Heater location in shop

[Brad54]

It's about time I get a heater for my shop.

It's 32x40, walls are very well insulated, but as of yet I don't have a ceiling in it, just trusses and the roof. You don't have to tell me what a misery that is, trust me--I know. Hopefully the ceiling will happen next spring, before summer, when the sun heats the whole roof from 10am until it sets, turning the shop into a broiler.

For winter, if I can get some heat in there I'll be much better off. I have a line on a gas "chicken house heater" unit, kind of like the traditional Renzor units that hang on from the ceiling.

The shop is laid out so that a 32-foot side is the front. Facing it, on the left side is a 10x10 office, a single garage door in the middle, and a single garage door on the right side.
Along the back wall, on the right side is a pallet rack (12 feet long, 10 feet tall) full of parts, the middle of the wall has a man-door as an exit, and the left side has a 4x6 closet with storage loft.

My work area is along the left wall: tools, equipment and benches. cars get worked on in the two front bays, and a third can be put in sideways a few feet in front of the pallet racks.

So, the question is this:
Where would be the best place to hang a heater? The options are far right corner, ahead of the pallet racks. Back wall center, above the man-door.
Up front, I'd have to put it at the ceiling past the garage doors in the open position, or along the back wall of the office, which wouldn't heat the car bays because it'd be blocked by the walls of the loft.

-Brad

 

[Stuart in MN]

In general terms a unit heater is usually located so it's blowing towards the coldest part of the building. So, for a typical garage it goes against the back wall and points towards the overhead door. It usually gets put in a corner, pointing into the room at a 45 degree angle.

 

[Brad54]

In general terms a unit heater is usually located so it's blowing towards the coldest part of the building. So, for a typical garage it goes against the back wall and points towards the overhead door. It usually gets put in a corner, pointing into the room at a 45 degree angle.

Well, that's one of the things I was wondering... is it more efficient to stick it in a corner, or is it fine against the back wall?
Good tip on aiming it at the coldest part of the shop, usually the garage doors.

-Brad

 

[kenfath]

I've installed several hanging forced air heaters and they were in the corner aimed towards the opposite/diagonal corner. A 'professional' installer suggested the corner location his logic was you got a better air flow this way as opposed to blowing directly across the room aimed at the opposite wall. His other suggestion was to place the heater closest to where most of the work activity was taking place. His rationale was if the occupant is warm most of the time then he'll think he is warm all the time. This info came to me as 'free' advice but it has worked well for me.

 

[Steevo]

Although it is fairly common practice to blow towards the cold, I opted to place my overhead heater in the front corner of the shop, which is the wall that has the overhead door in it. It is angled towards my primary work area in the back corner, which is also where the thermostat is. This way, I can have the working area stay at my preferred temp, and be less influenced by the cold of the overhear door or the man door in the front wall. Realistically, now that the ceiling is insulated (R59) as well as the walls (R21), there is little, if any, temp difference from end to end.

 

[BadgerBoilerMN]

I say install a radiant ceiling and then you can put the unit heater where is really belongs...ehehheehee