# How cold do you keep your shop?



## becikeja (Sep 12, 2010)

My shop is separate from the house, and I only get to use it on the weekends. During the winter I do have a heater, and will typically warm it up to about 65 degrees when I am out there. But during the week I obviously don't want to pay for the heat, so I let it cool off and set the heater at about 40 degrees. I try to keep it above freezing at all times as I do keep the glue, stains etc…. out there.


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## wapakfred (Jul 29, 2011)

My shop has a gas furnace and the thermostat only goes down to 50º, so that's the low temp. If it went down to 40º I'd let it go there, like you said you only need to keep stuff from freezing. To be honest, I doubt it would freeze even if I turned the heat off….except on the very coldest/windiest of days. This is a detached building, and is fairly well insulated. But I know my attached/unheated garage never gets below freezing, though at times it's close. I suspect if I was in colder climes that may not be the case, but my part of west central Ohio really isn't that brutal normally.


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## muleskinner (Sep 24, 2011)

I don't have any installed heating in my shop. In freezing temperatures I put a 60 watt incandescent in the cabinet that I keep finish and glue in.


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## bobkas (May 23, 2010)

I keep mine at about 50 degrees when I'm not in it, but I try to go out every morning before work. I would like to go out in the evening but am usually to fatigued and don't feel it is safe. The instructions with the heater say not to go below 45 as it causes condensation with the temperature swings. I don't think our gas bill went up more than $5.00 with keeping it at 50 when I'm not there.


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## wapakfred (Jul 29, 2011)

> The instructions with the heater say not to go below 45 as it causes condensation with the temperature swings. I don t think our gas bill went up more than $5.00 with keeping it at 50 when I m not there.
> 
> - Bob Kassmeyer


Good point, my heater is LP and I have a meter on the shop. Last year was the coldest winter we had here and I burned 100 gallons of LP ($200 for the winter). A lot higher than nat gas, but still fairly cheap….and that's with being heated to 65 during all the days (I'm retired).


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## lateralus819 (Mar 24, 2013)

I use a wood stove. Sucks in the winter as it takes forever to get heated up (about 24×40).

It is mildly insulated, so it does stay warm once the stove is going.


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## oltexasboy1 (Sep 25, 2013)

I have what is left over from the washer and dryer in our 1 car garage in a old Korean war house. No heat no A/C.
I worked out in the weather for so many years that just having a roof is an improvement .


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## wapakfred (Jul 29, 2011)

Correction to what I said above about using 100 gallons of LP last year. Looked at my records, it was actually 150 gallons for the shop, so it was about $300. Sorry 'bout that.


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## johnstoneb (Jun 14, 2012)

I have a separate shop. Heat it with wood pellets. I'll go out in morning and start stove and with in a couple hours it is in the 60's I generally try to keep it 65 to 68. When I leave at night i shut the heat off even on below zero night it had never got below about 38. I insulated it well when I built it and put an extra inch of rigid on the garage door after it was installed.


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## firefighterontheside (Apr 26, 2013)

I'm working on that right now. I left my space heater set to the lowest setting when I left it yesterday. Went in there this morning and it was cool but not cold. My intention is to buy a plug in thermostat that my heater plugs into. It will let me set the temp to 45 deg. Then I can heat it up from there. I've frozen too much glue and paint in the past. I intend to get a lot of stuff made in there this winter.


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## AlaskaGuy (Jan 29, 2012)

50-70


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## ChrisTheWheeler (Oct 27, 2014)

My shop is a detached, an uninsulated single vehicle garage. Although, none of our vehicles would fit. In the summer, it's great. The trees above keep it cool and comfortable. But as we approach Thanksgiving, things change…fast. I do have a floor propane heater. I leave the tank outside and run the gas hose under the bay door. Once the shop heats up, I can turn the flame down to low and I'm fine for working. Although, last winter, New England had a cold snap that went on for weeks. The heater couldn't keep things warm enough to be comfy. it got so bad that beer cans in the fridge exploded!

Also, during the winter, I move my glues and finish products into the basement.


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## firefighterontheside (Apr 26, 2013)

Interesting that you mention the fridge, Chris. I have a fridge in the shop this year and I want to keep things from freezing, which is one reason to keep it around 45 in there.


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## Woodmaster1 (Apr 26, 2011)

I keep mine at 55 and 65-68 when working. This is my first year for heat so I will see how much it affects the gas bill. I am on a budget so I figure if it goes up 15 to 20 dollars a month it will be worth it.


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## changeoffocus (Dec 21, 2013)

I heat my shop to 50F unoccupied and 65F occupied, once the lights are all on it overheats fast. 
I only have one long outside wall and it's stone and brick 24" thick, the spaces on other sides and above are conditioned 24/7 by others so my cost to heat is minimal.


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## ElChe (Sep 28, 2014)

When my shop was in my garage I didn't heat it unless I was in it working. I live in cold dry weather but my garage has good insulation. My soda cans would got cold but didn't freeze. Now that I have a shop with ridiculously high insulation (e.g. ceiling has close to R50) I leave it toasty in the low 70s all winter long. Even the cat likes to hang out in the shop. I figure anything above freezing works provided moisture is controlled?


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## GT350 (Dec 22, 2012)

My shop is insulated and detached, when I am working in it, I like it about 65 degrees and I heat it with natural gas. I live in Southern Oregon and it is usually not too much lower outside than the low 20's and I don't think my shop has ever gotten colder than the upper 40's.
Mike


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## TheDane (May 15, 2008)

My shop is in what was originally the third stall of the garage. It has a Hot Dawg heater and R39 insulation in the attic … when I finished work today, I set the thermostat at 50 degrees. Tomorrow morning I'll go out and set the thermostat to 62 degrees before breakfast. By the time I get done with breakfast, the shop will be ready for the day.


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## ChuckC (May 13, 2010)

Here is something that can be done to keep stuff warm:
http://lumberjocks.com/projects/62157


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## buildingmonkey (Mar 1, 2014)

I have a wood furnace outside my 16×66 wood shop. I added a layer of r11 to my r19 ceiling last winter, but not finished, still have some insulation to put in this winter. Might roll another layer on top when I'm finished, as Menards has the stuff on sale pretty regularly. Generally I go out and build a fire before heading off to do chores, and a couple hours later it is getting nice in there. Takes time to feed a cow herd and a bunch of smaller calves. On cold days, I just stay out there till after dark. It is not freezing in the morning after letting the fire go out, even after very cold nights.


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## rhybeka (Nov 8, 2009)

I'm like a lot of the folks in this post and yourself - my shop is in an uninsulated/unattached two car garage that shares it's home with a Mercury Montego 5-6 months out of the year. I don't honestly have a good way to keep it warm - just try to keep myself warm while working. I'm in the process of building a half size bench (thanks to Shipwright's blog/how to on it) so I can work on my hand tool skills in a small space of the unfinished portion of my basement during the winter. If I have to cut something / be in the shop I layer up and wear carhart bibs, and a coat. I have an electric heater I'll plug in and blow directly on me, but I try to turn it off if I'm going to run the table saw since it appears to blow a circuit if I run them both. (Yes, my wiring is funky - blaming the previous home owner on that one). I've been told I'll be allowed to build a shop in the backyard in the next 3-5 years so we can have the garage back so I'm not in a rush to put much into upgrading the space. I've thought about insulating the garage door at least, and putting a mat or two down on the floor to keep me from being in direct contact with the concrete, but that's about it.


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## Bill7255 (Feb 23, 2012)

I just built a new shop 30X50 and I put hot water radiant heat in the floor. It is great. Right now I have the thermostat set at 55. Seems plenty warm at this point. I really don't know the cost at this point using natural gas as a source, but can say this is the best heat I have ever had. The only draw back would be if I wanted to raise the temperature it would take awhile. What is nice is everything in the shop is warm. My previous shop 30X56 had a 200,000 btu propane heater and while it would heat up quickly it cost too much to keep it heated except when I was out there and my feet got cold limiting my working time. If you are building I think this is the way to go as all the tools are "warm" and no cold feet.


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## BinghamtonEd (Nov 30, 2011)

My shop is the garage and in the winter time it is usually around 40-45 degrees. There is no heat source out there, so I throw on a sweatshirt and hat. I've learned to do smaller projects in the winter months that don't require much finishing, like jigs, tool restores/upgrades, etc. If I need to glue something, I bring it, and the glue, into the basement (60 degrees) the day before I need to glue up. I typically get 2-3 hours per week in the shop so it doesn't make sense for me to spend money to make it more workable.


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## Dezza (Oct 29, 2014)

50 - 70


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## 6mmBR (Sep 29, 2014)

I live in northern IL, so winters can be brutal. Not as brutal as MN or northern WI, but brutal regardless. My shop is shared with our attached garage. I have a Modine Hot Dawg, and the walls are insulated and have OSB on them.

I usually keep it at 55 F in the winter, and maybe 60 F when I'm out there. It's actually kind of refreshing to go out there because my wife likes it warmer than I do in the house.

The summers are not much fun either, so I have a 1 ton AC I put in the window. Just when I'm out there, though. My loading bench is out there too.

Once in a great while a car actually gets in there.


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