or cause an explosion.
5*Can control the temperature of each side by opening or closing the register in each room.
6*When I was checking this out it cost less completely installed than the cost of installing a regular Furnace or Air Conditioner
__________________

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Farwell · Dec 2, 2006

bamatoolmaker said:
My shop is 4400 sqft and fully insulated with r19.Last winter it was costing me $400.00 mo. to heat with propane.This year we installed a 25 hp screw air compressor that runs 24-7.I think this was coldest morning yet here 29 deg. 8:00 am it was 75 deg. inside.No gas bill and no increase on electricity.I know it might not work for a small home shop but might be worth thinking about.Oh yeah the compressor was used and I got $1000.00 in it but will pay for its self in 3 mo.

Guess I must be a little dense. I am trying to understand the 25 HP screw air compressor that runs 24-7, heats a building and doesn't have any increase in utility cost. Am I missing something?
David

Dusty · Dec 2, 2006

LBrown59 said:
Does this mean if ya go with natural gas and ya don't hafta worry about an exposition.
>>> >>>

Why thank you Mr Larry Brown. Your astute observations are only outdone by your splendid intelligent correction. I would like to thank you for pointing out that not only is propane explosive, but so is natural gas. It doesn't matter that we were talking about propane gas for heat. You did forget to also point out the dangers of oil heat. I think that should be your next post.

Dusty · Dec 2, 2006

LBrown59 said:
I have had 3 MR HEATERS blow up and catch fire.
No more of them for me!

Mr Larry Brown

It is such a tragedy that you have had such poor luck with the Mr. Heater products. I can't imagine a 100% failure rate, but if you say it happened, it must be true. I have nothing but utmost belief in your post and its honesty. After these three Mr. Heaters blew up, what did your insurance company have to say. Did all three blow up and catch fire simultaneously or were these three separate events spaced out in time. I was also wondering if you reported this catastrophic failure to the Marietta Ohio fire department? I am further interested in learning what the State Fire Marshall's office had to say about these events. What was the results of the Mr. Heater company investigation. I patiently await your prompt reply to my questions. I am certain that this will be a learning experience for all the TBN members.
Dusty

AndyM · Dec 2, 2006

Dusty said:
I think that should be your next post.

Or next four posts...

The first one will be formated with several colors and font sizes and the second will will be all black, but missing all of the punctuation. The third post will be blank, and the fourth post will repeat the first one in case no one read it the first time.

dqdave1 · Dec 3, 2006

I have seen some attic forced air units that go in the attic space, which take up no floor space; they are "out of site" and takes little duct work to install.