Electric Heat

Jester966

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My shop is a single car garage in Ontario Canada with no heat. In the winter I typically preheat the garage with a propane heater (cracking the overhead door for ventilation) before I start working. I know this creates moisture as a bi-product but fortunately I haven't had any rust issues yet. I always spray my machines down with WD40 and/or way oil when I'm done with them.

I recently purchased a 1500w infrared heater with the idea of keeping it on low (500w) all the time in order to keep the garage slightly above the outside temperature, and turn it up when I'm actually going to work. It's been relatively mild since I bought it so a bit hard to really test it yet, but it doesn't seem to be helping much if at all. I understand that infrared heaters don't heat the air but rather the objects, but was given the impression it would heat the floor and equipment which would then slightly warm the surrounding air. Even set on high though it seems as though it's not really keeping the garage any warmer - I have to literally stand within a few feet directly in front to feel any warmth and am wondering if it's actually making any difference at all by leaving it on.

Anyone else heating their shops with electric heat, even just to raise the temperature a few degrees? Any thoughts on infrared vs other methods? I've met one guy who leaves a couple of spot lights on during the winter, though it seemed unnecessarily inefficient. I know electric is probably the most expensive but it's my only option right now. I was lead to believe that infrared was the most "efficient" way to produce heat electrically, but at $400 for the unit I'm not so sure I made the right decision.
 
I know it is no comparison as far as overall climate goes, but my choice is either electric or propane. We are not on a supply line for NG here. I have a 5 ton A/C unit, with 15kw electric elements (3 x 5kw). It doesn't seem to cost any more than keeping cool in the summer. In fact, probably costs less, as I don't like a really warm shop, but I do like a cool one. I have never really thought electric heat was very efficient, but I have done no studies or comparisons myself. I am using propane for my home heat, and I do not like the price of it. Since the shop is a little distant from the house, I would have to buy or lease another tank, then buy the gas. Electric also seems safer to me as far as flammable materials handling goes.

I have little exposure to the IR radiant style heaters, but I have been told they are efficient.
 
It is, Electric resistance heating is 100% efficient, that is all the energy used by the heating element will go to produce heat. If the heater has a fan, some energy will be used for that. However, electricity is usually the most expensive form of delivered energy, so electric heating may not be the most cost effective.
 
I have I believe iut is a 15000Watt heater in my shop . I set it down to do about 50 thru the winter . I set it up to work in the shop. I don't have a rust problem and it is not to bad to work out there. The walls are insulated w8th the 2" foil on both side foam . The ceiling I could not get the 2" so I used the 1" .I have a garage door eith the 1" also I maybe use more electric but it not bad to work out there.
 
I have a 230 vAC electric baseboard heater, about a 1.5kw unit. My shop is 24 x 16. Four inches of fiberglass in the walls and 11 inches in the ceiling. The heater has no problem keeping the shop warm. The temperatures overnight routinely drop below 0 F. I estimate my operational cost to be about $50 monthly in the winter. I'm at just over a mile in elevation next to the continental divide in Butte, Montana. Gas heat would cost even less.


Steve Shannon, P.E.
Edited to correct wattage of heater. I had it off in order to install mop board and discovered I was wrong.
 
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Heating (and cooling) starts with insulation. Are the walls and ceiling insulated? Most garages near me have no insulation except in the wall adjoining the house.

I mention this because i had exactly the same problem once with an uninsulated large metal building. Like you, I couldn't get close enough to the heater to do any good. And that was 135K BTU torpedo unit.

Then there's that overhead door. They leak horribly. Even 'insulated' ones, which are little more that foam panels with an inch of gap in-between, still have that notoriously ineffective seal across the bottom. I'm surprised you had to crack the overhead door for ventilation. They're usually leaky enough.

So those two items are where you start. If the room isn't buttoned up pretty snug, there is literally no amount of heat you can throw at it and remain warm.

However, it's possible you have that covered. If so, congrats. If not, you're looking at working in a snowmobile suit with large electric bills.

I've heard those "heat the object" claims about the infrared radiant heaters and frankly have no idea what it means. I thought heat was heat. How their heater could tell the difference between objects like air molecules from objects like skin molecules always seemed a bit of a mystery to me. All i know is my wife bought one and still complained about the cold.

Wrat <--hates working in the cold
 
I have never had good luck with the electric heaters in my garage. I bought a torpedo heater that runs on kerosene and that works well. I crack the garage door open a bit and fire it up. Within 10 minutes it is nice and warm. If I shut it off and close the door it will even stay warm for a couple hours. But if I had the room I would do what my friend does. He bought a side draft hot air oil furnace and put it in the corner. Vented it out the wall and ran a couple hose ducts to blow hot air around the garage. He uses a 25 gallon drum for the oil. Works like a charm.
 
I can't really complain about the weather, except in the Summer, where it can get to 100F in the garage. But in the Winter, I'll only spot heat wherever I'm standing. This keeps me comfortable, without heating the whole garage. I use a 1500 W electric heater for this.

Also keep in mind that if your shop is anything like mine, it has 3 tons of cast iron & steel in the machines and probably a few hundred more lbs of stock. These are sitting at the garage ambient and it takes a lot of energy to heat up this quantity of material. There are many days here, especially in the Spring where the nights are cold but days are warm. Sometimes it will be in the high 70's/low 80's outside. But the shop will still be in the 50's or 60's because of this heat sink effect. For me, it's more of a problem in the Summer, trying to cool the place.

Just something to consider...
 
Also keep in mind that if your shop is anything like mine, it has 3 tons of cast iron & steel in the machines and probably a few hundred more lbs of stock.
That is so completely true.

1976, Cessna Aircraft. They warned me. Working 3rd shift (midnite-7am). We're the first ones in after he customary holiday Christmas/NY shutdown. So it's midnight on 3Jan or so. They STARTED the boilers about then. Every machine in the place had cold-soaked for over 10 days. Wow. That was a memorable shift.

The organic coolant we called "milk" had all spoiled and smelled just like, you guess it, spoiled milk. Imagine 75 machines turning on their coolant. Eek. That took a while to get used to.

And we had to work all bundled up because even though the heat was going, a few jillion tons of iron said otherwise. And every machine was turning whether it had an operator or not, just to get the bearings up to temp while the building warmed up.

Of course, it was all nice and cozy by the time the prima donna crew on 1st shift showed up. A few mentioned how they faintly detected an odd smell. Made me wanna hit them.

Wrat
 
I can't really complain about the weather, except in the Summer, where it can get to 100F in the garage. But in the Winter, I'll only spot heat wherever I'm standing. This keeps me comfortable, without heating the whole garage. I use a 1500 W electric heater for this.

Also keep in mind that if your shop is anything like mine, it has 3 tons of cast iron & steel in the machines and probably a few hundred more lbs of stock. These are sitting at the garage ambient and it takes a lot of energy to heat up this quantity of material. There are many days here, especially in the Spring where the nights are cold but days are warm. Sometimes it will be in the high 70's/low 80's outside. But the shop will still be in the 50's or 60's because of this heat sink effect. For me, it's more of a problem in the Summer, trying to cool the place.

Just something to consider...
Is your shop insulated? Some Foil Faced R-19 insulation between the roof rafters and FF R-13 in the wall cavities (Foil facing exterior of building), will help keep it cool in the summer as well as even out the temperature swings in the spring.
 
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