Time For Heat!!!

theworx

Ok guys, I've asked questions in the past about my shop I set up in my garage a few months ago (dust collection, layout, etc...). But now I have to set up a heating system (It's been going down near freezing the last few days).

The garage is totally insulated (except for the garage doors). I plan on buying two large insulated tarps to cover the doors and roll up when I need to use them. What do you guy's use for heat (those who need it) to keep your shops warm. My big concern is the fire hazzard due to the saw dust my collection system doesn't catch.. Thanx...

maj

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DecksEtc

I have an electric heater I bought at Canadian Tire (about $80) that I used in my garage last winter. I haven't set it up in my new place yet but it worked well for me last year. I had a regular garage door (other 3 walls and ceiling were insulated) and didn't use any insulated tarps and was able to work in a t-shirt. You may want to run two of them but only if you have enough circuits/amps running to your shop - they pull a fair bit of power.

theworx

Thanx Terry. I have an electrician friend of mine looking into grabbing me two used constuction heaters from his boss really cheap (like $15.00 each). I do have enough power in the garage and my friend said for a case of beer he would wire them in with a thermostat if I supply materials. That's all good, but even if I blow them out every day, I'm still a little worried about airborn sawdust and a possible fire because they have elements and they will be running (on and off) most of the time during winter...

In my last shop we had typical natural gas warehouse heaters. In three years had two small fires start because of all the dust. We were lucky someone was in the shop to put them out when they started. Just don't want to burn down my shop...

Leo G

If you have that much airborne dust you should invest in an air filtration device. I have the JDS 750 ER. Works off of 120VAC and has a remote to turn it on from where ever you are in your shop. This would make your air more safe for many things including your lungs.

http://www.coastaltool.com/cgi-bin/S...htm?E+coastest

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theworx

Maj, not sure of what the pic shows, but guessing it's a natural gas radiant heat unit. My friend put one in his shop and cost him a lot of money. He set it to keep the shop at around 55 degrees at night and when he woke up in the morning would crank it up to 70 degrees, go and have breakfast, and an hour later he was up to temp...

That was a great system for him but I can't afford it at this time ... My big concern is if I install the construction heaters will I have a big threat of a fire (even if I keep them clean)???

Leo G

Wow, I have the same type of heaters in my two separate bays. I make sure to blow them off a couple of times during the heating season. Plus having the air filtration helps keep the major dust down. If you have a good dust collection system you almost don't even have to worry about fine dust. The dust producer in my shop is the tablesaw. It is an old Jet 3HP 10". It wasn't designed to have dust collection hooked up to it and just has too much open space to make collection efficient. When I cut woods like Mahogany or Spanish Cedar the dust factor in the air goes up quite a bit. I have two fans which I direct towards the JDS 750 and it clears the air in a few minutes. My shop has tall ceilings, 23', and I have 18,000 Cu Ft of air space. So lots of area for dust to hang around.

Main thing for your heater is to keep the dust level down and to clean the heater out when ever it gets dusty. If that is every day, then so be it. You can also put a filter box on the heater so it can't suck in the dust in the first place. Heating a big shop (or even a small one) is expensive if you use electricity. Oil, NG or LP is the way to go. I have a guy one building over that uses a wood pellet stove to heat the equivalent of 3 of my bays. he keeps it at 68ºF day and night. Heats his area for about the same money as I heat my two bays. Only problem is that when he got the stove (2005) the pellets were going for $185/ton and now they are going for $295/ton. As the stoves get more popular the price of the pellets goes up and it gets harder to find them when you need them.

__________________
Sawdust Follows Me Everywhere

http://lrgwood.com
Custom Cabinets in Hartford County Connecticut