Hello,
I know I have asked this before , sorry. I am going to be installing heat in
my garage soon. I was going to going to go with
electric but any heater I would get would draw most of my amps from my
panel. So I am going to run a gas line as soon as
the ground thaws. I will be insulating and drywalling the garage also. I was
wondering if anyone had any suggestions on
which heater to go with? I am doing a little research on infrared heaters
right now. Anyone have any thoughts on those?
Any other ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Rich

I installed a Modine brand heater a few years back. I love it. It was
approximately $700 from McMaster-Carr. Mine is LP, but they make them for
Natural Gas too. I installed it myself, which isn't too hard. I had the
propane guy look over the installation when he installed the tank as a
second check. The model I bought is 75,000 btu. It can heat my shop from 30°
to 65° in 10-15 minutes. Once the shop is warm it only kicks on every 10
minutes or so for a few minutes.

Joe in Denver
My Woodworking Website:
www.the-wildings.com/shop/

"Richard J Petruso" wrote in message
...
Hello,
I know I have asked this before , sorry. I am going to be installing heat
in my garage soon. I was going to going to go with
electric but any heater I would get would draw most of my amps from my
panel. So I am going to run a gas line as soon as
the ground thaws. I will be insulating and drywalling the garage also. I
was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on
which heater to go with? I am doing a little research on infrared heaters
right now. Anyone have any thoughts on those?
Any other ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Rich

This does come up from time to time. I would suggest you look at a recycled
forced air furnace. Sometimes you can buy them from building material
salvage dealers, heating/cooling contractors, etc. They often come from
homes that have been remodeled and added on to, requiring more capacity.

I bought one several years ago for $25. It was a downdraft unit and I had a
welder make a simple frame to lift it off of the floor about 1 foot. I
hooked it to gas, installed a vent, installed a thermostat and turned it on.
Worked great.

In a garage you might want to check local codes. Also, you will want to
install it about 2 feet above the floor to keep it away from gasoline fumes.
Use of ductwork depends on your application but the small shop I installed
mine in didn't need any.

RonB

On my last job site, they installed radiant heaters (infrared?) and I
was nothing short of amazed at the job they do. Radiant beats the
pants off of forced-air any day of the week.

There are a few caveats, though. These heaters had to be hanging way
out in the middle of nowhere, otherwise they'd set something on fire.
If you have height considerations in your shop, they may not work, but
if you can use them, I'd say use them.

The preceding has been my own personal, limited experience, and YMMV.

-Phil Crow

"Joe Wilding" wrote in message
news:1110509140.8a363e49dcb6fe418fed1ce644079422@t eranews...
I installed a Modine brand heater a few years back. I love it. It was
approximately $700 from McMaster-Carr. Mine is LP, but they make them for
Natural Gas too. I installed it myself, which isn't too hard. I had the
propane guy look over the installation when he installed the tank as a
second check. The model I bought is 75,000 btu. It can heat my shop from
30° to 65° in 10-15 minutes. Once the shop is warm it only kicks on every
10 minutes or so for a few minutes.

Joe in Denver
My Woodworking Website:
www.the-wildings.com/shop/


I also installed a Modine and it has been fantastic the last two winters. My
shop is 24 x32 and I put the 100,000 btu unit in. By rights it called for
the 75,000 btu model but I just figured bigger would be better. I'm in New
Jersey and figure my LP use to be about 250 gallons a year maintaining a
temp of 45 degrees when I'm not in there and keeping it between 55 and 62
degrees 24/7 when I working on something. Mine will work with natural gas or
LP.

"Richard J Petruso" wrote in message
...
Hello,
I know I have asked this before , sorry. I am going to be installing heat
in my garage soon. I was going to going to go with
electric but any heater I would get would draw most of my amps from my
panel. So I am going to run a gas line as soon as
the ground thaws. I will be insulating and drywalling the garage also. I
was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on
which heater to go with? I am doing a little research on infrared heaters
right now. Anyone have any thoughts on those?
Any other ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Rich

Infrared is nice in that it is feeling warm to the body in seconds compared
to hot air. as long as you are in direct line, otherwise you have to wait
until things get heated up anyway.

Size depends on your location and how much you anticipate heating it. I
have a 30,000 Btu that gives me a 30 -35 degree temperature rise. Great
much of the time, but not enough when it is single digits outside.

"joeD" wrote in message
...

"

I also installed a Modine and it has been fantastic the last two winters.
My shop is 24 x32 and I put the 100,000 btu unit in. By rights it called
for the 75,000 btu model but I just figured bigger would be better. I'm in
New Jersey and figure my LP use to be about 250 gallons a year maintaining
a temp of 45 degrees when I'm not in there and keeping it between 55 and
62 degrees 24/7 when I working on something. Mine will work with natural
gas or LP.


100,000 BTU in a 24 x 32 shop??? Put some insulation in that sucker!
My shop is 24 x 38 feet and I heat it with a 50,000 BTU furnace, which is
still a bit large. North Dakota winters!
Greg

100,000 BTU in a 24 x 32 shop??? Put some insulation in that sucker!
My shop is 24 x 38 feet and I heat it with a 50,000 BTU furnace, which is
still a bit large. North Dakota winters!
Greg


LOL I know I got a good deal on the heater. It is insulated but I lose
most of my heat through the overhead door. Still I figure if I'm getting by
with less then 300 gallons a season I am doing fine.

One more thing. I was looking thorugh old wood magazines last night, looking
for a project. The October 2002 issue of Wood has a great article on
different types of shop heaters, the relative prices, and pros and cons of
each.

By the way, isn't this the wrong time of year to be worrying about a shop
heater? Another month and you won't have to worry about it anymore. Then you
could use that budget to buy more tools, and worry about the heater next
fall when your toes get cold again! Just my opinion.

Joe in Denver
My Woodworking Website:
www.the-wildings.com/shop/

"Richard J Petruso" wrote in message
...
Hello,
I know I have asked this before , sorry. I am going to be installing heat
in my garage soon. I was going to going to go with
electric but any heater I would get would draw most of my amps from my
panel. So I am going to run a gas line as soon as
the ground thaws. I will be insulating and drywalling the garage also. I
was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on
which heater to go with? I am doing a little research on infrared heaters
right now. Anyone have any thoughts on those?
Any other ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Rich

On Thu, 10 Mar 2005 21:02:02 -0600, "RonB" wrote:

This does come up from time to time. I would suggest you look at a recycled
forced air furnace. Sometimes you can buy them from building material
salvage dealers, heating/cooling contractors, etc. They often come from
homes that have been remodeled and added on to, requiring more capacity.

I bought one several years ago for $25. It was a downdraft unit and I had a
welder make a simple frame to lift it off of the floor about 1 foot. I
hooked it to gas, installed a vent, installed a thermostat and turned it on.
Worked great.

In a garage you might want to check local codes. Also, you will want to
install it about 2 feet above the floor to keep it away from gasoline fumes.
Use of ductwork depends on your application but the small shop I installed
mine in didn't need any.

RonB

====================================
Not a bad idea.... Both of my sons work for a HVAC form..doing mostly
new construction... but do get sub contracted out for major remodeling
jobs...

They installed a 116,000 BTU furnace for me 3 years ago (just
finishing my 2 full winter with it) ...it was FREE..and so was the A/C
unit... it was only about 2 years old when they "removed" it because
it was too small for the remodel job they had...

I do not have natural gas but the cost for a conversion kit to convert
it to Propane was less then going out to dinner at a cheap restraunt
....did have to "plug" some of the jets however to make it cycle on and
off efficiently...

OLD furnaces are out there... AND SO ARE NEW ONES... .

Just the other day my one sone told me that "someone" installed the
wrong furnace in one of the homes they are doing in a development...
(too small etc...for that particular home) ..and it had to be
hanked...never used at all...BUT no longer NEW ..and his company
could not re-install it in another home... Think he said his company
left it go for a hundred bucks to another employee...(hopefully not
the one who screwed up the paperwork and had the wrong one installed
in the wrong house originally...

Bob Griffiths

On Fri, 11 Mar 2005 08:20:43 -0500, "joeD" wrote:





100,000 BTU in a 24 x 32 shop??? Put some insulation in that sucker!
My shop is 24 x 38 feet and I heat it with a 50,000 BTU furnace, which is
still a bit large. North Dakota winters!
Greg



=========================================
My shop is on the second floor of a 24x24 2 story garage and like I
said in my other post it is heated by a 116,000 BTU furnace (less
because some of the jets are plugged)... 6 single pane non insulated
windows (one of which is a large opicture window) plus 2 uninsulated
garage doors...

You bet I could throw in a lot more insulation...but my Propane usage
also is under 300 gallons a year keeping the upstairs shop (that is
where the thermostat is located) at 50 degrees 24/7...and only raise
it to 68 when I am out there ..(alot since I am retired)

costs between 400 and 500 bucks to heat it...not worth replacing the
windows, doors, and caulking the hell out of the building to save at
best 200 bucks a year..

Bob G.

On 2005-03-11, Bob G wrote:

costs between 400 and 500 bucks to heat it...not worth replacing the
windows, doors, and caulking the hell out of the building to save at
best 200 bucks a year..

I'm not sure about that. I've heard that most heat is lost through air
leakage and silicone caulk is cheap. Blower door tests are not - which
brings me to this subject change.

Any Normite and many Neanders are going to have a fairly large dust
collector in their shop. My own is a two HP Delta unit and I also have
a large Shopsmith dust collector waiting to be sold. I wonder if these
units are large enough and could be re-arranged to test for home air
leakage?

My thought is to make an adapter for a window rather than a door and
to remove the bag on my big Delta dust collecter and use that as a blower.
I have a 220 circuit in my bathroom on the first floor ( the washer and
dryer are there) and a large window in there also. Wheel in the dust
collector, do the blower test, calk, rinse-lather-repeat. By the end
of the summer things should be pretty tight.

What do they use to find the leaks? Some kind of incense?

--
I can find no modern furniture that is as well designed and emotionally
satisfying as that made by the Arts and Crafts movement in the early years
of the last century.

On 12 Mar 2005 15:33:56 GMT, Ed Clarke wrote:

On 2005-03-11, Bob G wrote:

snip

My thought is to make an adapter for a window rather than a door and
to remove the bag on my big Delta dust collecter and use that as a blower.
I have a 220 circuit in my bathroom on the first floor ( the washer and
dryer are there) and a large window in there also. Wheel in the dust
collector, do the blower test, calk, rinse-lather-repeat. By the end
of the summer things should be pretty tight.

What do they use to find the leaks? Some kind of incense?

Any fan with a known cfm output could be used as an alternative to a
door blower unit. With a fan, measure the cfm output and take
differential pressure readings at the boundaries of the space you are
testing. This will give you the actual leakage area if you calculate
it at cfm over (2610 times the square root of delta pressure).
However, this only gives you a measurement of the actual area of
leakage. If all you want to do is find the leakage, pressurize the
space (positive or negative) and run a stick of incense or other
colored tracer gas at the boudary walls and see where the air moves
the gas. Keep in mind that all building materials will have some
leakage not just at the joints. If you have a cinder block wall, it
will leak a good amount. Only way to seal is to paint the wall.

Allyn

"Ed Clarke" wrote in message
...
On 2005-03-11, Bob G wrote:

costs between 400 and 500 bucks to heat it...not worth replacing the
windows, doors, and caulking the hell out of the building to save at
best 200 bucks a year..

I'm not sure about that. I've heard that most heat is lost through air
leakage and silicone caulk is cheap. Blower door tests are not - which
brings me to this subject change.



I wondered about that too. Seems to me a couple of hundred bucks toward
sealing the shop up would go a long way to reduce his gas bill, but then we
have not seen his shop either. It may need allot more than $200 to make a
difference!
Don't forget that if he even trims off $50 of his annual bill, he saves
that EVERY year following. I would be some insulating, and caulking!
Greg