On Mon, 15 Oct 2007 17:17:01 -0700, Gunner Asch
wrote:
On Mon, 15 Oct 2007 17:10:35 -0500, "Snag"
wrote:
Gunner Asch wrote:
On Mon, 15 Oct 2007 14:29:39 -0400, Wes wrote:

I live in northern michigan where it gets a bit chilly at times. I
have a bridgeport and a Clausing 6903 12x36 lathe out in an
uninsulated garage.

Since I store a bunch of light stuff up in the trusses, there is no
way I could ever insulate / drywall the whole garage along with just
the cost of heating the whole garage, so I'm thinking what if I
drywall the ceiling over the machining area, insulate the walls and
ceiling in the area and put in some partitions that I remove during
the warmer times and buy some sort of direct vented heating system
that keep it warm that I could continue to play this winter.

It's regular 18" OC or 24" OC trusses? I would put doubler 2X4's on
the ceiling joist chord of the truss, and 1/2" Plywood "floor" for
your storage. Then you have a 7" space to stuff with R-19 fiberglass
insulation and face with drywall.

And make sure the plywood notches for the roof joists are tight to
the edges, so you don't have mice getting under it. (DAMHIKT - I have
to redo the Storeroom ceiling...)

(Our main garage ceiling only has 2X8's on 4' centers for tension
members, I have to inter-set with extra joists at 16" OC before I can
drywall the garage ceiling proper.

Use either a *vented* ceiling-mount Unit Heater (Modine "Hot Dawg"
or eq.) or a *vented* wall furnace, or a *vented* radiant tube heater
for a heat source. Note the word *vented*, that is the critical part.
Leave the thermostat set low to keep the condensation down when you
are not in there - 45-ish.

For Michigan I'd do the ceiling and walls and doors, seal up the
whole room so you can work in there in February. But put up curtains
or temp walls to cut the heat loss for when it's storage.

Wes..my shop is partially a 14x 60 aluminum roofed car port. Its only
partially enclosed. So what I do, is hang canvas tarps on both ends of
the working area and the sides, during the winter months and use a
torpedo heater and a fan to circulate the heat

Psst! Gunner, one of those pipe-style radiant heaters running the
length of the carport would be a lot more efficient for a semi-open
area. It heats the people and the cats, not the air. Put one for
yourself on your Scrounging List.

And the flame is enclosed in the pipe and up near the ceiling, not
down on the deck where the spilled Gasoline Fumes live...


A caution on that torpedo heater . They produce massive quantities of
moisture. I fired one up in my shed and was two days drying stuff out . A
vented heater will not add moisture to your space , or CO either for that
matter . My space is small enough (8X8X12) that a 1500 watt electric keeps
it usable . Of course Memphis isn't Michigan ...

Yabbut, Gunner's Carport "shop" has dirt floors and lots of free air
exchange around the sides, so moisture buildup isn't a problem - he
needs people comfort heat. But if you try running any unvented heater
in a enclosed and tightly sealed room the moisture will quickly have
every cold metal surface sweating.

Propane or fuel oil? Mine run #2 Diesel (fuel oil is unavailable here)
or Kerosene at twice the price of diesel......

Go get a barrel of Red Dyed Diesel - no sense paying Road Use Taxes
on fuel that won't be used on the road...

Oh, and #2 Distillate Fuel Oil = #2 Diesel for all practical
purposes. I know of bunches of "fuel oil" burners (both common
flame-retention and steam-jet) happily running on Red #2 Diesel in
Southern California.

-- Bruce --