"Dave Rathnow" wrote in message
news:OZ3Xc.55635$X12.38428@edtnps84...

With winter immanent, I'm looking at putting some heating in my shop
so I can work and not freeze. I've heard people say that any
kind of open flame heating is dangerous because it could ignite saw
dust--I've heard others say this is rubbish.

Could people share their opinions and advice? Is an open
flame heater dangerous? What type of heating do you use?
Any recommendations to heat my shop: it's about 20x20
with a 12 foot ceiling.

Thanks,
Dave.

Dave - it's pure hogwash. Thousands of woodworkers both professional and
non have burned firewood in their shops since forever. There has indeed
been a great deal of discussion surrounding this and in fact a great deal of
real fact. In the end, you won't be able to create the type of air/fuel
density necessary for combustion with your shop tools. You can do a google
search and find the reports of exactly what particulate count and what size
the particulates have to be in order to support combustion if you choose,
but you'll find that you really can't create that environment.

I use an open pilot propane furnace in my garage. It's a forced air unit
and if anything was going to stir the air up, this thing would be the
ticket. I do woodworking, autobody repair and painting, and I even hang a
deer or two or three a year in there, and well, here I am writing to you, so
it can't be all that bad. My garage is 26x36 with 9 foot ceilings and I
have a big furnace - maybe bigger than I need but it was free. Don't know
the btu rating but you could ask just about any HVAC guy and he can tell you
what you'll need in a heartbeat. I'm up in Central NY and the winters here
are long and cold, but my furnace warms the garage in minutes even on the
worst day.

--

-Mike-