New Shop on order

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  • capncarl
    Veteran Member
    • Jan 2007
    • 3564
    • Leesburg Georgia USA
    • SawStop CTS

    #31
    As woodturner pointed out, you could use a water heater based system with a circulation pump, pex hose and an automotive as coil with a fan to heat your shop. The water heater would be located outside or in the other garage. Watts to BTU = watts X 3.41, so a 3000 watt water heater would produce 10230 btu. This type system use to be quite common when electricity costs were cheaper and are still used in buildings with explosive materials, like gunpowder. My houseboat had a heater that used engine cooling water and a truck heater unit!
    capncarl

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    • cwsmith
      Veteran Member
      • Dec 2005
      • 2737
      • NY Southern Tier, USA.
      • BT3100-1

      #32
      Unfortunately a hot water system would probably cost all most much as the building itself, unless I jury-rigged something. I've helped install a few of those types of systems in my teens when my Dad was in that business. It's where I learned to solder copper. New technologies have changed much of that I'm sure, but I really don't want to turn the shop heater into a big project, so looking at something fairly easy. I think the Empire gas heater would be much cheaper and easier to install than going with a hot-water heating system. For now though, I'm really close to deciding on just some type of electric heater, either quartz and/or an oil-filled radiator.

      On a side note, today I removed the chain-link fence that separates the back yard from the driveway. That proved to be a lot harder than I thought. While I knew the steel fence pipes were embedded in concrete, I had no idea that they protruded through the concrete continuing another four or five feet into the ground.

      The first came out without too much hassle, once I dug down under the concrete. It was heavy, but it lifted out fairly smoothly without too much yanking. The other two however, the pipes had bent, apparently during installation 40 or 50 years ago. After a heck of a lot of digging and jerking and wagging back and forth, I could get them to lift up four to six inches, but there they snagged.

      After some words of frustration and a lot of straining I decided it was just something I wasn't going to be able to man-handle... so I sat there in the rain and thought about what in heck I was going to do. I ended up bringing out the hydraulic floor jack I use for the cars.... and with a bit of rigging, used that to lift both the pipes out of their holes. It took some jacking, re-positioning and more jacking; but after moving and adjusting four times, those posts are clear. So now, both the gravel truck and the eventual shed has access to the back yard.


      CWS
      Last edited by cwsmith; 12-03-2015, 10:42 AM. Reason: see italics.
      Think it Through Before You Do!

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      • wardprobst
        Senior Member
        • Jan 2006
        • 681
        • Wichita Falls, TX, USA.
        • Craftsman 22811

        #33
        We use a combination of electric radiators and two radiant electric heaters in our 600 sq/ft shop and it's tolerable. The radiators are real nice over night and the radiant heat up the bench area pretty quickly. DP
        www.wardprobst.com

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        • JimD
          Veteran Member
          • Feb 2003
          • 4187
          • Lexington, SC.

          #34
          I hope to get some shop time in next week. My shop is unheated but it hasn't been really cold here yet. I am not heating the room over the garage right now (girls are at Clemson) so it will be cool in there. We were in the 70s this week but I think it will be a bit cooler next week. If I get cold, I will drag out a space heater.

          I was planning to make a bed frame but my wife and I can't agree on a design so it looks like I'll just buy one. So maybe I will make my Ron Paulk inspired rolling workbench/track saw cutting platform. It would be nice to not have to use my pine lattice work sheet good cutting piece over sawhorses for a bench. It's a lot better than nothing but a lot worse than a real bench.

          Comment

          • capncarl
            Veteran Member
            • Jan 2007
            • 3564
            • Leesburg Georgia USA
            • SawStop CTS

            #35
            I think that theelectric oil filled radiators are the most energy efficient of all heat sources discussed, and if a small fan is used to keep some air circulating they might be enough to heat if you just set the thermostat and leave them alone. Storing them in the warm season is the only drawback because they are the largest heater/ btu.

            Comment

            • cwsmith
              Veteran Member
              • Dec 2005
              • 2737
              • NY Southern Tier, USA.
              • BT3100-1

              #36
              wardprobst and capncarl,

              Are you referring to this type of heater: http://www.lowes.com/pd_100813-33454...c-eb6eb6f287d3 ?


              That is what I'm thinking for keeping the shop at a warmer level overnight, and then augmenting it with a quartz-type electric heater when I'm actually out there working, if necessary.

              I went back to see why the salesmen have told me why I would need a minimum of 30,000 BTU's, and I'm thinking that would be the calculated requirement to raise the temperature from the teens up to about 65 over the course of an hour.... but, once the temperature was at a comfort level then the BTU requirements for maintaining that higher temperature would be significantly less. Am I thinking correctly? (As mentioned in an earlier post, I plan on fully insulating this 240 sq ft building as much as possible.)

              At present, the chained-link fence is removed and the ground is leveled. Today I've got to remove four more trees from the back edge of the property. They're not really in the way but they are getting high and once the building is in place I don't want to face taking them out at some future point when their height will be difficult to manage in the limited space available. My gravel is scheduled for delivery next mid-week; so, though things are slightly behind schedule I think it's all going to fall into place.

              Thanks again to everyone, it's been a great help,

              CWS
              Last edited by cwsmith; 12-06-2015, 11:11 AM. Reason: Typos
              Think it Through Before You Do!

              Comment

              • capncarl
                Veteran Member
                • Jan 2007
                • 3564
                • Leesburg Georgia USA
                • SawStop CTS

                #37
                That's the one! It's the only one approved for us to use on the Marine base for safety reasons and be use they do not seem to have the big spikes when they start up. In cold weather you could leave several of these heaters on to hold the temp and not bank with the utility bill.
                The reason the salesman said it would take 30,000btu to heat this shed? For religious reasons they may not believe in insulation?
                capncarl

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