On Nov 24, 10:56 pm, "Dan" wrote:
I live in the Seattle area. I have a 2.5 car garage which I am developing
into a woodworking shop. There will be 1 car parked there also. Although
it generally doesn't get quite as cold here as it does in some other parts
of the country, it gets cold ENOUGH at times during winter to keep me out of
the shop. I'd like to add some source of heat. The shop has 2 wooden
single car garage doors, reasonably well sealed, unheated living space
about, 2 78" x 48" double pane windows, an 8' ceiling, and drywall on all
walls. Walls are currently uninsulated, but adding blown in insulation
should be pretty easy. To start, I am considering either an electric
heater, such as this:http://www.heater-home.com/product/G73.aspx. Although
the specs on this one say up to 500 sq', the climate here's not that cold,
plus all I really want it to do is get the space up to 55-60. The downside
is the cost of electricity to run the unit.

Another option seems to be a non-vented propane heater (we do not have
natural gas) like this one:http://www.heatershop.com/garage_heater_gp30t.html Pretty cheap, but I'd
have to buy a 100# propane tank to go with it which adds cost, though
operation is probably a lot less than the electric type. But I'm not sure
I'm totally comfortable with using a non-vented propane heater.

I'm sure there are people here with experience heating a workshop. Any
suggestions appreciated.

TIA

Dan

Not sure what your cost of electricity is in Seattle.
The heaters referred look a little elaborate (and expensive?) IMO for
a home workshop.
A Canadian company, Princess Auto, sell for example a 230 volt fan
heater for around $85 to $100. It has thermostat knob and consumes
4,800 watts. It is basically an about one foot metal cube with a
handle on top. I've seen them elsewhere described as a 'workshop
heater'. They are often painted red or orange.
You will need 230 volt wiring to a circuit breaker or fuse panel.
Probably 10 AWG wiring (30 amps at 230 volts = 6900 watts.) from a 30
amp double pole circuit breaker. Plug them in for portability etc.
Least ways that's how we do ours.
Actually we have three such heaters; two old monsters (cotton covered
cords and big plugs!) at 3500 watts each and one of the workshop type
above which was given to us with a defective fan. Some jiggery pokery
inside the grounded metal case involving a powerful 115 volt fan and a
voltage dropping circuit has repaired that one.
Probably cost you somewhere from 50 cents to a dollar per hour for
electricity to run one of the 4800 watt heaters? So, probably OK for
occasional use?.