AConcordCarpenter e-letter #22 Holiday Hookie thie Week!
Published: Mon, 12/19/11
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DEWALT TOOL GIVEAWAY
Rob Ouellete from Ontario, Canada won the DEWALT 20 Volt Drill Driver. 765 people entered to win this drill.
Congratulations Rob - enjoy the tool!!!
Rob will receive this tool before the Christmas holiday.
This question comes from Justin Prescott a Newsletter subscriber.
Dear Concord Carpenter, I have a shop question to ask you. What are some safe ways to heat a wood shop. With the cold weather here, a warm shop and consistent temperature would be nice.
Would a space heater or a propane heater (for a much larger shop) be safe to use? With the saw dust and wood shavings a shop collects my concern is fire.
I have an 18 x 20 basement shop, not well insulate, walls have no insulation however the ceiling is insulated. I have access to oil and electrical.
Unfortunately I have not installed an air cleaner yet I use my shop vac for dust collection.
Any suggestions?
Dear Justin,
It all depends on your shop, it's size and location to utilities.
The keys to reducing an incident of fire in your shop is to do the following:
1. Avoid storing flammable chemicals, chemical soaked rags,
2. Control the dust with a dust collection system, air filter and to sweep up regularly,
3. Avoid using space heaters.
I've seen all types of workshop heaters from woodstoves to electric and propane. Some looked safe and others were down right dangerous. Approximately 25,000 yearly fires are associated with space heaters.
If I were heating a shop I would consider installing a permanent dedicated heater.
Start by looking at your budget and what utilities you already have nearby [oil, gas, propane] That will most likely dictate your fuel heating source.
If you'll be working on wood projects or using spray finishes, choose a heater with a separate combustion chamber. They burn fresh outside air instead of the dust or paint-laden air inside a garage. There's a slight fire danger using a conventional heater, and the dust and paint particles will cause burner problems that require service calls.
Every shop has electricity and heating with electricity is easy to do. If considering gas v. electric, do the math in your area to see what makes the most sense to install and run.
I would look at insulating your shop to keep the heat in and reduce heating bills.
My Dream Shop Heater:
If I were designing a new workshop from the ground up I would have in-floor radiant heat.
The heat source would be a gas fired hot water heater.
The installation would include min. 2 inch foam board with the water pipes laid on top of the insulation and the concrete poured on top of this. The shop would be heavily insulated, walls, ceiling and door, to hold the temperature.
Because the concrete is a big heat sink there is a long lag period from when the thermostat calls for heat to when the floor warms up. I would set the thermostat to turn on or up prior to my arrival to the shop each day.
My Current Shop Heat:
Currently my shop is heated by an ceiling-mounted electric 220V / 270 CFM heater I got many years ago from Grainger.com
The heater now costs about $400. I welded a metal frame and hung it to my ceiling joists. Because it is electric I do not have to worry about ventilation for the unit or any smelly exhaust.
My shop is relatively small 14' x 34' and I have the heater set up on one end and blow to the other end. The thermostat is installed on the far end of the shop and is set at 40 degrees when not in use.
My shop is below grade in my basement, has non insulated walls and 10" of ceiling insulation. It never really gets "super" cold down there.
I recently installed a storm door at my bulkhead door ad that keeps the drafts from coming in from the metal bulkhead and just doing that alone raised the shop temperature by 10 degrees. I was amazed by the change.
When heating, I usually I turn on the heat for a 30 minutes to bring the shop to temperature and then turn it off or way down.
I am also considering adding some electric radiant heat to my shop. I will need to raise my floor which will be wood. I've always wanted a wood shop floor.
Most residential garages and basement shops require heaters with a capacity of 20,000 to 45,000 Btu.
Size your heater size on the shop's square footage, ceiling height and insulation. Don't oversize your heater--especially if you intend to leave it on (even at a reduced temperature) all winter. An oversize unit heater cycles too often and wastes energy.
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