Heating the Shop
 

What are you guys using to heat your shops?
I am in 1/3 of a 3 car garage; no seperating wall.
I don't want to warm the whole space, just where I am.
I considered a propane heater, expensive for the length of cold season here.
Looked at Wal-Mart; confused by the different types - ceramic, quartz, etc.
What is working for you guys?
Thanks,
KW_Counter

RE: Heating the Shop
 

I use one of the Oil filled raditor type heaters.

The floor is the coldest part, should have insulated
it too.


Bob

RE: Heating the Shop
 

I hung a 230 volt baseboard heater under the workbench. It helps take the chill off the immediate area. A propane heater that clamps to a 5 gallon tank sits off to the side. I only light 1 of the burners and it keeps me comfortable during a freezing build session. It is kind of expensive, so to make up for it I drink cheap beer.

RE: Heating the Shop
 

In November, the wife suggested I move the shop into the house. Woohoo!!!

RE: Heating the Shop
 

Hey KW Counter

You live in CA and want a heater??? Just think you can buy 5 min. epoxy and have the working time of 30 min. Just to make you feel good, 8* as I type. Looks like I will have to put on a long sleeve shirt if I go flying today.:D:D:D

RE: Heating the Shop
 

Good ole kerosene heater a few feet from the build table does the job for me. It's not toasty warm, but it's "comfortable in a sweatshirt" warm.

RE: Heating the Shop
 

I'm pretty lucky. My furnace is in the garage and the garage stays above 50 F due to the vent tube being blazing hot even when it's 0 outside. I throw a small electric heater behind me and the garage is above 60 within an hour.

RE: Heating the Shop
 

No sense heating the whole area. Just get some heavy vinyl sheeting at Home Depot (Plastic Tarps, etc.) and section off a piece of the work area. Be sure to go all the way to the ceiling and anchor it there somehow and let it drape down to the floor (warm air rises and escapes). Staples, curtain rods or whatever so it won't tear and fall down. Then whatever way you generate your heat it will have less cubic feet to heat. This is also a good way to make a paint booth area.

RE: Heating the Shop
 

Believe it or not it can get chilly out here in some areas. CA is a very large place with pretty diverse climate; it isn't all warm, sunny Los Angeles like TV would make you think. (We aren't all superficial, self-centered nuts or tree-hugging weirdos either:D)Even here in the central valley where I'm at it is nowhere near the arctic cold you guys up in MI get but it's still uncomfortable out in the garage a few months out of the year. I've noticed winter seems to last a lot longer up your way too; that's the part that would really bug me. The last few days here have been gorgeous though and warm for late January.

I saw some electric heaters at Costco for a pretty good price. They looked like a little satellite dish and seemed to throw of a lot of heat. I imagine a couple could keep a small work area relatively warm..

RE: Heating the Shop
 

I hope you all in CA did not take offense to what I said. Michigan only has two seasona. Fall and winter. It is up to 19* now. Take my shirt off and go out and get a suntan on my goose bumps.

RE: Heating the Shop
 

Time to get the boat out and do some skiing?:D

RE: Heating the Shop
 

Beautiful area of the country though. I've spent some time there and I liked it.

RE: Heating the Shop
 

You would think we were a religous bunch-6 months out of the year we can walk on water:):)

RE: Heating the Shop
 

But just think of all the great ice fishing you can do...

RE: Heating the Shop
 

Why Chuck-it gets so cold here that the lakes freeze all the way to the bottom.:D You wouldn't be interested in the golden gate bridge would you:D:D

RE: Heating the Shop
 

Have you EVER tried to eat frozen fish?:D

RE: Heating the Shop
 

I moved out of Ca, to get out of the snow, rain and cold. That sounds funny after watching all the TV shows and seeing people on the beach in there bathing suites on Xmas day. I moved from the beach to the mountains, when I lived at the beach you never saw what they are showing you on TV either.[8D] When my wife moved there from NY she thought she was going to see everyone with bleach blond hair and driving woodys with surf boards hanging out the back. Sure would be nice to live in TV land!!!:D Living here in Vegas I was a bit shocked when it snowed on me? This year has been really mild though but we have gotten a lot of rain. For us anyway.
My new shop has forced air heating and air conditioning, both come in handy, you can't live here without the air conditioner during the summer. My old shop in Ca. had an air tight wood burning stove and a swamp cooler, those were both nice.
Gene, my daughter has a small resort on Drummond Island there in MI, she wanted me to come up and be a fishing and hunting guide during the seasons, I still haven't been there or seen it. I don't do humid or cold!!!:D It's been in the low 60s this week, that's about right for me this time of year.;)

RE: Heating the Shop
 

Yah, what's up with that? There are some really nice beaches in Southern Cal but the central and northern areas are usually cool, rocky, ice cold water and covered with seaweed. Don't get me wrong, it's beautiful and I love spending time there. It's just not what comes to mind when you think of a CA beach. My wife is from southeastern PA and we always hit the "shore" in NJ if we visit during the summer. I hate to say it but even there the water is warmer, the beaches are nicer, and the food is better. At least during the summer months. It's friendlier and less expensive too. My parents also alternate between a week in Hawaii and South Carolina every year rather than spend time on the California coast.

If I didn't have a good job here and my immediate family, I'd definitely think about moving elsewhere. There's some things I'd miss of course.

RE: Heating the Shop
 

Be my luck it would fall down in an earthquake right after I bought it. Plus my mortgage on it would probably be for a lot more than it's worth just like my house.:D

RE: Heating the Shop
 

Oh that is some really nice area. Michigan does have some neat places, both for winter and summer. I snow ski, so I go north alot to Nubs Knob and Boyne Mtn. My daughter lives on the west side of the state, Grand Haven and it is pretty there. The do get the lake effect snow (Late Michigan) so they have plenty to do in the winter.

RE: Heating the Shop
 

Hey ChuckW you won't need a morgage on it. I will sell it cheap.

RE: Heating the Shop
 

If you sold it for $5 I'd probably still have to mortgage it these days. Sure is a pretty bridge though. Unbelievable views on a sunny day.

One other thing I've notice when working in the garage is that the concrete floor stays cold for along time even when the outside air has warmed up. That cold floor makes your feet cold & numb and downright uncomfortable. I wonder how some sort of carpeting in the immediate work area would help? Padding would be nice when your out there all day too.

RE: Heating the Shop
 

Gene,

You forgot a season, "Road repair" it last about 9 months.

RE: Heating the Shop
 

HAHHAHAHAHAHAHA:):) Road repair season. Gene, when my daughter was a lot younger we used to go out to the Glamis Sand Dunes, when it was in the mid 70s she and her girl friend would still be wearing there snow suites. When she moved to MI. we all busted up, love concours all!!!!!! That's where her lifes love is from. They stay open during the winter for cross country skiers and they rent snow mobils too.
Chuck, the beaches, no one knows the difference between a So. Cal. beach and a Nor. Cal. beach unless you have been there. When I was younger I was a surf bumb from Huntington beach, we made a trip one winter to Hollywood by the Sea to try out there waves. This was before wet suites became the norm. Good Loard!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was all we could do to get out of the car!!
As much warmer as it is in So Cal. during the winter about the only people you see at the beach this time of year are people bundled up fishing off the pier and surfers covered from head to foot in wet suites. Big girls, we surfed all year long without them!!:eek: Sure wish we had them then!!!!!:D

RE: Heating the Shop
 

We call it "Road Needs Repair" season. It needs it but seldom gets it.[:@] They drop a big steel plate over a pot-hole and leave it for at least a year. The plate is usually worse than the hole was. Down here the asphalt gets so hot in the summer that it "flows" as the big trucks sit at the stop lights leaving waves in the ground. Didn't see that in Houston where it was even hotter. Guess they use a different mix.