How do you keep your shop/garage warm?
- Thread starter IndieSol
- Start date
Midcoastcustoms
"Live life like the captain of a sinking ship"
My shop is 20x24 and is detached from the house. I am from MN so i know cold. I heat with a suspended natural gas heater. Electric heat is expensive and kerosene is dirty and smelly and wouldn't recommend for an attached garage. Insulation is a must. I keep the thermostat at around 50-55 degrees F and turn it up only when i am in there working. By keeping the heat set around 50 all of the tools and stuff in the garage stays warmed up. If you are only trying to heat when you are working all of that mass (tools and stuff) are working against your ability to heat your work space. The biggest thing is insulation and not letting the heat escape. Check Craigslist for a used heater if you are on a budget. The best are the suspended natural gas that are vented to the outside and have a fan built in.IndieSol said:
I got a similar heater from a guy down teh street who was upgrading to a larger unit. Running gas lines took a morning to rig it all up and test it, but it's not wired into teh light switch. Throw the switch and lights and music start and it it's cold teh heater kicks in. make a cup of coffee and by the time I get out there, it's warm enough to work.
I'm way more old school with my two car, detached garage.
got it from Northern Tool.
Then, find a couple businesses in the area that have to pay to dispose of pallets, put a wood blade on the sawzall, and you have free heat all winter. I refuse to pay for wood when you can find some that will hit a landfill. When its 10 degrees in Mn, my garage can be 60 in an hour without the fumes of a kerosene or propane heater. I did the propane thing for too many years. All it does is make you high, makes all of the moisture come out of anything cold and made of metal, and rusts your stuff. The dry heat from wood burning is awesome. And if you hate having to shred old documents, use 'em for fire starters.
I even used and old coffee can with a few fittings and a length of hard brake line to make an oil dripper setup. Tons of businesses heat their buildings on used waste oil, so why can't I? No more running out to get rid of old oil either. Just make sure to get a good bed of coals before you start with the oil or you can end up with a mess!
Add a heat exchanger fan in the chimney is a must! It nearly doubles the heat output. I also have a small box fan I use to blow across the back and bottom of the stove to get that air circulating.
With all of that, I have gotten it up to 85 degrees in the garage when it was -15 with a -60 wind chill outside. Not bad for a $300 investment (stove, heat exchanger, chimney, mounting, etc) that I haven't sunken any more money into in 4 years.
got it from Northern Tool.
Then, find a couple businesses in the area that have to pay to dispose of pallets, put a wood blade on the sawzall, and you have free heat all winter. I refuse to pay for wood when you can find some that will hit a landfill. When its 10 degrees in Mn, my garage can be 60 in an hour without the fumes of a kerosene or propane heater. I did the propane thing for too many years. All it does is make you high, makes all of the moisture come out of anything cold and made of metal, and rusts your stuff. The dry heat from wood burning is awesome. And if you hate having to shred old documents, use 'em for fire starters.
I even used and old coffee can with a few fittings and a length of hard brake line to make an oil dripper setup. Tons of businesses heat their buildings on used waste oil, so why can't I? No more running out to get rid of old oil either. Just make sure to get a good bed of coals before you start with the oil or you can end up with a mess!
Add a heat exchanger fan in the chimney is a must! It nearly doubles the heat output. I also have a small box fan I use to blow across the back and bottom of the stove to get that air circulating.
With all of that, I have gotten it up to 85 degrees in the garage when it was -15 with a -60 wind chill outside. Not bad for a $300 investment (stove, heat exchanger, chimney, mounting, etc) that I haven't sunken any more money into in 4 years.
IndieSol
"This one goes to eleven." -Nigel Tufnel
JRK5892 said:
That may be the only reason I could get away with that setup. My wife hates it when I boil carbs in lemon juice in the kitchen. The smell is brutal.
My garage is attached, and insulated, so it doesn't get all THAT bad, but I can't stand being cold. But I also know we probably couldn't fit that type of a setup in the garage with all the crap we've got stored in there.
tWistedWheelz
BUILT NOT BOUGHT!
I design HVAC setups for a living, a standard 2 car garage size, if insulated to federal build inspection guidlines, or local guidlines (even better), then you really only need about 6,000 BTU's! Natural Gas heat, set up on a thermostat would provide the best heat for minimal effort and offer good enough efficency to not be a pain when the gas bill comes in. That being said, you still would need to be smart with it. A programable thermostat that maintains the temp of the room about 50- 55 degrees all the time and only raises the temp in your desired work times to a comfortable temp, I say about 68 degrees. The better you insulate the cheaper the gas bill will be!
Now i do use a wood burning stove (actual antique) to heat my shop on the farm and the above mentioned setup is done right....good job!
Now i do use a wood burning stove (actual antique) to heat my shop on the farm and the above mentioned setup is done right....good job!
sasquach
Coast to Coast
Bakeoff said:I'm way more old school with my two car, detached garage.
got it from Northern Tool.
Then, find a couple businesses in the area that have to pay to dispose of pallets, put a wood blade on the sawzall, and you have free heat all winter. I refuse to pay for wood when you can find some that will hit a landfill. When its 10 degrees in Mn, my garage can be 60 in an hour without the fumes of a kerosene or propane heater. I did the propane thing for too many years. All it does is make you high, makes all of the moisture come out of anything cold and made of metal, and rusts your stuff. The dry heat from wood burning is awesome. And if you hate having to shred old documents, use 'em for fire starters.
I even used and old coffee can with a few fittings and a length of hard brake line to make an oil dripper setup. Tons of businesses heat their buildings on used waste oil, so why can't I? No more running out to get rid of old oil either. Just make sure to get a good bed of coals before you start with the oil or you can end up with a mess!
Add a heat exchanger fan in the chimney is a must! It nearly doubles the heat output. I also have a small box fan I use to blow across the back and bottom of the stove to get that air circulating.
With all of that, I have gotten it up to 85 degrees in the garage when it was -15 with a -60 wind chill outside. Not bad for a $300 investment (stove, heat exchanger, chimney, mounting, etc) that I haven't sunken any more money into in 4 years.
I have that same woodburner and It works great . Do you have any pics of your oil drip system I wouldn't mind doing something like that to help save on wood
Steve Zodiak
Active Member
It was 114° in my garage last week -I wish I had your problem. I shoyld start a thread "How do you keep your garage cool" 
Move your garage to California. I'm out there tonight working on the sidecar with the door open. T shirt and shorts. Cold sucks.
