Heating solution

[Chaz]

I'm tired of a cold shop. I want to get a heater for the shop, and I'm leaning heavily towards gas. Advice? Derisive peals of laughter?

 

[Westpacx3]

I'm tired of a cold shop. I want to get a heater for the shop, and I'm leaning heavily towards gas. Advice? Derisive peals of laughter?

I went with a mini split. My shop is off the ground so at some point I'll need to insulate the floor or underpin as it can not keep up when its 5 degrees like last winter. It did ok except below my knees. Maybe the room was 10 degrees lower than i set it above the knees. The energy cost has been negligible. The system was an 18k DIY Mr Cool unit from Ingram HVAC. I did put some ac filters on a rack above the unit to pre-filter it but up enough to not restrict thw airflow. I just keep a ledger and blow put the unit ans filters. It would work better if I remembered to turn on my room filter and did not make single cuts without DC on.

It has worked fine for 2 years but I believe the revealing valve or solenoid is bad as it does not heat now. Having said that, anything is subject to breaking and thw other units on the market were 2000 plus more expensive and at thw end of the day there are only so many component making companies.

Be wishes on the project. Heat is nice. Headed out now to turn on my propane torch blower to knock down the cool and get to work.

Yes I will have the window and door open to vent

 

[JNCarr]

I went with a mini split. My shop is off the ground so at some point I'll need to insulate the floor or underpin as it can not keep up when its 5 degrees like last winter. It did ok except below my knees. Maybe the room was 10 degrees lower than i set it above the knees. The energy cost has been negligible. The system was an 18k DIY Mr Cool unit from Ingram HVAC. I did put some ac filters on a rack above the unit to pre-filter it but up enough to not restrict thw airflow. I just keep a ledger and blow put the unit ans filters. It would work better if I remembered to turn on my room filter and did not make single cuts without DC on.

It has worked fine for 2 years but I believe the revealing valve or solenoid is bad as it does not heat now. Having said that, anything is subject to breaking and thw other units on the market were 2000 plus more expensive and at thw end of the day there are only so many component making companies.

Be wishes on the project. Heat is nice. Headed out now to turn on my propane torch blower to knock down the cool and get to work.

Yes I will have the window and door open to vent

I have a Mitsubishi minisplit that has worked great for 8 years and this year it decided not to heat - as you said, probably the reversing valve.
Fortunately it's on the outdoor unit so they dont have to tear up my shop to get to it.
In the meantime Duke Energy will sell a few more kW-hrs.

 

[JRedding]

I went with 2 Mitsubishi mini-splits for a 1400 sf shop and they’re great. Did it as part of the initial construction a little over a year ago and don’t regret it for a minute - heated to 61 (that’s the lowest they go) in winter and cooled down to 76 in summer. Both run constantly and because I have a separate meter for the shop I know it costs me about $45 / month.

 

[Westpacx3]

I have a Mitsubishi minisplit that has worked great for 8 years and this year it decided not to heat - as you said, probably the reversing valve.
Fortunately it's on the outdoor unit so they dont have to tear up my shop to get to it.
In the meantime Duke Energy will sell a few more kW-hrs.

I liked Mitsubishi but I was already over budget. I built 2 years ago as all the wood was skyrocketing. Osb was 12 when I started and 42 when I needed 10 pieces. Fortunately they were building houses up the road and trashed a lot of wood that I used to include 4x4 osb.

 

[JimD]

I keep a little electrical resistance heater in my shop but haven't used it so far this year. I've started a bed for my oldest grandson but they are not in a hurry for it and I only work for a few hours at a time. I wear a coat. My shop is an extra 14x24 garage with insulation. The heat in the rooms above it is set at 55 but it still helps some. We've been getting into the 50s in the afternoon so with a jacket it isn't bad. The resistance heater will not raise the temperature much but it is nice to have a warmer spot to go to where I can warm my hands when it gets really cold. My DC exhausts outside so I have an uphill battle if I really wanted to heat or cool the shop. Right now my strategy is to only work when the temperature is 50 or better in the shop.

 

[Martin Roper]

No heat so I mostly take winters off.

Occasionally I'll make a couple birdhouses or a jig or just straighten up on a decent day.

My most recent "project" was made on the dining room table, a cardboard mock-up of the lever mechanism of a sewing box for my wife. I don't have any plans, just some pics from the internet like below. It's a cantilever design and I wanted to make sure I had the geometry right before I start cutting.

 

[rcarmac]

I only have some ceiling hung electrical heaters and couple of those floor radiators. I can get it comfortable as long as the outside is not be 35. Much lower than that and the heaters can’t keep up. It just takes a little time to get the shop comfortable once I turn them on

 

[Oka]

Heat pumps regardless what people will claim , their effective heating base line is around 34f outside. Below that, the unit does not work effectively to produce heat. Alot of hp-units then add resistance heat modules (electric heaters rods) to supplement. Because of this limitation (and cost), I always recommend either propane/gas or some other back up system to assist when temps are really low. One method my dad used was a salamander turbo heater to temper up the workshop, then he used a small wood stove to maintain the temp. Proved to be pretty cheap way to go.

 

[junquecol]

I have a wall mounted, ventless, propane heater. It's the infa red type. Set temp to around 58 degrees. Air cleaner mounted on ceiling above is thermostat controlled. Heater comes on, so does air cleaner, circulating heat evenly around the shop. Never any problem with condensation or rust on CI surfaces.

 

[chris_goris]

I'm tired of a cold shop. I want to get a heater for the shop, and I'm leaning heavily towards gas. Advice? Derisive peals of laughter?

Hard to advise unless we know the size, construction type, insulation, power availability , budget and use case.

 

[bws]

I use a 75,000 BTU Hired Hand propane heater to heat my 30X30 shop. On the cool NC mornings it will have the room at 65 degrees in 15 to 20 minutes. It is a little loud, but not compared to saws, sanders, etc

 

[NCJim]

I have a small shop and use a Buddy heater with build-in fan. I leave the door ajar (for make up air), propane tank outside, a window on other side slightly open. I do a lot of my sanding and sawing outside on the shop's deck. If I want to work in the shop I start the heater a hour or so before, and shut down at night. My paints and glues are kept inside. Cheap and it works for me.

 

[jfynyson]

I went with 2 Mitsubishi mini-splits for a 1400 sf shop and they’re great. Did it as part of the initial construction a little over a year ago and don’t regret it for a minute - heated to 61 (that’s the lowest they go) in winter and cooled down to 76 in summer. Both run constantly and because I have a separate meter for the shop I know it costs me about $45 / month.

John, can you clarify (as I'm looking at mini-splits for my future shop) ? When you say, "heated to 61 (that’s the lowest they go) in winter"....

1. Do you mean you prefer to keep it on it's coldest setting in the winter and thus if it could go lower you would ?
2. OR do you mean when it's cold outside the warmest it can make your shop is 61F that you've found ?

Thanks !

 

[ScottM]

My shop is roughly 650 sq feet with 10' ceilings. I heat with a 220v ceiling mounted garage heater in the winter and cool with a window AC unit. My shop is on a concrete slab and the walls, ceiling doors are all insulated. When not in use I keep the shop between 55 and 60 during the winter. Keeping it a constant temperature is one of the keys. It is fairly easy to raise the temp 5 degrees or so but not to try and raise it 15 plus degrees.

 

[Chaz]

Hard to advise unless we know the size, construction type, insulation, power availability , budget and use case.

Geez, Chris, there are a dozen people who don't need all that info.

Size: 350 sf
Consturction : Wood
Insulation: walls only insulated enough that the building stays cold if not heated.
power availability: Yes - gas and electric
Budget: Not much
Usecase: I go to the shop to work. I get uncomfortably cold. Hands especially. I wear cold-weather clothing, but it's awfully restrictive. I don't wear gloves - too dangerous.

So, advise away.

 

[chris_goris]

Geez, Chris, there are a dozen people who don't need all that info.

Budget: Not much
.
So, advise away.

Buy a second hand woodstove and build a fire. In a woodshop you should have enough scrap to heat it.

 

[JRedding]

John, can you clarify (as I'm looking at mini-splits for my future shop) ? When you say, "heated to 61 (that’s the lowest they go) in winter"....

1. Do you mean you prefer to keep it on it's coldest setting in the winter and thus if it could go lower you would ?
2. OR do you mean when it's cold outside the warmest it can make your shop is 61F that you've found ?

Thanks !

Hi Jeremy - The lowest heat setting mine have is 61 F. Because I go into the shop at various times as work allows and they are most efficient when running constantly (according to 2 HVAC guys I spoke with 1 of whom installed it), I leave them running all the at their lowest temp setting of 61. If I could, I’d probably keep them around 55 degrees and just heat it up a bit more when I go in.

In case it helps, one day last winter my wife wanted to come in the shop for a while so we kicked it up to 75 when it was low 20s outside and they handled it without a problem. They also do a great job cooling. I wouldn’t do another shop without them.

 

[DSWalker]

My shop is 24 x 24 and I have an 18k BTU mini split. Leave it on 24/7. It does a great job even on the coldest days. It can struggle some on to 100 degree days. Shop is well insulated and has 1" thick pine boards on the wall.

Low cost to operate as others have stated.

 

[jfynyson]

Hi Jeremy - The lowest heat setting mine have is 61 F. Because I go into the shop at various times as work allows and they are most efficient when running constantly (according to 2 HVAC guys I spoke with 1 of whom installed it), I leave them running all the at their lowest temp setting of 61. If I could, I’d probably keep them around 55 degrees and just heat it up a bit more when I go in.

In case it helps, one day last winter my wife wanted to come in the shop for a while so we kicked it up to 75 when it was low 20s outside and they handled it without a problem. They also do a great job cooling. I wouldn’t do another shop without them.

Sounds great, thanks !