Shop heaters what do you have?

[oldsmobile joe]

i'm running an inferred unit in a 2 car deep, 2+ car wide garage with 11 foot ceiling. i keep it at minimum temp of 50 degrees f. works great. the perfect choice for hoarders because it doesn't heat the air, it heats all the items (crap) in the garage, and i have a ton of items.
joe

 

[565bbchevy]

I just have a 2 car garage and am using a natural gas wall heater that vents out the back, it pumps the heat out at floor level and I keep it around 40 when I am not out there and turn it up to 60+ if I am just working out there and little higher if I am painting something.

 

[motorheadmike]

Radiant floor is awesome! The down side is paying for it. Both the initial install and the fuel costs. You have to keep the shop heated 24/7 during th cold months, that's the only way that style system works. I'm not working out in my shop every day, sometimes not for a week. That's a lot of wasted fuel when I can keep it at 40 with a furnace and in 30 minutes have it at 65 degrees, then a few hours later, turn it back down to 40 so stuff doesn't freeze. JMO

Ours uses a very efficient natural gas point-of-use water heater to warm the water/glycol mix - if you ensure it is up and running before fall kicks into high gear and the ground starts to cool (ie the frost line) the system just continues to keep the slab warm (already up to temp from thermal gains left over from the summer), as opposed to heating it from around freezing. FWIW, 57*F is the lowest the thermostat will go. We minimally heat our house to 68*F too because we hate wasting fuel and energy.

 

[superbon54]

I have a Detroit reverberay (sp) radiant heater in my shop. It’s 36x42 with 10’ ceiling and an 8x16 “closet”. I keep it at 55 most of the time and it costs me about $30 per month. I can crank it to 60 and work on the floor in shorts and a cutoff.

 

[CWPottenger]

I have a hanging natural gas 150,000btu Modine unit. It is probably about 20years old now and only issue ever had is replace a thermocouple couple times. I keep garage at 40 degrees in winter and kick it up when I work in garage.

 

[DRIVEN]

I worked in a large warehouse (60,000' with concrete walls) years ago that had a shop area in one corner and used a radiant ceiling unit similar to this https://www.toolfetch.com/sunstar-h...MI0Zf8hcHX2AIVErXACh18XAnNEAQYCCABEgJ70vD_BwE mounted about 12' from the floor. I did the installation and it was really easy. Everything in about a 15' perimeter of the tube came up to temp and stayed that way. Even when the warehouse was in the 30s, those of us in the shop area could work in Tshirts. Not sure what the monthly cost was but it was 100% reliable for the 2+ years that I worked there.

 

[abadwillys]

i Have 2 shops, a 40x50 Commercial shop that uses a hanging Modine Propane unit, if i remember its a 150K Btu unit
my other"hobby" shop is a 40x60 and i have a 260k btu Lanair waste oil furnace in there, ive owned this unit since 1993 and it was in my commercial shop going 24/7 in the winter for many years, its semi retired now as i only use it in my hobby shop when im out there working
The Propane unit is clean and quiet, set it and forget it kinda thing, The waste oil its dirtier and noisier but man, it cranks some heat and the fuel is free!!

 

[1bad79]

I worked in a large warehouse (60,000' with concrete walls) years ago that had a shop area in one corner and used a radiant ceiling unit similar to this https://www.toolfetch.com/sunstar-h...MI0Zf8hcHX2AIVErXACh18XAnNEAQYCCABEgJ70vD_BwE mounted about 12' from the floor. I did the installation and it was really easy. Everything in about a 15' perimeter of the tube came up to temp and stayed that way. Even when the warehouse was in the 30s, those of us in the shop area could work in Tshirts. Not sure what the monthly cost was but it was 100% reliable for the 2+ years that I worked there.

My brother in law and I were talking about these last night the price isn’t bad either

 

[DRIVEN]

To be clear, I'm not necessarily endorsing that particular brand, just posted it as an example because I couldn't remember the brand we used. It was almost 15 years ago. The one I linked has a U-bend in it but the one I worked with had a burner in the center and 25' tubes that went opposite directions. There are different configurations depending on the shape of your work space. In our case it was a long, skinny assembly line. It worked great to keep all the heavy steel equipment warm.

 

[Tuffregal83]

I have a Modine in my 22x24 max 150,000 to 120,000 btu from 1980 but is updated with spark box and up draft motor got it free years ago and been in my garage for 8 years never had a problem winter time keep it a 65 and when I work in there I'll bump it up a little
But with the new garage addition might add a house furnace to the back part