Shop heat!

[Jim Sherman]

Finally.... the furnace is installed in the new shop, the bathroom in the shop is complete... just a few small pieces of sheet rock left to go and I can fire-tape and clean the mess up so I can get to work on some engines!

[Rick Strobel]

You're gonna luv it....NICE JOB

RickinMt.

[Jim Sherman]

Here is a picture of the new shop, it's a bit messy outside so I am a little embarrassed... the inside is way to messy for interior photos at this time......

30X80 with a low headroom attic...

[Pat Barrett]

Nice. Hey, the rest of you pipe in, on how you heat your shop economically, after all this isn't a paying hobby. I've got a 50,000 watt BTU Grainger Heater that uses Kerosene. At $4.00 a gallon, it's expensive but a gallon will go about 2 hours. It's fun to be able to work on something when its toooooo bad outside to do anything else. Wish I'd made a wood burning heater with a bunch of Z's exhaust going up to the ceiling with a fan blowing across them to spread the heat in the shop. Nasty fooling with wood but not to pocket consuming but labor intensive.

[George White]

Last spring while rummaging around in the junk pile I found my heat for the shop. It is an old Kalamazoo CHIEF #23 coal furnace. I had to redo all of the cement joints as well as weld some of the door rings, make new draft door etc. Haven't used it yet. I am waiting on the 8 inch pipe yet now. I wish it wasn't so expensive and I would run it from one end of building to the other so to use all of the heat. Does anyone else have one of these old furnaces??? I am wondering about the 6 inch or so round hole in the main grate??? I would like to know what is supposed to be there can anyone tell me please??

[S.Simons]

A friend of mine has the refrigerater stocked with beer, the automatic coffee maker on and a lazy boy chair in his shop when the need arises...... Nice shop by the way

[D Reachard]

Here in Wyoming I use Heat from the ground & passive solar to finish it off. 10 Foot high walls Insulated & back filled,the building sits into a hill side. Only the south wall is exposed & has 8' high windows with stryafoam shield on hindges so the can be easily closed at night. Temps. have hit 80 degrees in mid winter at 0 degrees.

[Jim Sherman]

Originally Posted by S.Simons

A friend of mine has the refrigerater stocked with beer, the automatic coffee maker on and a lazy boy chair in his shop when the need arises...... Nice shop by the way

My shop fridge is stocked... just not with beer.... the coffee is ready to go at a moments notice!

Craig here: I'll drink to THAT Jim!.......

[krawlr]

We have a pot belly that was found buried with just the leg poking out of the ground. A little welding and a reseal was all it needed.

I also have a second radiator/fan setup in the shop from the Listeroid. Just have to swap the hoses twice a year.

[Jim Sherman]

Originally Posted by D Reachard

Here in Wyoming I use Heat from the ground & passive solar to finish it off. 10 Foot high walls Insulated & back filled,the building sits into a hill side. Only the south wall is exposed & has 8' high windows with stryafoam shield on hindges so the can be easily closed at night. Temps. have hit 80 degrees in mid winter at 0 degrees.

That's some pretty serious heat... luckily we don't see too many bitter cold days here!

[KG1584]

I am in the process of putting up small shop. I opted for radiant heat in slab. Attached are a couple pics. Just got the slab poured so hopefully it will start to move along

[Jim Sherman]

Doug,

That's awesome, it looks like you have thought out your other utilities as well! I have a friend that used the radiant heat and he loves it. Keep us posted on how it works out for you.

Jim

[KG1584]

Thanks Jim

I am hoping it works all well as people have told me. The slab is 1320 sq ft. The contractor prepped the area with insulation and the wire mesh. I installed the tubing(1000' on 16" centers) myself. It went pretty well. Only a few hours to lay it down. I will be using a standard water heater for it as it is a small area.

The gas/water lines are what you see coming up next to the manifold which will be in a small mechanical room. I also had a toilet roughed in with the rest of the plumbing - may not put one in right now but can be in the future

The existing shed you see (14x20) will be a "office" which makes the total building size when finished 40x40. It will be incorporated into the new building. Can never have enough room but it was all I could afford for now. It was a real eye opener to see what the costs are. I am going to do the interior work - insulation/steel/wiring/plumbing/finsihing of office myself. I will try and post other construction pics later

[Craig A]

Doug......how thick are the walls and ceiling going to be?
My "office" http://www.smokstak.com/forum/showthread.php?t=59518 is 9' x 15' x 7.5' ceiling height and if the stinking weather we've had SO far is any indication that 900W infrared heater is going to work just fine.......
So well I may have one installed in our living room at home.

[KG1584]

Craig

The "office" is 2x4 8'walls while the new shop is 2x6 9' wall. Everything will be fully insulated(R19 wall and R30 ceiling).

I have seen some of these new infrared heaters and a couple people I know like them as well. I will wither do that or an electric baseboard - not really sure right now

[Jim Sherman]

I went with R-19 in my 2X6 walls and R-30 blown in up in the ceiling. this past summer was a hot one, and the insulation kept it cool, from all indications it appears it will be nice & warm this winter. It's been over a year (with moving, building etc, etc.) that I have had a real shop to work in... I am excited about getting my lathe and Bridgeport mill set up...

Next week the mudding & taping will be done and the walls painted, the ceiling is already taped and lights in so that's all it's going to get. Hopefully over the next month I'll get it cleaned and organized so I won't be too embarrassed to take pictures inside.