How do you keep your workshop warm?

[rickybobby]

Ray,

You could move to Phoenix Az. It's 110'f right now and it cools down to 95'f in the evening!! lol!!!

Insulation is a great investment and will keep your heat in and the cold out. Also dual pane windows, spend the extra $$$ up front to save later on!!

Rick Jorgenson

[Deb59]

Hi UKRay - We purchased a used wood pellet stove for my husband's 30 x 30 shop that he uses in the winter. He is not finished insulating yet but it kept it pretty comfortable. I don't know if those are available in the UK or not. - Deb

[UKRay]

Thanks for all the suggestions, guys. The insulation is a given. I've planned to build 6 inch thick walls and they will be stuffed with it. The ceiling too. I hadn't thought about the floor so thanks for that, Terry.

I couldn't find a Vornado in the UK, Holly. With a 240 volt mains supply I guess I'll have to pass on that one.

Ground source heating is a bit above my budget right now Mike - but maybe the next workshop will have it... great idea though!

The interesting thing was that nobody mentioned wood burning stoves... Is there any reason why you don't use them?

I like the idea of instant gas heating - your wall mounted furnace sounds interesting, Randy, and I hadn't thought about fans to move the air around.

52' x 15' eh? That isn't a workshop, Tony. It is a hanger... but I wish mine was going to be as big!

Although the wood pellets are very attractive, I don't have a source of supply locally so I think gas is probably the best option for me - I'd be interested to hear the downside of the gas heating story - what about drying out leather? Does bottled gas give off a lot of moisture? How about the danger from naked flames in a dye shop? Anyone had a problem with any of these?

Ray

[tonyc1]

I was going to put a wood heater in originally but they take up too much room. The worst thing about wood heaters is you can't turn them off instantly, they keep warm for ages!

52' x 16' may sound large but I wish I had made it twice as wide. You can never have too much room!!!

Tony.

[Randy Cornelius]

The reason I did not go with wood heat is that I did not want my leather smelling like wood smoke. The open flame with a wall gas heater is an issue, I just turn it off when I get the glue out. I have not had any problems.

Randy

[Double U Leather]

Ray,

Here in Colorado, I use a basic propane heater combined with an electric space heater. My shop is only about 10' X 20' at the most. The third element I use if it's really cold and I have work to do out there is the trusty Carhart method. However, Carhart's can be quite binding and cumbersome, so it makes tooling far more difficult!!

That's it.....I've just stumbled onto something. If I tool a project that doesn't turn out right, I'll say it was because I was wearing my Carhart's!! Kinda like when I play golf....I always try to play on a windy day so I have an excuse for why the ball doesn't got where it's supposed to.

[wildrose]

An alternative to wood logs is to get a pellet stove. (My dad's in the business) They burn wood pellets, the smell isn't as strong as logs, and it's very efficient.

[jbird]

Have you thought of a unit like this http://www.heatersunlimited.com/item395036.ctlg

I built homes a couple years back with my buddy and we used these in the garage they work good.

Josh

ps here's a propane one as well. http://www.heatershop.com/mrheater_propane...er_mhu45lp.html

Edited July 13, 2009 by jbird

[bluebeard]

If one does not mind going out in the woods and getting fire wood then I would make a small building a short ways from your home/shop. In it would be a wood fired boiler . The hot water would be used for your heat and your domestic use.

I'm living in Australia for a time But Iv seen it done in my home town where we get a good amount of snow and its cold.

When I get back home I will use this type of heating...And as they say when using wood, it heats twice , once when you are out in the woods getting it and then at home when you burn it..

Bluebeard

[gary]

UKRay, Deb and Wildrose,

Wood pellet stoves are becoming more fashionable here at the moment and you can get enclosed ones so smoke shouldn't be a problem. I also think that, in the UK, as there's a trend for ecologically sound building practices that there may be some Government financial incentive or assistance (direct or indirect) if you buy/use one. We were/are looking at getting one and there's a massive amount of choice; open, enclosed, hideous and quite tasteful designs, automatic feeding systems, and so on.

My brother-in-law's company has just bought one for heating a very large church and accommodation/office complex and he reckons it's pretty effective.

Round here (where there are a lot of trees) the wood pellets are produced at the local sawmill and they deliver but in huge amounts (tons rather than sacks).

Bluebeard - Wood heats three times if you collect big bits 'cos you have to cut them up to get them stove-sized.

My solution in my new workshop (12' by 24') so far is insulated walls and double-glazed windows (cheap as the supplier had made them the wrong size for a job and wanted to get rid of them and my workshop's made of wood so you can make the apertures fit the windows). I have a portable LPG heater if needed. Mind you, it hasn't been through a winter yet so I may find a few shortfalls. It's at the end of our stable block so one wall is insulated with bales of hay as it backs onto the feed room and I'm sure the warmth from the horses helps at night. The drawback is the faint whiff of ammonia and dung - but hell, you can't have everything.

Gary

Reason for edit: To point out that the ammonia and dung smells come from the horses.

Edited July 15, 2009 by gary