School me on tube heaters

[ford88]

I have a pole barn 24x30 10ft ceiling well insulated I want to go with propane tube heater.For those that have them how are they working for you?How is the cost with propane? I'm looking at a mr heater 10ft 45,000 btu and want to mount it in the center of garage your thoughts.Im in new york gets down to about 20 or so in winter..ED

[Reg1952]

I installed a 45000 BTU tube heater in my 28x30x9 shop Nov 30th.I got 2 months out of my first tank ($280).Shop is heated to 50 all the time.I like it.No fan noise,no air blowing around and when you open the door all the heat doesnt blow out.It does cool down but recovers real quick.Only down side is if you crank up the tsat it takes a while to heat up.

[IONH]

Originally Posted by Reg1952

I installed a 45000 BTU tube heater in my 28x30x9 shop Nov 30th.I got 2 months out of my first tank ($280).Shop is heated to 50 all the time.I like it.No fan noise,no air blowing around and when you open the door all the heat doesnt blow out.It does cool down but recovers real quick.Only down side is if you crank up the tsat it takes a while to heat up.

Can you tell us what brand and model heater you have as well as what size tank?

[Reg1952]

My heater is a Schwank JS-SO45 with a 360 litre tank.

[chevelle67]

Tube heaters are nice in that they are radiant heat and use infrared that heats the area by heating everything that the infrared rays hits. That being said recover time is somewhat longer for the same reason.

[nehog]

Wait a minute here guys, we're talking two different things! A tube heater is not a radiant heater, it is a heater (AKA unit heater) that uses tubing instead of a welded or otherwise constructed combustion chamber. The heater in my shop, (a Dayton), 150K BTU is a tube heater, and uses a fan to move the heated air around.

What some are talking about, and perhaps what the OP wants, is a radiant heater.

[chevelle67]

The heater that Reg1952 referred to in his posts is an infrared tube heater.

[metalTobman]

With only ten feet of tube you may find the ends of the shop are a little cool,
especially by the door, but if you have a concrete floor it will absorb those lovely rays and probably heat your shop just fine. My 500 gallon tank easily lasts the winter ( two 80,000 btu radiant tube heaters, one at 30', the other at 40') but I keep the T'stat set at less than 40F and supplement with wood heat when I am in the shop.

[mx500]

i bought the re-verber-ray made in detroit. 50,000 btu 30' tube. I actually ordered the 2-stage residential unit, but this is what showed up. commercial unit, dx model single stage. takes a few weeks to get.
the good: at 57 degrees your roasting, so you can keep the temp lower. your tools and vehicles are warmed up, not just the air.
when it turns on its quiet and doesnt blow anything around.
when you open the garage door, it doesnt seem to affect the temperature inside so much. the whole place seems its the same temp. (my buddy has a unit heater, same size barn, and seems cold in his barn at 60 degrees.
bad:? it takes over an hour to get to 55 from 42, not exactly sure on time yet, may even be two hours.
i have a finished and insulated 32' x50' pole barn. i keep the heat at 42 deg full time, until i plan to go out there. (live in michigan). this is my first winter with it, so i was turning it up to 55 just to go out there and play around. (57 degrees is roasting and your taking your clothes off, just like the sun shining..) well, after a few weeks i realized it was using more propane than id liked. i have 140 gallon tank ( they fill it to 84 gallons, so at 2.50 per gallon, its around $250 delivered) i used most of this in one month. I could probably get two months out of this after learning how to use it more effectively. clean,safe heat is definitely worth $100 per month to me, but $200 seems a bit errational for me to work on my toys.

[jjpp]

Hey mx500, where did you buy your heater from? and if you don't mind what did it cost ballpark? I am looking at maybe getting one for next winter but I am not sure on what brands to look at. I like the fact that re-verber-ray is a Detroit company but as with anyone else I just want to get the best bang for my buck. We have Roberts Gordon Vantage II at work and haven't had any issues with them in over 10 years so I am still up in the air on brand.
Just wondering why you didn't send back your heater if they sent you the wrong one or did you make out on the deal?

I have a 30x40x12 that will be well insulated and would like to go with a 30' tube just not sure on the btu's. If anyone has any suggestions they are welcome.

[mx500]

I bought mine through a heating cooling contractor buddy, that way i feel good about the warranty. I hung the unit myself and then he ran the exhaust through the roof, so i had to pay him for some labor/materials.
didnt return it as i was too excited and i got the commercial one, which has a 4" tube compared to 3", and thought it may be built stronger..
was seriously looking at getting it through a website..
http://www.fjevans.com/Re-Verber-Ray...aters.1.3.html
around $1050 without exhaust materials.
when i called and talked to reverberay, they said that you want it to run longer, and not cycle on and off, so i went with 50,000btu. 10 year burner warranty.

[BadgerBoilerMN]

We design and install two-stage infrared tube heaters in garages all over the Minneapolis metro area. We prefer the direct vent variety, bring combustion air in from outdoors and venting through wall or roof.

The only thing better for comfort and efficiency is hydronic radiant floors, ceilings and panel radiators hung on the walls.

[jjpp]

Thanks mx500, I'd really like to stay as close to $1000 complete, to justify not going with forced air but I am also realistic about the price. I keep trolling CL hoping for one but keep finding them setup for NG and I need LP. Besides I would prefer new so we'll see.

[mx500]

when i was looking, there was a few on detroit craigslist, but i wanted new as well.. i felt guilty until i turned it on.. im hoping to put an hour gauge on my circuit, to determine how often its running.

[Bruce Amacker]

I'm not sold on the tube heater I have. It's a 125KBTU in a 32x32, mounted 11' up, and will blister the paint on a car parked under it. Be careful about how high up it is, I feel these should be higher up than 11'. I installed a 25K Reznor FA because of how hot it gets. On the plus side, it is a lot quieter than the FA.

Good Luck!

[jjpp]

Bruce, something is wrong I can leave a car on the hoist at work for weeks and never have an issue and I don't think that the rearend is even 10' from the tube. Are you just turning it on when you go out and cranking the t-stat? Because that could allow the heater to run for along time but it still shouldn't blister paint. The only incident that I can remember in 18 years is a van that was left on the hoist for the weekend melted the third stop light after the cleaning crew turned the heater up and left after cleaning the floor.

[mustangcrazy77]

Originally Posted by jjpp

Bruce, something is wrong I can leave a car on the hoist at work for weeks and never have an issue and I don't think that the rearend is even 10' from the tube. Are you just turning it on when you go out and cranking the t-stat? Because that could allow the heater to run for along time but it still shouldn't blister paint. The only incident that I can remember in 18 years is a van that was left on the hoist for the weekend melted the third stop light after the cleaning crew turned the heater up and left after cleaning the floor.

X2

I used to park my Ford F150 under the burner end of my 20' long 100k BTU radiant tube heater with no issues. This mind you with 11 foot ceilings and using an industrial (not residential) tube heater.

[burleyfarm]

I've been using a radiant heat tube for the past three winters in northern Michigan. I don't remember the brand but it is sold by Radiant Energy in Wixom Michigan. I have a 40,000 btu, 30 foot heater in a 30 x 36 fully insulated, dry walled garage with a 9.6 ceiling. The first winter I only used it on weekends. The second year I left it set at 34 degrees or so just to keep things from freezing. This winter its set at about 45 degrees except on weekends when I'm in the garage working. I'm conneccted to a 500 gallon tank that also provides the propane for my home furnace. I will probably spend an additional $200 this winter to use it. As the previous posts indicate it is a great way to heat the space and objects in it. The objects including the floor hold the heat and slowly release it. It does not take long for the garage to heat back up after the doors have been open because the objects in the garage radiat the heat back and heat the air from the objects. Mine does make noise when the fan motor is running but it's not really that bad. Other than loosing head room, I'm very happy with mine. I also spent about $1100.

[jjpp]

Thanks, that is exactly the kind of wright-up that I think most people are looking for.

[rwhite692]

Love mine. Sunstar, 50KBTU / 20 feet long

My space is 24x36.... I live in an area of California where the coldest typical nighttime dead-of-winter temps are around 30F, LOL

Ya, I went way overboard on BTUs, given my situation...But when I want to heat up the space in a hurry, it does the job.

[Full Throttle]

Originally Posted by Bruce Amacker

I'm not sold on the tube heater I have. It's a 125KBTU in a 32x32, mounted 11' up, and will blister the paint on a car parked under it. Be careful about how high up it is, I feel these should be higher up than 11'. I installed a 25K Reznor FA because of how hot it gets. On the plus side, it is a lot quieter than the FA.

Good Luck!

125kBTU in a 32x32, and you wonder why it's too hot?

[mx500]

ok, i put a timer on mine. one of those "kill a watt" devices. In the 9 hours that i was gone to work it ran for 3 hrs. propane is 2.75 a gallon here right now. so, at 92,000btu per gallon, im at about $1.50 per hour to run my 50,000 btu heater. after figuring this out, its only running when needed, and not when i feel like sitting out there and drinking a beer..hahah
this was at 42 degrees when it was around 20-30 outside.
Ill have to work on the averages, but for now its off, until the weekend.

[jjpp]

So is it $36 for 24hr or $4.50 for the 3hr run time during the 9hr, sorry I am just to lazy to figure it out myself. $36 a day works out to be $1080 for 30 days and that might be what I spend in 2 1/2 months to heat my house. Even $12 a day adds up to $360 a month and that seems kind of high to maintain 42*.

[mustangcrazy77]

Originally Posted by jjpp

So is it $36 for 24hr or $4.50 for the 3hr run time during the 9hr, sorry I am just to lazy to figure it out myself. $36 a day works out to be $1080 for 30 days and that might be what I spend in 2 1/2 months to heat my house. Even $12 a day adds up to $360 a month and that seems kind of high to maintain 42*.

$360 seems quite high. I would expect it a tad higher with propane, but that is simply crazy. To put things in perspective, I had a garage that was ~ 1000 square foot (fully insulated). Heating that with an oversized, industrial 100k btu tube heater (running natural gas) to ~ 40-45 degrees through the michigan winter was ~ $50/month. This was including cranking things up to a balmy 55 degrees 3-4 nights a week to work on the toys.

[jjpp]

That sounds more realistic, might be a little more due to the higher propane costs but I can't see $360. I saw you used to live in Howell, I'm in Marion twp. Your missing a great winter, freezing rain this morning and 50* this afternoon.

[mustangcrazy77]

Originally Posted by jjpp

That sounds more realistic, might be a little more due to the higher propane costs but I can't see $360. I saw you used to live in Howell, I'm in Marion twp. Your missing a great winter, freezing rain this morning and 50* this afternoon.

Um...I wouldn't say I'm "missing" it lol. Was mid 70's here today and will be 77* and sunny tomorrow!

[mx500]

1.37 for each hour that its running. I havent figured out the average yet, but it should be around 8 hours run time in 24 hour day. so around $11 per 24 hr. This if for a 32x50 finished and insulated pole barn that around 6 years old. I just bought the place, so its all new to me and im loving it. the heater is off until i go in there now. haha
Again, this is for propane, at 2.75 per gallon.