# How do you keep warm in the workshop?



## rweitz (Dec 22, 2009)

It's a mite cold these days and I was wondering how people kept the temps up to bareable levels. I don't have a lot of spare electrical so I was thinking about one of those propane heaters we used on our driftboats. It just seems a bit dangerous to have something like that with all the wood and wood dust floating around.

So what do you do?


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## Rick Dennington (Aug 27, 2009)

rweitz:
When I had my shop built 8 years ago, I had a heating and air conditioning unit put it at the same time. It sits in a seperate room along with my dust collector and air compressor. It's a 3 ton heat pump, thermostat controlled, and has 9 ceiling vents in the shop side and 6 vents on the "boat side" of the shop where I keep my boat and tow vechile. It's a 40' x 50' shop, so I needed plenty of h&a…. Like a house, I just set the thermostat to whatever I need to stay warm or cool…..


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

Oil filled electric radiator. But I live in Southern Texas… I don't need much in the way of heat.


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## spunwood (Aug 20, 2010)

shameless plug:
http://lumberjocks.com/topics/23112


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## spunwood (Aug 20, 2010)

No, a shameless plug is not the method of keeping warm


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## DrewM (Mar 10, 2010)

I have a tank mounted propane heater, I find it to be decently safe if you use common sense. I turn it on and off just to take the edge off the chill in the shop. I have noticed some minor moisture issues with tools inside my tool box, but everything else shows no signs of rust. I have a minor concern about the fumes it puts out but since my shop is so drafty I'm not that worried.


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## Maveric777 (Dec 23, 2009)

Well, it doesn't get near as cold here in East Texas as it does get hot. The heat here isn't what kills you (110 deg),but the 80(plus) percent humidity will flat out melt you. So I finally got my bride on board and I made an "Investment"... I killed two birds with one stone… With it being in the upper 20's this morning reminded me of how awesome a product this it….

Here is my baby girl doing her model thing showing it off….









And here is the exhaust ports I put in the garage door. 









It liked to kill me doing that to my door, but after the fact it was all worth it.

Here is the link just in case you may be interested: 
EdgeStar Extreme Cool 14,000 BTU Dual Hose Portable Air Conditioner & Heater


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## Maveric777 (Dec 23, 2009)

Oh and BTW… The exhaust ports easily detach and I just roll it out of the way when not in use…


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## Dcase (Jul 7, 2010)

I gave up and built a temp work bench over some spare counter space in my house. I moved my most used hand tools and supplies inside and thats where I do the most of my work. I only run out to the cold garage shop when I need to use the power tools.. Sure I have plane shavings scattered through my house but at least I am warm.

I plan on getting a ventless propane heater for next year. I think you can get them for less then 200 dollars and don't have to worry about venting any pipes out of the shop.


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## jusfine (May 22, 2010)

I have a (gas) radiant heater in my shop, keeps me toasty warm even when it is -40 degrees and the wind is howling… 

Highly recommend it!


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## Finn (May 26, 2010)

I use a small electric space heater here in west Texas


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## Gregn (Mar 26, 2010)

It shouldn't hurt anything, not any different that a gas heater.
Must be heating ok Dan, she ain't got no socks and shoes on. LOL


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## SnowyRiver (Nov 14, 2008)

I use a natural gas Modine Hot Dawg heater. Its 3 below zero here now and its a toasty 60 in the shop. The shop is 450 sq ft and insulated, so I can turn it up to any temp I need and it works great.


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## agallant (Jul 1, 2010)

http://www.amazon.com/Dayton-3VE55-Heater-Torpedo-Lp/dp/B000TK6F9G

I got mine at HD for about $99. It connectes to a gas grill cilinder, heats my shop up to about 80 in 20 min. I go through a cilinder about every 1.5 months. not bad at $17.99 a fill.


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## Raymond (Mar 12, 2008)

I have a pellet stove, actually it is for heating the house, but it is right next to my shop, infact it gets to hot some times and I have to open a window.


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## NBeener (Sep 16, 2009)

OhByTheWay …..

It's also a good idea to search the forum-maybe using key words like "heater," "winter," "propane," "ceramic," "furnace," "Modine," etc.

The topic comes up-not surprisingly-a lot. I don't know that everybody chimes in to answer the same question every time it's asked (that sounds smarmy, but wasn't meant to be).

My brother had a Modine furnace plumbed for his 3-car garage (shop is a small part of it), and has a digital thermostat, keeping it at about 50F, when NOT in use, and ramping it up (about 15min) to about 65F, when he wants to use it.

The other thing to be SURE of is that …. you've done pretty much everything you can to insulate it well. Pure upside.

Me ?

Basement. Shop stays pretty much 63 - 68* all through the winter, with NO added heat. Blue foam board insulation on the exterior of the foundation walls. Pure concrete walls and floor.

The downsides are pretty clear-access, clearance for in/out of big stuff, noise, and dust-but … the comfort factor, for me, is huge.

For the record, it was below zero, here, all weekend :-O Shop temps just didn't budge.


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## LeeinEdmonton (Aug 5, 2008)

I have a radiant tube gas fired heater & like Randy it keeps things toasty warm even during darn cold weather.
When not working in the shop the thermostat is set at 10 deg.C which prevents finishing materials from freezing. When in the shop I set the theromstat to 18 deg.C The heater is rated 35,000 btu & heats my double garage/shop quickly & with no fan blowing stuff around it is a pleasure to have

Lee


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

I wait for the summer


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## DaddyZ (Jan 28, 2010)

Wood Burning Stove !!


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## JasonD (Jul 26, 2010)

I'd love to get a wood burning stove eventually. In the meantime, I have a small electric space heater. To be honest, I only run it for about 5 minutes or so though. Working primarily with hand tools, I tend to warm up pretty quickly and end up having to turn the heater off after just a few minutes.


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## helluvawreck (Jul 21, 2010)

I have a small space heater but I also wear long underware when it's cold.


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## 8iowa (Feb 7, 2008)

The real "key" to heating success is insulation. Fortunately, insulation is cheap and usually easy to install. I cut 1" thick foam insulation into panels and glued them to my garage door. I used vinyl seal around the top and sides of the garage door to close off the gaps. If the walls still have the studs exposed, the walls can be insulated - ceiling too if possible.

I'm not a fan of non-vented propane heaters. They introduce a lot of moisture into the air along with other products of combustion that I really don't want to breathe. I use a 120V 1500 watt ceramic electric heater and my garage seldom gets below 60 degrees, even during the sub freezing weather we have had in the past two weeks.


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## gstock (Sep 22, 2010)

My shop has no insulation yet, so I keep warm by doing my work faster (sloppier?) during the winter months. I have about 1,500 sq. ft. of 13' ceilings, so this ain't gonna be cheap. The word "insulation" has now made it to my list of savings priorities for next year.


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## doninvegas (Jun 10, 2010)

I have REALLY small sop (120 sq. ft) and I have 2 small electric heaters. I know, I know it doesn't get cold in Vegas but it snowed yesterday and it's in the upper 20's and low 30's. The two little units get my shop to a comfortable temp.


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## RetiredCoastie (Sep 7, 2009)

I use the HOT ONE by Cadet. http://www.cadetco.com/show_product.php?prodid=1012

My shop is in my 2 car garage that I insulated, and drywalled. Here in Washington state the temps have been in the mid 20s F to low 30s. Ive been keeping the garage at 65 deg F when I'm working in the shop, about 4 to 5 days and evenings a week. I have the heater set around the lower third of the control travel. I got the first electric bill and it only rose by $20.00. I do have garage door seals that need to be replaced around the perimeter of the door opening and I need to insulate the pull down attic stairs. This heater works great and comes on about every 25 to 30 minutes for 5 minutes and the temp stays pretty stable. Once I get the temp up I don't use the garage door. When the heater is off and outside temp in the high twenties or low thirties my garage consistently stays around 45 to 55 deg F unless I open the garage door. Insulation is the key but a good heater brings it all together. If I turn up the heater to it's max setting I can get it into the 80s. Good luck!


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## Blondewood (Mar 30, 2009)

I'm in MD and use 2 1500 watt heaters to bring it up to temp and then unless it's horribly cold I back of to one. Takes about an hour to pre-heat the shop from 30 deg to 70.


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## Rick Dennington (Aug 27, 2009)

I agree with 8iowa….* the key to stay warm is insulation*. As stated in my post above, I have a large shop, and when I had it built, the walls are 2×6 studs instead of 2×4, with blown insulation in between, and had about 16" blown in the attic. With central h&a and good insulation, the unit doesn't have to work as hard, and doesn't run all the time….keeps me cool in the summer, and warm in the winter*... insulation is the key…..*


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## grizzman (May 10, 2009)

i have a wood stove..but the key with that is having your space insualted….which is what im in the process of doing…just finished the ceiling and will work on the walls as money affords…but oh my…what a difference the insulation has made….im a very happy camper.no problems with wood heat…as in dust explosions or the like….and if your healthy enough to cut your own wood…then its well worth putting one in..


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## sikrap (Mar 15, 2009)

I'm in upstate NY (Albany) and I use 2 of the little ceramic heaters. My garage is pretty well insulated, but the 2 little heaters keep it about 55. I could probably turn them down when I'm not out there, but I prefer to not have to wait for it to warm up. The heaters are almost always on sale for around $15-$20.


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## rweitz (Dec 22, 2009)

Thanks for all the replies folks - after posting this with my freshly frozen fingers - my brain kicked in and I did do a search for heating etc. but did not find any one who had used one of the tank top heaters I asked about till this post.

Electric seems like the best solution - except as I stated that would keep me from using any tools! in the shop/garage.
It's not too cold and I do dress for it, but I'm thinking some insulation would be a good bet and maybe run the electric before I go to work and see how that goes. dont' like the idea of extra H2o on the tools from propane, never really thought about that side of it.

again thanks for taking the time to answer this age old Q.


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## JimmyK49022 (Oct 23, 2009)

I use a 30,000 btu ventless propane heater works real good too.


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## daltxguy (Sep 7, 2007)

Insulation.
Wait until the sun is shining through the window
or wait until it's warm out
or use electric to keep warm but take up hand tools ( but insulate first anyway, otherwise you're burning money and the planet)
Personally, i just wait until it's warm out and prefer to do something else when it is cold, like design my next projects.
Keeping my workspace heated is like trying to heat outer space - pointless and a waste of energy.
Having said that, I do have a wood burner in my garage ( it was there when I moved in) but I've never used it.

You could also try exploring solar space heating - lots of ideas on solar space heating here


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## greasemonkeyredneck (Aug 14, 2010)

I use a wood heater. I am not in the health to cut my own wood, but I have a small room at the back of the shop where I store all my scraps and cutoffs to use for firewood in the winter. Depending on the size of your shop though, insulation is the key. My shop is not well insulated and I can tell it. I have a huge 40×50 shop. When the temperature drops below freezing, you can only work towards the back of the shop where the heater is at. The front of the shop still stays cold.
Of course, I live in Mississippi. Today is the first day this year that the entire shop hasn't been plenty warm enough with the heater. Besides that, I looked outside this morning and seen the sleet and decided this was a stay at home and drink coffee while surfing the net day.


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## Manitario (Jul 4, 2010)

I use a 4500W, 30amp construction heater in my mostly uninsulated 320sqft garage. Seems to do the trick so far when the temps have drifted down to -20oC, we'll see how well it does once the -30oC January weather hits….


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## Bob24 (Jul 15, 2008)

Easy!...................Moved to California. I like working with dry lumber.


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## TechRedneck (Jul 30, 2010)

This past year I upgraded the shop in the basement/garage. I needed something to heat 1600 sq ft. The garage doors are insulated but the block walls are not. After a lot of research I decided to get a Hitzer 55 coal wood furnace. Since I heat with propane (now at $2.50/gal) I wanted an alternative. I know you are in Portland but around here I can get anthracite coal for $300/1400 lbs in 40 pound bags. On top of that I have plenty of oak to burn.

Here is what I figured, between the house and the garage there is 4400 sq.ft to heat. Based on this past winter my needs are 31,250 BTU/hr. to heat both. (the house is well insulated). I now go through 2.5 lbs of coal per hour at a cost of 35 cents/hr or $8/day. Split red oak at $250/cord delivered works out to 5.5 pounds/hr and cost 38 cents/hr or about $9/day. Propane uses about .33 gal/hr at 83 cents/hr or $20/day. Now I wasn't spending $20/day before because I was not heating the shop, these calculations are what I would pay if I had to heat the shop and house with propane.

The new Hitzer heats both the house and garage and runs 24/7 through the winter months. When the weather gets warmer I will switch from coal to wood to take the chill off when needed. If I don't feel like tending the fire it goes out and the house gas furnace kicks in.

Since the cost of using wood or coal over gas is less than half, the stove will pay for itself in about 2 years, on top of heating an additional 1600 sq ft for the shop and provide a alternative heat source for the house. Running the stove requires a little time and effort but I cut my fuel bill by $1100. When the outside temps drop into the teens or lower at night, the gas kicks in every 30-40 minutes and runs for about 10 minutes to keep set-point.

I would so some calculations and look at this long term. Less expensive heaters use more expensive fuel and you need to do the math. You may want to go with a propane heater for a winter and keep track of the gas used. LP gas gives you around 95,475 BTU/gal. Oak or some other hardwood delivers 5791 BTU/pound. A cord of oak can give you 22.1 million BTU.


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## JoeLyddon (Apr 22, 2007)

I usually wait till Summer time… or put a sweat shirt/pants…

I don't use anything for heating or cooling… except clothing control.  

That unit sure looks good… very versatile!


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## Lochlainn1066 (Oct 18, 2010)

Like many said, insulation is the key. I have an insulated 2.5 car garage, and a single 110v oil filled radiator keeps it above 60 until it gets below 15 outside, then it goes down to 55. I have a kerosene room heater I use to preheat on those kinds of days, I turn it off before I make sawdust.

I'm also going to take out my garage door and put in a steel walk in door and an 8' carriage door (FWW had an article, I'm going to do one like it). My garage door is insulated but leaks like a sieve.


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## KayBee (Jul 6, 2009)

My stepdad just showed up with a propane heater with a full tank of propane!!!! He said I shouldn't have to get all bundled up just to go into the garage/shop and do something. It's 30,000 BTU tank top unit. Yippeee! It's cold and snowing again. I'll be able to feel my fingers while I work!


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## newbiewoodworker (Aug 29, 2010)

Here in frosty RI… I simply use a Ceramic heater… I leave the door to the house-> garage open, and then just move the heater with me. It keeps me warm… occasionally too warm… But it unfortunately doesnt heat the whole shop in one fell-swoop…


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

Just FWIW, LOML decided that since I am keeping the main part of the house at 70F, and she gets cold REALLY easily, my radiator got swiped.. So now I am using my Mr. Heater Portable Buddy propane heater, the one I use to keep my toes from falling off in the deer blind… Not a big deal since Deer season is over… I have a half full tank of propane, so I should be good to go…

I ended up with outside temps in the upper 20s lower 30s with this rig recently, and I simply started up the heater (9K BTUs) on the LOW setting, and was able to get my shop to a VERY toasty 76 degrees in about 20 minutes, this is up from 46 degrees. (insulation helps a LOT…). I did spend some time yesterday with a can of expanding foam trying to seal up some known drafts….

I have found another use for the overhead air filter. It moved heated air around the shop nicely on the low setting… I was doing a LOT of cleanup yesterday, and had the heat on, and the air filter blowing the heated air around… You could sure tell how well the thing works when sweeping. Just make sure your head isn't between where you are sweeping, and the intake of the filter… You can watch the dust being sucked into it… Like a giant plume… I guess I should have sucked that stuff up with the DC instead now that I think about it…


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## Robinson (Jan 11, 2011)

I don't like my shop freezing stuff and if it gets down to something like 10 degrees in there it takes forever to warm up the concrete floor and all of that metal machinery to where it is not just radiating huge amounts of cold. The shop is 1400 sq. ft. and is decently insulated but need some tightening up in a few places. I found that if I built one fire a day in the wood stove that the shop stays just above freezing all night. The trouble is that I got really tired of building a fire every day even if I didn't work in the shop for several days in a row. This winter I installed a 500 watt hard-wired baseboard electric heater (about 28 inches long) and have found that even with temps in the single digits it will hold the shop at between 35 and 40 degrees. If it is in the mid 20's it holds at about 45 degrees. When I step in the shop it feels warm. Everything stays dry. That is the temperature of the floor and machinery. I have a 24' x 24' section of cathedral ceiling in the center with a ceiling fan and 4 lights and the fan runs all of the time keeping the whole shop the same temp. If I then build a good fire in the wood stove it very quickly warms on up to around 50 which is about where I like it for working. If I used a bigger heater a cold snap could get pretty $$$$. The 500 watts is self limiting. I'm happy.


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