Heater for 200 sq/ft enclosed work area

[krazykevin76]

Just want to put my feelers out for what you guys think is a good heat source for a 10x20 enclosed work area. I already have a 1 ton mini split for my man cave. It is the same size. I am now enclosing the area next to my man cave. I thought about putting two fans in the wall that they will share and have one fan blow air from man cave into the work area and then the other fan blow from the work area into the man cave. Easy to do but I don't know how I like that idea. I really don't want to put in another mini split for just the work area, so I was deciding to go with a window unit for cool (I am in SE Texas) and then some type of heater for heat. Maybe a dual purpose small window unit might do the trick but if I could find some fancy small heater that might fit the bill.

What do you fellas think?

Thanks

Kevin

 

[Jackfre]

Look at the Tjernlund Airshare for the fan component. For a gas unit the Rinnai EX-08 (3-8K BTU) is the best, but pricey.

 

[BillK]

For that small of an area a 1500 watt electric heater should more than do the job. Especially in Texas where I don't imagine it really gets that cold ?

 

[larry_g]

https://king-electric.com/product/model-kbp/

I'm on my seventh year with the above heater in my machine area, 12x36' I'm perfectly happy with it. The thermostat will control into the 40*f range and hold the room 60-65*f. It would go higher but that is a comfortable temp for me. I also have a regular 10" fan running at the other end of the room to keep air circulating and all seems to heat evenly. The Pic-a-watt feature is a series of separate heater cartridges that you can change individually and only wire in what you need for use. Me i'm running them all. Also understand this is running in a climate where it is mostly above freezing all the time and outside temps are in the 35-50*f range.

Our local big box store had this on the shelf. https://www.lowes.com/pd/King-20-484-BTU-Electric-Space-Heater/3120547

lg
no neat sig line

 

[The Cobbler]

an appropriately sized electrical baseboard heater would be an option .

 

[WisJim]

How well is the space insulated? That will make a big difference. I can heat my 2 workspaces, each about 11 by 23, with a single 1500 space heater, and I'm in Wisconsin where we usually get down to minus 20 F sometime in the winter and often colder. But my building is well insulated and never gets too warm inside even in the hottest weeks of summer.

 

[mikedodge]

I have a room a bit bigger that insulated that an electric baseboard heats. I forget if it's 500w or 750w but it works for cold Canadian winters so should easily do it in Texas.

 

[whateg01]

My 20x30 shop is kept quite comfortable with a heater similar to this

.

 

[krazykevin76]

Really appreciate all the replies. I don't think $1500 heaters is what I'm looking for, but I am very impressed with them. I hadn't realized the prices of mini splits or even window units with heat pumps have dropped so much. I think at minimum I'm looking at the Midea window units with a heat pump for 499. The only thing I don't like is that at 41F they say the heat pump doesn't work. Will the heat pump just not work or become inefficient? My Pioneer mini split works well down into the upper 20's. I don't know how well or efficient it is, I can't find what they claim, but it works well for my small area.

Do you guys worry about the Midea claiming 41F is their cutoff? I just worry because even here around Houston, we often see low 30s and upper 20s.

Thanks

Kevin

 

[tncatadjuster]

I went full in on the diesel heaters last year, really happy with performance. I have five of them in four different areas.

 

[whateg01]

To use the heat pump at those lower temperatures, you need what some manufacturers call hyper heat. It costs more but let's the heat pump work at lower temps. The effectiveness will always drop off as it nears the bottom of its range though.

 

[theoldwizard1]

I you look, there are a few "window" heat pumps on the market.

PTACs are trap, unless you get one dirt cheap (free) and are good at HVAC repair and can get parts. Basically a resistance heater with an A/C.

Electric baseboard is cheap and easy to install, but expensive to operate and does not solve the A/C problem.

 

[Jackfre]

I was in Costco the other day and they had the 115v 12k Mr Cool Mitsubishi on the floor at $1200

 

[PCustoms]

For that small of an area a 1500 watt electric heater should more than do the job. Especially in Texas where I don't imagine it really gets that cold ?

This

 

[dcg9381]

Do you guys worry about the Midea claiming 41F is their cutoff? I just worry because even here around Houston, we often see low 30s and upper 20s.

It's not the "cut off" that you worry about, you need to look at the performance curve for heating. They commonly sell units in Texas that are not really designed for heating below freezing (I have one). I had to add propane heat, but this is for a much larger building.

I've had a few RVs that are at R-4 and R-7 construction. A 1500 watt space heater will heat 200 sqft. If you've got two circuits, you can run another for the FEW days we get every couple of years where it's cold.

 

[dscheidt]

https://king-electric.com/product/model-kbp/

I'm on my seventh year with the above heater in my machine area, 12x36' I'm perfectly happy with it. The thermostat will control into the 40*f range and hold the room 60-65*f.

I have a slightly less fancy King electric unit heater in my garage, this one https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BDNH6Z0?tag=atomicindus08-20

It's awesome, the thermostat works (though it's not graduated in degrees.) over a big range, it's reasonably quiet. I don't use it a lot, because it's not really big enough, and it's cheaper to run a propane heater when it's cold enough that I think I need heat. I have it because I got it from amazon warehouse for $47.21 about six years ago. For that kind of money, I'd be installing a heat pump. Won't cost any more, costs way less to run, and AC. it's Texas, he wants AC too.

 

[larry_g]

I have a slightly less fancy King electric unit heater in my garage, this one https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BDNH6Z0?tag=atomicindus08-20

It's awesome, the thermostat works (though it's not graduated in degrees.) over a big range, it's reasonably quiet. I don't use it a lot, because it's not really big enough, and it's cheaper to run a propane heater when it's cold enough that I think I need heat. I have it because I got it from amazon warehouse for $47.21 about six years ago. For that kind of money, I'd be installing a heat pump. Won't cost any more, costs way less to run, and AC. it's Texas, he wants AC too.

I agree, the price today is way higher than what I paid years ago. When I bought mine it was less than $300.

lg
no neat sig line