Heating a garage

Do a search on Lumberjocks. This thread came up a number of times as soon as the cold weather set in. There are a number of good reviews on heaters as well when you decide electric/gas/kero/propane/radiant etc.
Good Luck
Dave

-- "_If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astonish ourselves_." Edison

diddo: This recent thread got a lot of good suggestions;

http://lumberjocks.com/topics/22435

-- "Heaven is North of the Bridge"

Here’s how I solved my garage/workshop heat problem: http://lumberjocks.com/reviews/1161

—Gerry

-- Gerry -- "I don't plan to ever really grow up ... I'm just going to learn how to act in public!"

TheDane, kanihoncho, and others that may be interested. I do not know IF the Fahrenheat is imapcted, but there are starting to be rumors of a possible recall on the Dayton mounted units like that. The thermostat wiring on them is melting off and shorting out. No reports of any fires yet, but there are guys on sawmillcreek talking about it, and it looks like a couple are lucky they still have a shop…

I know you said you don’t want to use them, but I am going to suggest it anyway. Oil filled electric radiators. VERY low risk for fire, very easy to use, reasonably efficient for an electric heater..

Can you use gas? What about a properly vented gas heater?

-- Manufacturer of fine quality sawdust since 1984. Comments and advice on my shop welcome. Check it out at http://lumberjocks.com/dbhost/workshop. Gladly accepting shop build donations!

dbhost—Thanks for the heads up … I found the posts at SMC, and checked the wiring on my heater. Doesn’t seem to be a problem with my unit, but I may order a replacement spare thermostat just in case.

Gas isn’t an option, and floor space (for an oil-filled unit) is at a premium in my shop, so I will be sticking with the Fahrenheit 5000.

—Gerry

-- Gerry -- "I don't plan to ever really grow up ... I'm just going to learn how to act in public!"

http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/solar.html

A buy, Morris Dovey owns this site. He has sold passive solar collectors that are shop-built for years. He has data and info available. I am not sure, he may not be doing them anymore, but he is helpful. From the information on his site you could rig something similar, or purchase a ready to go system from him you could install.

Neat system. Wish I had one on my shop. :)

Also, click on the big picture to go to a page that shows some more info about them.

-- A strange game. The only winning move is not to play -- Joshua in War Games

Ditto on the search. Many ways to heat. Just remember to insulate and plug any air leaks. Got that on the list for tomorrow.
Forget about Florida- it’s cold down there. Weather Channel showed people at Disney World all bundled up like they were in Chicago.

-- Regret- the feeling you get just after you do something really stupid.

I saw these in a FWW article. Looks like an interesting solution.

http://www.sshcinc.com/enerjoy1sizing.htm

-- Tadd, Denver, http://patentcraftsman.com/

After researching this issue on Lumberjocks earlier this fall, I settled on the Fahrenheat 5000 watt heater for my garage. It is a 3 car garage that is well insulated and this unit does a satisfactory job. I timed it and it took 90 minutes to raise the temperature from 49 degrees to 60 degrees. Outside temps today were in the upper 20’s.

The unit has been in operation all day today and I checked the wiring and found everything to be ok. I hope I didn’t just blackcat myself!

I want to thank TheDane and others who have addressed this subject. I am very happy with the Fahrenheat unit both in price and performance.

-- "It's amazing how much can go wrong when you think you know what you're doing."

I had mine on for about 6 hours today … checked the wiring in mine again before quitting time and all was good.

Can’t be too careful, but I’m guessing that whatever caused the failures discussed on SMC isn’t present with my unit.

—Gerry

-- Gerry -- "I don't plan to ever really grow up ... I'm just going to learn how to act in public!"