Barn/Shop heating question

[DaffyJeffy]

Hi everyone. Here is the shop I built. It's 22' x 34', a story-and-a-half. 8' ceiling on the first floor and a huge upstairs studio space with cathedral ceiling.

When I did the foundation formwork (frost-protected-shallow-foundation) I put pex pipe in assuming one day put radiant heat in. In the meantime, I have a nice wood stove in there (just don't tell my insurance company as they won't give me insurance until I have another heat source and the wood stove is "supplemental").

I got a job this past week cleaning out a garage (I'm a pro handyman) and they wanted me to take the heater. It's a real nice, commercial-grade ADP, 90,000btu unit. Looks almost new even though it's manufacture date is 1994. They barely used it at all.

I hung it on my first floor near the stairs in my shop space. I can't find much information on clearances for this thing. The tag on it says "6 in. sides and top, 0 in. bottom, 18 in. back". It feels kinda funky on my 8' ceiling; there's only 5' from the floor to the bottom. Is this a bad idea? Should I put it upstairs? What do you all think?

 

[toyotadriver]

Is your shop insulated? If not then it's probably just right. If it's insulated then it's too big. But the price is right so I doubt I would pass it up.

 

[DaffyJeffy]

Is your shop insulated? If not then it's probably just right. If it's insulated then it's too big. But the price is right so I doubt I would pass it up.

It is insulated but I really doubt it's too big. There is about 1400 sq ft of space if you add both floors and the upstairs has a high cathedral ceiling. Not to mention I live in northwestern Maine.

 

[toyotadriver]

I must not have realized that you were also heating the upstairs. In that case, I would definitely keep it downstairs because heat rises. If you put it upstairs, your shop will stay cold.

You'll have to be creative with your install since your ceiling isn't high enough. Some places wouldn't allow the install for that reason.