Best Type Of Portable Heater??

kdub1777

I am trying to decide on a type of portable heater for winter projects. They will mostly be used for heating houses while drywall and painting etc. is going on. What type do you guys prefer? Electric, propane, diesel, etc? I hear the painters don't like the propane very well...Also, how big of one should I look at getting? Say to heat a 1500-2000 sq. ft. area at a time?

Thanks in advance

Kgmz

Yor right about the propane heaters, like the fan forced turbo type (not sure exactly waht the proper name is). These are the round tube type, lay down, that make the really loud noise.

These heaters put out too much moisture, the drywall and paint guys will not like it. And it will take forever for the mud to dry, but it will be warm.

Sine we mainly go new construction, we always have the furnace hooked up and ready to go once the building is dried in. This doesn't neccessarily mean the building is done on the outside, just means it is water tight, roofing on and walls covered with tyvek, etc. This way the drywall can go on and have nice warm dry conditions.

I do have a portable propane infrared heater, it is the type that clamps to a tank with the dual round heads, these type don't put out the moisture like the turbo type.

I also have a old 10kw electric furnace that I will bring in. I lay it on it side on some saw horses and just run some wire to the breaker panel. I can hook a thermostat to it our just jumper it.

Halo

When power is available I use a Fostoria 10KW. It is a lower output temp than the fuel fired heaters but there is none of the drawbacks with moisture, soot or fumes. It's output temp is directly related to the input air temp, so it does increase and usually becomes more than enough for a home that is sealed up in a day or two. We use a couple fans with it for good moisture removal.

I have found it neccesary to have a cord atleast 40' ft. long to faciliate wiring into the panel and still route to the inside of the home.

I know some insurance policies will not cover any damage related to the use of fuel fired heaters.

Floordude

I agree with all the above. My choice is Electric, now that I got a little education and a slap of reality.

Doing flooring in the winters, I always had my trusty kerosene torpedo. Little did I know, I was adding a lot of moisture into the interior environment. This was effecting the wood in the home making it swell as the homes were closed and sealed tight, after work hours, holding the that moisture. Also I had complaints of black residue on the walls(soot) But what else could i do. The homes still on a power pole, and me the pee-on installer had no say the home were really not ready for flooring. Just get'r done attitudes, but when the problems associated with the heaters came up, it was my arse on the line.

Then one day, a very long day and I had the home to myself, so no other trades going in and out for me to complain about, letting my heat out. This was way back, when we could still smoke cigarettes when we worked new construction(Your not old unless you can remember those days) Well my cigarette would go out as soon as I lit it and took a drag off it. Within 5 minutes I felt sick and tired like I needed a nap badly. You guessed it I had burnt up all the oxygen in the home. The only thing that saved me, was there was not enough oxygen to have a flame, and the heater shut off. I found myself laying on the floor at 9pm at night, and all I remember was it was 5:30 just seconds ago.

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kdub1777

Wow that's crazy floordude. Glad you made it! I was thinking electric might be the best option. Now the question is, what type and brand of electric? I am off now to check out a few stores and options. What should I look for or look out for?

Thanks all

rbsremodeling

Shot of Stoli vodka or 151 rum in the morning good for 4 hours. Repeat after lunch

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Kgmz

You are probably not going to find a 10kw heater at your local stores, unless it is a Grainger, Johnstone Supply or something similar.

Also you will need a very large cord or wire and you will have to hook it up to a 50 to 60 amp breaker.

A 10kw portable heater will cost around $1000 like the Fostoria that was mentioned earlier.

A cheap air handler/furnace with 10kw element will cost about half of that. But it is not exactly code legal to run one like I do.

kdub1777

What about those 240v electric heaters. Something like this one:

http://air-n-water.stores.yahoo.net/hepoelheqmbr.html

I don't know if it would heat up enough footage though.