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I was at the new house last week and the daytime high was about 25. Low was -4. I used my 75000 btu diesel jet heater to warm the shop. It did ok but I don't like the smell it puts off. If I open up the shop enough that it doesn't smell then it doesn't warm. What other options do I have? I was thinking a simple propane wall heater like you see in homes or putting in a wood burning stove. I like the idea of the wood stove for longer days in the shop.
 
The propane powered space heaters have almost no odors or fumes but fuel costs are about double that of the kerosene models. Heating large open spaces is a no-win situation where all you can do is keep your losses down to a minimum.

Phil
 
The first floor of the shop is 30x 40 with about a 10 foot tall ceiling. All drywalled but not sure if it is insulated.
 
Chris said:
The first floor of the shop is 30x 40 with about a 10 foot tall ceiling. All drywalled but not sure if it is insulated.
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find a 150 gallon propane tank...fill it with water and get all the residual gas out,

rocket mass heater.

on demand wtr flow.jpg
 
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Chris said:
Is the 3 inch vent the chimney?
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the 4'' pipe inside of the tank is the chimney, the 3'' is a vent.

the way it is set up. you get max heat out of the firebox before the heat is sucked out the vent
 
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A lot of people built different forms of that type of stove around here. Do a search on “DIY downdraft wood stoves” and you will find all kind of information.

Wood is ok but also a lot of work or money. If you cut your own you have to cut it and haul it and then split it and stack it then wait a year for it to dry and then haul it in and burn it and then haul the ash out. The serious people around here have an outside wood burner boiler with underground PEX insulated pipes and then in their building they have in floor heat tubing or heat exchangers. Most build a pole building to hold all the wood and the burner. It keeps all the mess out of the shop plus who wants half their heated shop full of wood. These burners only need stoked every other day. I have a friend that has one that takes a full pallet of wood and he loads it with forks on his skid steer. Spring and fall it runs a few days as you adjust the burn rate. Check with your insurance company about burning wood or coal as they might have a lot to say about what setup you use.

Wood to me is how you value your time if you can be working your equipment and making money the time you spend messing around with wood is costing you money. And the non vented oil heaters give me a headache in a short time. they are great if you need to work in a cold place for a short time but for all day usage I don’t like them. I keep my big garage unheated and time my work in there for mild days and then have my small work shop I can heat with propane and do stuff on the work benches.

If you go with wood check around if there are any local saw mills that sell slab wood. My nephew buys a huge load from the Amish for cheep and cuts it to length with an electric chain saw.
 
I am not a huge fan of wood myself but so far it is the only thing I can tolerate all day in a shop. I won't be using my shop daily but I want to be able to use my shop when I want and not have to schedule around the weather. My house is all electric so I will be burning fires there most of the winter as well so wood makes sense. A wall heater is probably more efficient but then I will be buying propane every day or two unless I get a large tank. Wall heater also takes up less room which is important.

Explain these boiler systems a little better to me?
 
Chris said:
My house is 250 feet away from my shop and about 40 higher in elevation.
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http://guelph.ca/2014/01/guelph-beg...icas-first-city-wide-district-energy-network/

I don't know about the hill but I talked to one guy that buried the pipe deep in sand and no insulation. He said his ground water was stable and didn't move much so the hot pipe would heat the sand and ground water and he would still get heat for a day after the boiler went down.

There was a gravel pit here that built a shop and put under floor heat in with an oil fired boiler. After a few years it sprang a leak in the under floor pipe and they shut it down. They discovered the floor was still warm days later.
They changed the system to add hot water to the sand under the floor and pumped water from under the floor at the other end of the building.
 
Chris said:
That's pretty neat.
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it works, I have a small one I made for cooking in the yard, I use only sticks that fall ouff the trees

radiant heat..with the flat top, you can keep your coffee pot warm, heat a tortilla
 
I think . if you have a 200 amp service in the shop.
that you would be happier with a vertical heat/ac house unit.

stick it in a corner, build a 2' high wood box. sheet rocked on the inside with a 20x20 opening for a fliter
set he unit on top of it. and a small plenium, let the air blow out the top
1 ton should be big enough
 
Never seen one. Is it just a forced air unit? Will it suck the power?
 
Chris said:
Never seen one. Is it just a forced air unit? Will it suck the power?
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a lot cheaper than propane, you will not be running it all the time
or turn the stat down to 50 when not in the shop.


it is a split system, ac compressor outside, and the heat strip/ac fan is inside
the inside unit, sits on a 3'x3' x 2' tall box that is the reurn air
the unit itself is about 5' long

iui.jpg
 
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