Farenheat heater (like the Dayton), not heating

haugy · Oct 27, 2012

I just picked up a Farenheat heater, the comparable one to the Dayton.

I must say, I'm not impressed at all. I've got a big shop, I knew that it wouldn't be up to par for the size of the shop. 30x40. But I've got it insulated with 1" of spray foam on the interior, and then R19 Fiberglass batts with a 1" gap between the batts and the foam. Then drywalled.

It's very well insulated.

So I normally run three of the small safety heaters that take about 30 minutes to get really warm. But after about an hour, you can walk in the shop and tell it's warmer. That's all it takes.

So I figured this heater would help dramatically quicker. Well I hooked it up, and it's putting out heat. But after running for 3 hours straight it only raised the temperature about 8-10 max.

And that's on a 55 degree day, not even real cold.

I turned it off, and switched out the air (opened my big doors). Then I turned on the safety heaters. In 1.5 hours it was warmer than it was with the Farenheat.

If I get up next to it, it is putting off some serious heat, but at 10ft, it's more like cold air blowing than hot. Is that normal?

I got a nice returnable warranty from Northern Tool, and I think I'm going to use it. For the power it's sucking out, it's sure not putting out the heat.

Anyone else have this problem?

philjafo · Oct 28, 2012

I'm not really familiar with farenheat heaters so just to be sure your talking about a 220 volt electric space heater that's wired to the electrical panel. Are you sure your getting 220 volts? It is possible to have 120 volts on each leg but if they are on the same phase they don't add up to 220. If your getting the correct voltage, check the amp draw, if its lower then its supposed to be there may be something wrong with it.

haugy · Oct 28, 2012

philjafo said:
I'm not really familiar with farenheat heaters so just to be sure your talking about a 220 volt electric space heater that's wired to the electrical panel. Are you sure your getting 220 volts? It is possible to have 120 volts on each leg but if they are on the same phase they don't add up to 220. If your getting the correct voltage, check the amp draw, if its lower then its supposed to be there may be something wrong with it.

Yes, it's a 220v heater.

I'm about 20% capable with electrical. I hooked up the wiring to the panel but don' know how to check that they are on the same phase.

How do I do that? :headscrat

haugy · Oct 28, 2012

Okay, I just used my multimeter to check each line for 120v and then check both hot lines for 240v.

I had the multimeter set to Voltage AC (little wave) and then on my 250 setting I got a reading of 120v on the money between both lines.

Then switched it to 500 on the meter and I again got about 120-130. So I'm hoping with the 500 setting that means I'm getting a good 240v.

I don't know how else to check to make sure this is set up right.

philjafo · Oct 28, 2012

The setting you refer to is a range, you should be able to leave it on 250 to do the check. Check volts ac from each line to ground, should be 120 v then check volts to both should add to 220-240v.

pentavolvo · Oct 28, 2012

sounds like you are only wired for 110 thus its barely working. line to line should read 220. you ran a dedicated circuit for this correct?

miketyler · Oct 28, 2012

I bought one of the little Farenheat units and hung it from the ceiling. Its a 220V and does pretty well for such a small unit heating my large lower floor of the garage (about 1000sf) I did a lot of research on these and there were very few that werent happy with their purchase.

haugy · Oct 28, 2012

My shop is a big one, but even sitting in front of it, it's not as hot as I thought it would be.

When I put the meter to Voltage AC on the 250 setting, it maxes out the meter.

And it's a dedicated 240 plug.

philjafo · Oct 28, 2012

haugy said:
Then switched it to 500 on the meter and I again got about 120-130. So I'm hoping with the 500 setting that means I'm getting a good 240v.
.

The 500 setting is 0 to 500 volts, it doesn't double the reading from the 0 to 250 range.

You should have three wires going to the unit, at the outlet it would be two slots and one D or L shaped hole. Take the red and black leads from the meter and put the black lead in the D or L shaped hole. Then put the red lead into each of the slots one at a time, you should have about 120 volts in each. Now take the black lead and put it in one of the slots and put the red lead in the other slot, there you should have about 220.

A 220 heater trying to run on 120 might get warm but will never get hot, if you've got 220 at the outlet, then there may be something wrong with the heater. Does it have fuses or circut breakers inside?

philjafo · Oct 28, 2012

You could also try tech support for the company that built the heater, there's usually a number for them in the instructions that came with it. They are usually pretty helpful to avoid unnecessary returns.

CudaChick1968 · Oct 28, 2012

This may or may not be relevant, but I bought an electric 220v Dayton for my 30x40. I could never get it to work right despite the fact it was professionally wired ($2600 to wire the shop including the heater line). It would blow hot but only one leg would turn on, and it kept blowing breakers. The electrician's only suggestion was to put bigger breakers in the panel. After his third visit with the same suggestion as a result, I grabbed the owners' manual.

I learned it's set up for 208 ... but my electric company says my service here is 240. The engineer at Grainger told me I'd need some $900 'step down' thing and bigger wire ... and then it would run me about $300 a month to use it. Screw that. I bought a nice gas heater for the shop and put the Dayton on CraigsList. The new gas heater costs about $10 a month to run.

Maybe the problem with your heater is something like mine? The one you bought does seem to have really great reviews. Good luck! I'm sure these guys will help you get it straightened out. I'm just a powder coater.

CudaChick1968 · Oct 28, 2012

philjafo said:
You could also try tech support for the company that built the heater, there's usually a number for them in the instructions that came with it. They are usually pretty helpful to avoid unnecessary returns.

Apparently Phil and I were typing at the same time LOL.

A BIGGGG x2 on that! The Grainger tech I talked to was wonderful, took the time to understand my problem, and then had it solved within a few hours when he called me back. That guy ultimately saved me a TON of money and headaches.

benjamintmiller · Oct 29, 2012

Fahrenheat makes several models of heater. I have the 7500 watt one, which is a slightly larger brother than the 5000 watt one sold at Northern Tool and the like.

I have mine on a dedicated 40 amp 220 breaker, and it will heat my poorly insulated and very leaky 24x28 from 0 degrees to 70 degrees in a half hour.

Since you said you have a well insulated garage, I find it almost impossible that the smaller heater won't do the same, but it is possible that you just didn't buy enough heater for that space. A typical 40x30 garage would need two of the larger heaters, not just one of the smaller ones.

Another thing you need to keep in mind is thermal mass. The larger your garage is, the more cold things in it will need to be warmed up, and it doesn't matter how much insulation you have there.

haugy · Oct 29, 2012

CudaChick1968 said:
I bought a nice gas heater for the shop and put the Dayton on CraigsList. The new gas heater costs about $10 a month to run.

What type of heater did you replace it with?

benjamintmiller said:
Since you said you have a well insulated garage, I find it almost impossible that the smaller heater won't do the same, but it is possible that you just didn't buy enough heater for that space. A typical 40x30 garage would need two of the larger heaters, not just one of the smaller ones.

Another thing you need to keep in mind is thermal mass. The larger your garage is, the more cold things in it will need to be warmed up, and it doesn't matter how much insulation you have there.

Granted, and I understand that. But on a 55 degree day, after 3 hours of the heater running, it should be warmer than 60 degrees in the shop.

philjafo said:
The 500 setting is 0 to 500 volts, it doesn't double the reading from the 0 to 250 range.

You should have three wires going to the unit, at the outlet it would be two slots and one D or L shaped hole. Take the red and black leads from the meter and put the black lead in the D or L shaped hole. Then put the red lead into each of the slots one at a time, you should have about 120 volts in each. Now take the black lead and put it in one of the slots and put the red lead in the other slot, there you should have about 220.

A 220 heater trying to run on 120 might get warm but will never get hot, if you've got 220 at the outlet, then there may be something wrong with the heater. Does it have fuses or circut breakers inside?

Well when I set the meter to 250, and check each individual leg I get 120v each time. Then when I put the two legs together on the meter, it maxes out. So my assumption would be there is enough juice. Right?

CudaChick1968 · Oct 29, 2012

haugy said:
What type of heater did you replace it with?
...

I'll have to look and get back to you haugy ... I don't recall offhand what brand it is, but I bought it used.

Falcon67 · Oct 29, 2012

Check the wiring on the heater - if it's much of a copy of the Dayton, there will be several taps on the heating element to set the output. That said - 5000w is only 17,500 BTU and that's not a lot in your big shop. It'll heat my 12x24 work room up 10F in a few minutes. It'll warm the other 624 sq/ft over time if I point it in there. It would keep my old 20x24 warm after a short time of getting it up to temp. Your 1200 sq/ft (didn't say how tall your ceiling is) with an 8' ceiling is 4 times the volume.

DPelletier · Oct 29, 2012

haugy said:
I just picked up a Farenheat heater, the comparable one to the Dayton.

I must say, I'm not impressed at all. I've got a big shop, I knew that it wouldn't be up to par for the size of the shop. 30x40. But I've got it insulated with 1" of spray foam on the interior, and then R19 Fiberglass batts with a 1" gap between the batts and the foam. Then drywalled.

It's very well insulated.

So I normally run three of the small safety heaters that take about 30 minutes to get really warm. But after about an hour, you can walk in the shop and tell it's warmer. That's all it takes.

So I figured this heater would help dramatically quicker. Well I hooked it up, and it's putting out heat. But after running for 3 hours straight it only raised the temperature about 8-10 max.

And that's on a 55 degree day, not even real cold.

I turned it off, and switched out the air (opened my big doors). Then I turned on the safety heaters. In 1.5 hours it was warmer than it was with the Farenheat.

If I get up next to it, it is putting off some serious heat, but at 10ft, it's more like cold air blowing than hot. Is that normal?

I got a nice returnable warranty from Northern Tool, and I think I'm going to use it. For the power it's sucking out, it's sure not putting out the heat.

Anyone else have this problem?

You guys are confusing the heck out of me! :lol:

Both Fahrenheit and Dayton make many kinds of electric heaters (baseboard, unit heaters, wall mounts, etc) in many different sizes.

You say that 3 "safety type" heaters did better than your new heater...well, were they 1500w heaters? how big is the new one? Basically all electric heaters are 100% efficient so a watt is a watt is a watt.

I used a 5kw heater in my 24' x 40' x 12.5' stand alone shop and it worked just fine unit l installed my 7.5kw electric unit heater.

If the new heater is larger in output than the three small ones, it will heat the garage faster...unless it isn't working properly.

Dave

CudaChick1968 · Oct 29, 2012

Following up, my gas heater is a Dayton too. It's 75,000 BTU, and my shop's the same size as yours (mine's 11' at the crown).

Farenheat heater (like the Dayton), not heating

haugy

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philjafo

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haugy

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haugy

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philjafo

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pentavolvo

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miketyler

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haugy

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