Heating and cooling a small shop

Collapse
This topic is closed.
X
X
 
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • RDavidP
    Forum Newbie
    • Jan 2011
    • 60
    • Maryland

    Heating and cooling a small shop

    I bought a house back in Sept. of 2009 and it came with a small shop.


    This shop measures 15' by 9' with a roof/ceiling that is probably 8' at the highest point. Picture shows the ceiling.


    The outside walls are plywood. I have finished insulating the inside walls with R-13 insulation, and have since put up R-19 insulation in the ceiling after the above picture was taken. I am in the process of putting 1\2" plywood up on the inside, though one 9' wall has a 4' by 8' piece of peg board instead of plywood, and another wall has a section of 4' by 6' piece of peg board. I live in western Maryland and have been using this to heat, and is good enough to raise the temperature to about 55 or so on that side of the shop. For summer time, forget it. Right now, I have two circuits to my shop, a 20amp for the tools and a 15 amp for the lights and the little heater. I am looking for something better to heat and cool the small size shop I have. Any suggestions? Once I pick something out, then I will see about having the electical hooked up, but after the panel box in the house gets upgraded from a 100amp to 200amp service.
  • cwsmith
    Veteran Member
    • Dec 2005
    • 2737
    • NY Southern Tier, USA.
    • BT3100-1

    #2
    For a small shop of that size, I'm surprised the little ceramic heater doesn't heat it up to higher temps, unless it's really frigid on a particular day.

    Perhaps one of the infrared heaters would suffice. I would think that any "radiant" heater would be sufficient, but I would stay away from anything that circulates the air back through the heater and/or has an exposed flame or heating element. In particular, my concern would be the flamable dust created when doing almost any power tool work. Even more important would be any flamable vapors from finishing products.

    I imagine it's going to get very warm in there during the summer months without better air circulation. Windows and/or a good ceiling vent (perhaps on the gables) would be great. A small 5,000 btu air conditioner wouldn't cost much, but then you'd need a circuit from that and also some concern for keeping the A/C filter cleaned.

    I hope this helps,

    CWS
    Think it Through Before You Do!

    Comment

    • toolguy1000
      Veteran Member
      • Mar 2009
      • 1142
      • westchester cnty, ny

      #3
      Originally posted by cwsmith
      .... but I would stay away from anything that circulates the air back through the heater and/or has an exposed flame or heating element. In particular, my concern would be the flamable dust created when doing almost any power tool work. Even more important would be any flamable vapors from finishing products......CWS
      FWIW, i heat my small uninsulated shop with a propane powered tank top heater:



      i suspend a 20" box above it and it circulates the heat throughout the shop, doing a pretty good job. while it's not ideal, it does the trick. and no amount of woodworking has ever presented a problem. however, using oil based solvents is something i would not ever try with this heating configuration.
      there's a solution to every problem.......you just have to be willing to find it.

      Comment

      • LCHIEN
        Internet Fact Checker
        • Dec 2002
        • 20914
        • Katy, TX, USA.
        • BT3000 vintage 1999

        #4
        a web page like this can help determine the size AC needed:

        Air conditioner BTUs needed: How to choose an air conditioner that fits the building and your cooling needs? Typical BTU Cooling Capacity Range for Types of Room Air Conditioners Room Air Conditioner or Window Air Conditioner Sizing and Choosing Chart How Much Cooling Capacity do we need Per Square Foot of Building Area? How Much Space can a Ton of Cooling Capacity Serve? How To Calculate the BTUs needed to cool a given space: follow this procedure: How big an air conditioner do I need? How much air conditioning do I need? How many BTUs or Tons of Air conditioning? Can an air conditioner be too powerful for the building? Watch out: Don't Buy an Oversized or
        Loring in Katy, TX USA
        If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
        BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

        Comment

        • TB Roye
          Veteran Member
          • Jan 2004
          • 2969
          • Sacramento, CA, USA.
          • BT3100

          #5
          My shop is 10 X 12 barn type shed (Tuff Shed) the wall and ceiling are insulated. There is dry wall on the wall which now has been covered with 1/2" plywood. I have a small electric radiator style heater I bought at HD a few years ago, work fine and can keep the shop at 65 or high even on the coldest day. I have small window AC unit I put in during summer. The shop has 3 window so I take the glass out of one and put the AC unit in with a painted plywood filler panel. It can keep the shop at 74 on a 108F day here in Sacramento. We don't have the humidity they have in other stated so the small AC is fine. I have 80amp box in the shop which in the back corner of our lot (small city lot) Be sure and insulate you doors, that will make a big difference.

          Tom
          Attached Files
          Last edited by TB Roye; 03-10-2011, 01:48 AM.

          Comment

          • dbhost
            Slow and steady
            • Apr 2008
            • 9209
            • League City, Texas
            • Ryobi BT3100

            #6
            Sounds like you have the insulation part down okay, not great, but okay. Make sure your door openings are leaking heat / cold like most shed doors do.

            If it were mine, and if I had the $$ to do it, I would...

            #1. Add more insulation to the ceiling, R30 as a minimum. R13 is fine for the walls, R19 is better.
            #2. Up the circuits / power to the sub panel to at least 3 20 amp 110V circuits. 1 for HVAC and lighting, 1 for dust collection, and 1 for other "stuff". (your tool circuits). This also assumes you don't have any 220V tools...
            #3. Make a hole in the wall for a window unit A/C / Heat combo unit. LG makes some decent heat / A/C window units for relatively cheap. However the smallest one I note is 7K BTU which might be a bit much for the tiny air volume of that shop... Another option is to get a cheaper, just A/C window unit, and then heat with an electric oil filled radiator. I keep my 18x20 garage warm in the winter with one of those. Takes forever, but at least I feel relatively safe using it...
            Please like and subscribe to my YouTube channel. Please check out and subscribe to my Workshop Blog.

            Comment

            Working...