shop heat

[jdom84]

It is really the best way to go in my opinion....I do miss not having some logs to burn or look at while burning, but it is what it is I reckon.

Dumb question...how would you insulate your concrete slab?

Up here in the frozen north... You put down 2-4" of blueboard, then if you are smart you run miles of 1/2" pex (even if you dont plan to do a boiler at the time, o2 barrier pex is cheap) and then you pour your concrete on top of all that. I have in-floor radiant heat on both levels of my house and there is nothing like having toasty feet when walking around barefoot! But I don't think the people who built the place insulated the garage slab.. nor did they do the pex out there... So I hardly make it out there in the winter because its so **** cold... and the mice ate all the insulation out of the walls before I bought the place. I do have an older pacific wood stove that heats it up pretty good once its been going for a couple hours...

Not a dumb question. An existing slab would have to be retro fitted with some type of foam sheet such as Polyiso. You would have to "rebuild" the floor with something over the foam sheet.

They do make the over the floor foam board with the pex tracks in it for inside houses... I'm sure something like that would work for a shop. Its pricey stuff though

 

[aczlan]

My daughter works for an independent insurance agency. The only way they will insure a house with ANY type of wood burning heat is if the furnace is completely removed from the house. Or some companies have a huge surcharge for wood heat. It may be different in other areas of the country. Twenty to thirty years ago there a guy I worked with that had trouble getting payment after his house burned because the insurance company didn't know they had installed a wood burning stove.

Our insurance company (Liberty Mutual) has no problems with our indoor wood boiler, it is noted, but the agent said that it wasn't going to cost us more to have it on there.

Aaron Z

 

[timswi]

220k BTU Diesel/Kero torpedo for me--Probably the most cost inefficient method I'm sure..Does a nice job, but getting a furnace of some sort soon. 30x48 shop w/12' ceiling.

 

[arrow]

220k BTU Diesel/Kero torpedo for me--Probably the most cost inefficient method I'm sure..Does a nice job, but getting a furnace of some sort soon. 30x48 shop w/12' ceiling.

How long does a fill up last Tim with these? Been thinking of a smaller one of these (or propane) for my 500 sq ft garage. Putting heads, cam and intake on my R/T and want something to heat up the place or else it ain't happening till spring.

 

[timswi]

How long does a fill up last Tim with these? Been thinking of a smaller one of these (or propane) for my 500 sq ft garage. Putting heads, cam and intake on my R/T and want something to heat up the place or else it ain't happening till spring.

For 500 sqft..You could go with around 75-100K...My 220K lasts the better part of the day with 5 gallons of off-road diesel depending on temp. I keep the garage at around 60-65 degrees depending on what I'm doing. 1500ish square feet with an open ceiling (right now)...Your mileage may vary

Torpedos are a little loud but they sure warm up the shop quick. Been using one version or another for 25+years.

 

[pmsmechanic]

20 x 30 x 8 high shop. R20 fiberglass in the walls and ceiling with cellulose blown overtop of the fiberglass in the ceiling. It was a real bear to keep warm until I dug 2 feet down all the way around the slab and installed 2" of R10 foam insulation. That helps keep the floor a lot warmer. This past summer I put a layer of tar paper and Tyvek under some new siding and that really helps to keep the breezes off of the floor. I heat with an old floor model natural gas space heater. 28000 BTU. It barely does the job of keeping the shop at 60F on a cold windy day so next summer I plan on replacing the heater with a gas fired overhead furnace. That will give me a better heat supply and more floor space. I might even blow some heat into my attached lean to.

 

[ultrarunner]

In Washington the pole barn came with the double 55 gallon drum wood burner... it worked well but the drums keep rusting out... it was crumbling the last time I saw it.

One of my friends is a mechanic... has a smaller bench area with a gas fired infrared overhead heater... said it keeps his bench/tools warm...

 

[TnAndy]

Wood stove, it does a good job...

SR

Same here. 120,000 BTU wood furnace. Shop is 35x75 with R-19 walls/ceiling. Have a 1,000w basebd electric in the bathroom, normally set on lowest setting just so water doesn't freeze in there when not using shop.

 

[LD1]

Same here. 120,000 BTU wood furnace. Shop is 35x75 with R-19 walls/ceiling. Have a 1,000w basebd electric in the bathroom, normally set on lowest setting just so water doesn't freeze in there when not using shop.

How high are your ceilings?

Same Btu furnace I use, similar sq ft at 40x60, but it's like heating a 2 story house .

I have no ductwork, just a scoop on top to blow the air out across the shop.

No issues even when it was 0 out keeping the shop a nice 70f

 

[TnAndy]

How high are your ceilings?

Same Btu furnace I use, similar sq ft at 40x60, but it's like heating a 2 story house .

I have no ductwork, just a scoop on top to blow the air out across the shop.

No issues even when it was 0 out keeping the shop a nice 70f

Ceiling is right at 14' in the center (24' wide), then slopes at a 45 down to 8' walls.
No ductwork either....just blows out the top thru couple 90's to flow out across the shop.