Heating a combustible materials closet

[smodat]

I'm a newbie and enjoy the site and find you guys very innovative, so...I live in Atlantic Canada and it is not uncommon to see the mercury dip below -30C in the winter, each fall the ritual is to pack up anything that can freeze and carry it into the house and then repeat the move to the garage in the spring. This is a 24x32 foot hobby garage in which I do not spend a lot of time in during the colder winter months other than to make the odd necessary repair. Since I don’t spend a lot of time out there in the winter I do not wish to keep, nor pay for, the temperature in the garage to stay above freezing. So, I was thinking about building a small room or closet within which to keep anything that could freeze and provided this room is insulated and sealed well enough I should be able to heat it quite cheaply…and I’m all about being cheap. The problem is, what would be the best thing for a heat source?? Keeping in mind that the closet will be sealed fairly well and contain combustible materials such as aerosol paint cans I don’t want to cause a permanent solution to the problem by burning my garage down as the result of an electrical spark. I was thinking of using a small ceramic type heater with a fan and blowing the warm air into the closet with duct, however, since the thermostat is built-in, the heater would never shut-off because it would remain out in the colder garage. I would need a small heater with an external thermostat I can mount inside the closet. Any ideas??

[pseudorealityx]

I know Qmark does, and I'm sure others do, but there are explosion proof electric heaters available. It won't be cheap, since it comes with the real deal explosion proof junction boxes and whatnot, but it'll do what you want it to do.

http://www.qmarkmep.com/

click on "bulletin" for the list of model #s and specs.

[Mattlt]

How about a couple of light bulbs? (use two or more smaller bulbs vs. one big bulb, in case the one bulb burns out.) If the room is well insulated it shouldn't take much to heat it. Don't forget to insulate the floor.

If you are really concerned about using "explosion proof" fixtures, they make globes and fixtures for combustible atmospheres. They are used in haylofts, barns, etc in addition to industrial settings.

[Shadowdog500]

I was thinking of doing the same type of thing with an old refrigerator, a Golden rod gun safe heater, and a Valterra Fridgemate battery powered fan to circulate the air.

Chris

[djjsr]

Light bulbs will do the job, cheap and easy. About 7 or 8 years ago, I built a large wooden cabinet and isolated the bottom 1/3 with weatherstripping. I mounted 2 light sockets in it. Normally I use only two 40 watt bulbs and it heats the area (7ft x 2ft x 9") pretty well. If the temperature in the garage drops to below 20 degrees F., I put 60 watt bulbs in there. I've been thinking about installing a thermostat to turn the lights on but I haven't found one that will work (yet). If you use a metal cabinet, you'll probably need to insulate it. Keep everything away from the bulbs. I leave about 8 or 10 inches of space around the bulbs.

[texasOFT]

Check out radiant floor electric heating at Home Depot, comes with a temp control. Needs an dedicated circuit. Put it down and put tile over the top of the wire grid with mortar. comes in different sizes. Put it in my wife's bathroom and got me alot of brownie points!