# Are baseboard heaters safe with painting fumes?



## totalrewind (Mar 6, 2012)

I've got a pump shed-basically a small lean-to room that I am thinking about using as a paint booth. There is already a window so ventilation should be no problem. Only issue is there is an electric baseboard heater (to keep pipes from freezing).

This could be a good thing for helping paint to dry, but… would there be an issue with spraying something like lacquer around an electric baseboard heater?

If there was an open flame at all I wouldn't even be considering it, but there isn't really an ignition source, so… Maybe??

What do you think?


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## HapHazzard (Jan 9, 2016)

In a paint booth, paint tends to get everywhere, and when it gets on the heating element, it's at least going to smell bad, and might cause an open flame which would be very bad in a room full of fumes. A paint booth definitely needs heat, as most paint tells you to apply it at 60° or more. You might want to talk to a heating pro to see what other options are available.


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## dbw (Dec 2, 2013)

> In a paint booth, paint tends to get everywhere, and when it gets on the heating element, it s at least going to smell bad, and might cause an open flame which would be very bad in a room full of fumes. A paint booth definitely needs heat, as most paint tells you to apply it at 60° or more. You might want to talk to a heating pro to see what other options are available.
> 
> - HapHazzard


+1


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## wapakfred (Jul 29, 2011)

I think you would be OK with everything except nitrocellulose lacquer. Lacquer has such a huge amount (and variety) of solvents in it, it doesn't take much to make it go boom. Then of course, there's the pump switch (I would think) and those are usually contact points which could spark.


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## splintergroup (Jan 20, 2015)

Precaution is always a good thing!

Baseboard heaters typically have sealed elements (you don't see glowing elements) so as an open flame type ignition point they are safe, however as Fred points out the vapors from volatile solvents like lacquer thinners have relatively low flash points that make even the sorta-sealed contacts in the heaters thermostat a potential ignition source.

You could turn the heater off while finishing. Once the vapors have been vented, things should be fine.

My finish room (about 14' x 8') has cross ventilation and a sealed door for when I'm spraying and then after fumes are clear I open the door so the shop heat can warm the place back up.

Anyway, without fully knowing the heaters specifics I'd err on caution and avoid any spraying while the heater has the ability to be running.


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## ibewjon (Oct 2, 2010)

There are special electric heaters that are rated as explosion proof. You would not want to pay for one. The thermostat contacts in your heater can arc and cause an explosion


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

+1 on ibewjon. If it is UL listed for Class I Division 1 hazardous atmosphere it is safe to use. Same for any arc-producing switches, t-stats, and outlets. The entire shed will probably be classed as NEC Article 430 Class I Division 1 hazardous atmosphere.


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## ibewjon (Oct 2, 2010)

As Bob added, even the lighting and light switches can arc and cause an explosion. Which is why if you smell gas in your home, do not turn on the lights.


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

> As Bob added, even the lighting and light switches can arc and cause an explosion. Which is why if you smell gas in your home, do not turn on the lights.
> 
> - ibewjon


Run if you smell gas. Turning anything off will have an arc too. Propane is so volatile static electricity too light to be felt walking through the area can ignite it. Gasoline fumes are rarely set off by static, but it is possible. I have no idea where finishing fumes fall. Probably somewhere in between?


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## ibewjon (Oct 2, 2010)

Spraying puts a lot of solvent in the air. When you reach the LEL, lower explosive limit, you are in the danger zone. You may get away with it for a long time. Till you don't.


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## bbc557ci (Sep 20, 2012)

Many years ago a friend of mine died from a fume explosion while sanding and finishing hardwood floors in the living room of a house. Fire Dept determined it was the pilot light to the gas water heater or furnace in the basement. just say'n…


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

Wood dust and fibers are explosive in the proper concentrations. If it grows it blows. When I was a kid on the farm a guy was welding in a grain elevator as harvest season started. An operator sent a load of grain to the wrong place and blew him up ;((

A potential customer called in the mid-80s when car finishes were explosive. He wanted a price to connect a piece of spray equipment in his auto body shop. It was all general-purpose wiring and they were spraying in there without a proper explosion-proof spray booth. I told him the electrical inspector would shut down his operation. He said the fire department had done an inspection a couple of weeks before and given him a clean bill of health. I suppose they were looking for extension cords and piled storage )

Another cabinet shop without explosion-proof wiring had to have escaped fire inspections too. It was at least 20,000 square feet. They had a spray booth for finishing but the volume was too high and they were not using it. On one service call, I found a motor starter packed so tight with wood dust it stopped working. That place was too dangerous to be involved in as the last knowledgeable person. My insurance company had told me to send notices to any dangerous installations I found. I put it on the invoices. There was no concern or response. I quit doing service calls for them. I found other places the wiring was so dangerous I refused to do the job.

One of the last jobs I did before retiring was expanding a specialty grocery store in a strip mall. They moved a hair salon over one unit so the grocery store could expand. The hair place had illegal wiring. The most dangerous was thing was the dryer vent. It was run up to the roof where there was a roof vent. It was not attached. There was a couple of inches between the roof vent and the drying vent tubing. The attic space above the drop ceiling had a lot of fiber collected. I told the owner of the grocery store and the city inspector. The owner was very upset and concerned. I was concerned about the city inspector's attitude. Lots of bombs out there waiting for a triggering event.


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## Foghorn (Jan 30, 2020)

> Spraying puts a lot of solvent in the air. When you reach the LEL, lower explosive limit, you are in the danger zone. You may get away with it for a long time. Till you don t.
> 
> - ibewjon


LEL is a big one. Range of flammability is the other. OP said he was spraying lacquer. Lacquer has a wide range of flammability. Class 1 div. 1 lights, fans, anything electrical if you want to keep things from blowing up and burning down.


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## ibewjon (Oct 2, 2010)

So to sum it up, heat it up, and turn off the heaters at the panel outside the room. Turn off the power to the pump, the lights, and anything else electrical in the room at the panel outside the room. Spray away in the dark, leave the door and window open, and do not turn power to anything on until the next day. Then it MIGHT be safe.


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