*
I’m looking for some advice on heating my woodworking shop. I appreciate the advice in recent posts on heating a barn shop, from which I have obtained some useful information.
The shop is a detached 16’x24’garage with a 9 foot ceiling. It is approximately 50 ft from the gas and hot water supply for the 1500 s. foot main house. The house is heated by forced air; hot water via the hot water heater is pumped through an air handler. I have insulated the 2×4 garage walls with R-13 and plan to sheath and insulate the ceiling as well. I live in Eastern North Carolina and wish to heat the shop for approximately 4-5 months out of the year. I would like to heat the space continuously at times (e.g. to cure finishes) at 55-60 degrees. The average winter high is approx 40-45 deg and low is 30-35.
I too have considered an inhered radiant heater, specifically, one of the ceiling mounted tube heaters made by RE-VERBER-RAY. Unfortunately, this could be cost prohibitive. I need some suggestions/advice on a SAFE alternative. I’m assuming because of dust and fumes, a direct vent unit would be best. I would like to keep the total cost under $1,500. Thanks in advance for any advice!
Andy
Replies
*
What would be wrong with some 240v baseboard heaters? Low class, but quick and easy.
*I could consider electric baseboard, but would prefer natural gas for better efficiency. ThanksAndre
*We did this in my father's shop for under $200. We picked up a used furnace from a furnace repair shop for $50. It was in fine shape but being replaced with a higher effiency unit. Installed it in a box made from fire resistant wallboard in the corner of the shop and provided it with an external fresh combustion air source. This elimainted the hazards of flammable fumes. Put on extra filters on the intake because of the high dust load. Presto! Cheap heat. You'll still have to provide a gas line from the house, but that really isn't that hard or expensive. We hand dug (about 75 feet) but you could rent a ditch witch.Mike, the idiot DIY guy
*I'd guestimate a heat load of 12,000 BTU/hour once you get the insulation done and the drywall taped.The smallest direct-vent, gas-fired, wall-mount unit would do it. Cheap to operate and easy to install. For the trench, you can get pre-made polyethylene gas pipe with metal upright 90's on each end at a pipe supply. Measure the exact distance, have them make it up, and you won't have any joints in the ground. A bit over a $1/foot I think. -David
*Thanks for the advice. My plumber has already run the gas line. He installed what appears to be bendable 1/2 copper tubing. I believe he installed it with one of those machines that pulls cable/pipe through the ground. I see the advantage in the tubing in that there are no joints, but is this a typical/safe way to do it? I guess I was expecting threaded pipe.Andre
*Andre: Yes, copper tubing (of the appropriate wall thickness) is commonly and reasonably used for underground service of both water and gas. The nice thing is that there are no buried joints, except every 100 feet and there a flare joint is used. 1/2" sounds fine for your heat load (some appliance of 10,000 to 50,000 BTU/hour). In a few areas, the soil reacts with copper pipe, but your local plumber would know that. Threaded black iron pipe should be wrapped by the factory or the installer for underground use. I would prefer Cu or PE to Fe pipe. -David
*andre,Maybe you should just move back to NY so your brother can borrow your tools.Mike
*
I'm looking for some advice on heating my woodworking shop. I appreciate the advice in recent posts on heating a barn shop, from which I have obtained some useful information.
The shop is a detached 16'x24'garage with a 9 foot ceiling. It is approximately 50 ft from the gas and hot water supply for the 1500 s. foot main house. The house is heated by forced air; hot water via the hot water heater is pumped through an air handler. I have insulated the 2x4 garage walls with R-13 and plan to sheath and insulate the ceiling as well. I live in Eastern North Carolina and wish to heat the shop for approximately 4-5 months out of the year. I would like to heat the space continuously at times (e.g. to cure finishes) at 55-60 degrees. The average winter high is approx 40-45 deg and low is 30-35.
I too have considered an inhered radiant heater, specifically, one of the ceiling mounted tube heaters made by RE-VERBER-RAY. Unfortunately, this could be cost prohibitive. I need some suggestions/advice on a SAFE alternative. I'm assuming because of dust and fumes, a direct vent unit would be best. I would like to keep the total cost under $1,500. Thanks in advance for any advice!
Andy