Safe heater for spraying?

[llucas]

So, it's cold (suddenly, if you're not watching the calendar) and it is time to get more heat in my shop...40x 20 with 10' ceilings, well- insulated. Been heating with ventless propane 30k btu, which takes the edge off on most days. Now I am doing some lacquer spraying (rattle can) which will leave a pretty good mist in the air at times, so I shut off the propane and pilot first...and it gets cold.
I am thinking about adding either radiant heaters in the ceiling or electric oil filled space heaters.

Anyone have a thought about either re. safety/cost/effectiveness.

Luke

 

[thrt15nc]

I have this one http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_595_595 in a 20X22 double car garage/shop. It's fully insulated except for the door and it works very well. I just set it at a lower temp and let it run all winter. I didn't see much of a raise in the heating bill.

Tom

 

[Joe Scharle]

I have this one http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_595_595 in a 20X22 double car garage/shop. It's fully insulated except for the door and it works very well. I just set it at a lower temp and let it run all winter. I didn't see much of a raise in the heating bill.

Tom

I've had the same heater for about 5 years and agree with Tom. BTW, Northern sent out a flyer with a $20 coupon. You can usually pick these up at the store.

 

[scsmith42]

Luke, can you turn your propane heater on 12 hours before hand so that the entire shop warms up, and then turn it off while you are spraying?

If your shop is well insulated and you heat it long enough for all of the equipment to get warm, it should retain it's heat for a while.

 

[Glennbear]

I use one similar to this in my 24x24 shop and it works well:
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200325960_200325960

With your higher ceilings perhaps a ceiling mounted one as suggested by others might be better with the flow directed downward. Whatever you use for heat please use a respirator and have adequate ventilation when spraying for health's sake. :wsmile:

 

[llucas]

Thanks guys for all those helpful comments, including the use of a respirator (got one so effective, I can't even tell I am spraying...much better than a simple mask, and much safer.

I think I will check out the Northern Tools suggestion...a discount would be nice.

Joe and Tom, is the unit you suggested safe to have on while spraying...is there an ignition source?

Luke

 

[dupont6480]

Luke,
I just finished building a 16x40 workshop. I am still working on my layout before installing all the large tools (TS, DP, etc) This is my first shop and is there any chance you can share with me the layout of your shop.
Thanks Tim

 

[Tarhead]

Hey Luke!

I'm not sure if you're planning for a commercial finishing operation or just being safe for individual projects. You can safely empty the contents of one rattlecan into your HUGE shop and not be in danger of any explosion/fire using normal common sense. Just keep the can and workpiece in a warm environment until ready to spray and exhaust the overspray. I use a portable spray booth (3'X 3' cardboard box) at the door and exhaust with an old box fan (not sparkfree) ~6ft away. There's another open door for cross ventilation in the opposite end of my 22X25 shop. You would need to saturate the air with a lot more than a few rattle cans of aerosol lacquer, not ventilate and have a spark source in the highest density of the cloud to risk any real danger. Close the doors and let the temp return after each coat. The majority of the energy is still there in the mass (machinery, floor, walls, etc) and the air takes only a little while to return to normal temp.

I know a lot of people up north who finish outside in the dead of Winter by keeping their spray cans in a bucket of hot water, quickly spraying a prewarmed project and bringing it inside between coats.

 

[llucas]

Mark
Thanks for the encouragement (and common sense approach). What you describe is close to what I have been doing....just got to thinking too much....I have recently been turning off the pilot to the heater, and it is a big pain to relight...hence the thought about electric...just throw a switch. All in all I guess I am just being a little overly cautious.

Tim
Congrats on the new shop. Regarding the arrangement of my shop...well, lack of arrangement is a better description, as I am still moving stuff around after 18 months. I do know that I did not put in enough 220v outlets and that really forces less than efficient tool placement....hence still looking for a better arrangement. I probably will eventually just run some 220v circuits in conduit down each side of the shop. Good luck on buying tools to fill up the empty spaces.

 

[dupont6480]

Luke,
Thanks and good luck on the heating issue. I was looking at the same wall heater mentioned earlier from Northern Tools or a Cadet Hot One. Right now the LOML bought me a Honeywell oil filled radiator type. Take care
Tim

 

[thrt15nc]

Luke, I'm not going to say there isn't some danger in spraying finish with that electric unit I have. However, I don't do much spray finishing. When I installed the heater I mounted it up, but put it on a switch down on the wall for easy access. I just shut it off to be safe. It really works well, I also have a ceiling fan and I just put it on low to try to keep the heated air up high moving down. I'm really happy with the setup.

Good luck!!

Tom

 

[llucas]

Tom
I like the sound of you set-up. The info on the unit you rec. says "must be hard-wired". Did you have any problem putting a swith between the breaker and the unit. Or, do you think it would be ok to just wire the unit to a plug and plug it into an existing 220v receptacle?

 

[DaveD]

Well, I'm on the other side of the fence.

Spraying flammable liquids/paints/etc in a environment with anything that can produce a spark or ignite the vapor is a chance I'm not willing to take. My enclosed space (20'x20') in my last shop had a explosion proof exhaust fan and even then I made darn sure I didn't turn on any electrical things in the shop during the spraying process.

BTW, those of you that use propane heat in the shop might want to investigate how much water vapor is put in to the air burning one pound of propane. I don't remember the number but I think it is pretty high like on the order of one gallon of water vapor for every pound of propane burned.