Electric heaters question

[MMC garage]

Love this forum,lots of valuable info,just registered. Several questions about electric heat. I am in the process of building a new storage building with a 42X24 14ft ceiling work shop.I am planning on using electric heat. My questions are these,,do some types or styles of electric heaters, heat better than others? Also for roughly a 1000 sq/ft shop with a 14 ft high ceiling what size would be recommended? I am planning on a ceiling or wall mount unit but will consider anything if it's to my advantage.Also i have a good size ceiling fan.I am planning on using a spray foam insulation but cant give an R-value at this point. I live in northern Iowa, any suggestions or info would be appreciated.

 

[jvitez]

Boy, there's a whole whack of information required to answer each point of your questions, but I'll give you my condensed version. Welcome to the forum BTW.

No, various electric heaters don't heat better or worse than any other, it all depends on the application. Get the right type of heater, the right number, in the right size, placed correctly in your shop and you'll be happy.

1. Is this a personal/hobby shop, or work related? Farm?
2. What type of work/play are you planning on doing there?
3. What temp are you planning on keeping it during the winter?
4. How often will you be opening man-doors or garage doors?
5. What's your budget?
6. Heating all winter, or just when you're out there?

"Best" heating system: in floor radiant heat. If you open and close garage doors a lot, you can even add fan forced unit heaters in addition for quick warm up. But this costs the most.

Ceiling mounted electric radiant panels or wall mounted cove heaters would be second best. Radiant heat is always the most comfortable, no drafts, and completed quiet, but you need more of them in electric to have even heat.

Fan forced unit heaters are the cheapest to install, but obviously noisier, and less comfortable as your skin always feels moving air as colder than still air. Plus, 14' ceilings mean lots of heat stratification unless you keep your ceiling fan going all the time, but there goes the moving air issue again.

How many KW needed in total? You need a proper heat loss calculation, then everything is clear, not jus WAG. From personal experience, I heated my previous home's attached garage with 9 watts/sq. ft and it worked well (R12 walls, R40 ceiling, insulated garage door, Canadian prairies), but it did take a while to heat to 50F from cold as I only heated intermittently. Less important if you oversize electric heat than fuel burning heaters though.

Check out these:

http://www.appliedradiant.com/elect.htm
look at the Alcatel electric heating cable.

http://www.ouellet.com/commercial-heating-system.aspx
This will show a bewildering array of heater types.

This should be a good start on your journey.

 

[MMC garage]

It will be a personal shop,to work on old cars ect. I own a restoration shop and need to keep my personal projects out the money making shop and into a shop where they are not in the way for my employees.
With that said the doors will be open very rarely.Mostly heated to just above freezing in general and heated to 70-75 when i work in there anywhere from a couple times a week to maybe only a couple times a month depending on whats going on.
I already have the concrete poured so the infloor heating is out. I dont mind air movement as i have ceiling fans and dehumidifiers running constantly to help control humidity. Would i be better off with a (home type) electric furnace as i am going to have a bath room and man cave so i actually will have 3 different areas to heat? I can always shut down vents ect to help control the temp in the different areas,plus i can add central air. Just thinking out loud here. Appreciate your advice

 

[jvitez]

3 different areas? Man cave, workshop, and washroom? Sounds great! Congrats.

An electric furnace would work, but not so well if you want each space to be zoned differently. I'd put a wall mount or baseboard heater in the bathroom, probably cove heaters in the man cave, and 1 or better yet 2 unit heaters in the workshop.