Heating 41x22 shop in GA

[The Lazy Destroyer]

Finally got my outbuilding insulated, it is approximately 41'x22' with 14' ceilings. I have R13 on the walls and R30 on the ceiling, both are fiberglass batts. Also have 3 of the HD 60" ceiling fans people post about on here occasionally. This is in GA by the way.

My budget to heat and cool the shop is at least another year out, so I have to deal with what I've got for now. I assume the proper way to heat it would be to get one of the Mr Heater type box heaters I see mounted to the ceiling. I believe they are vented propane or NG heaters? Maybe I can get something like that eventually but I have no gas in the garage and budget may not allow such a nice heater at the moment

Are there any recommendations to heat the shop if only temporarily for this coming winter or two? GA doesn't get too bad and this is the first winter with insulation in the shop... so I am not really sure what to expect as far as temps this year. Maybe I don't need much?

I imagine those 1500watt electric heaters probably are not going to cut it? The little I've read show those forced air propane units like this one might work but could introduce fumes and moisture, so probably not good? My neighbor has an old wood stove he's looking to get rid of, I guess I would need some type of special vent for it though?

As you can tell I'm pretty lost And unfortunately I'm not really sure what the temps I should be expecting are. With no insulation on previous years, it's always closely matched what it was outside, but now... ???

I don't work out there all the time but would like to work out there on weekends if even just one day a weekend. So don't really need anything that will raise the temps super quick, maybe just something that can keep a little heat in. Thoughts?

 

[hughfree]

There are a number of quick load calculators on the web. Check this link out...

http://www.shophmac.com/info-center/hvac-calculators/heat-load-calculator.php

This will allow you to get a good approximation of what you will need for heating. Note that the design outdoor temperature for this calculator is 0 degrees. I would use 22 degrees for Atlanta area. You can make this adjustments by adjusting your design indoor temperature. The calculation is really based on the delta between indoor and outdoor. So...if you want to maintain 60 degrees in your shop your delta for Atlanta would be 38 degrees. For this calculator you would enter 38 degrees for indoor design. This will get you close.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

With that much insulation, and if the building is fairly tight, you won't have any trouble heating it. I have a 60x60 steel building, 16 ft eave, 21 ft peak, typical thin fiberglass insulation used in steel buildings, and one end with a large door 14 x 56, that is skinned in translucent fiberglass. I installed a 200K BTU used/waste oil heater. While we haven't had much cold since I installed it, It seems to work well on the coldest days I tried it on. I'll bet a used NG or Propane hanging shop heater of 80K to 100K will run you out of there.

Charles

 

[thooks]

The 1500 electric heaters aren't going to do squat in January and February...and any other time it's 24° overnight and doesn't get above 33°F in the daytime. Winter design temp for here is 17°F, BTW...

You might look on Crapslist for a small kerosene jet-type heater (do they also have those in propane-fired??). That will let you go out there, crank that thing up, let it run for 30 minutes while you change clothes/eat/etc...

What is the hold up in getting your shop ready to install the Hot Dawg type unit heaters? Do you have gas run to the building? Do you just need to buy the heaters?

 

[The Lazy Destroyer]

No gas run to the building. Not against it just can't do it for the time being, maybe in a year I can consider it. One of my issues is I do not plan on being out there very much during winter (maybe 1 or 2 days every couple weeks) so I'm still not sure how much use a proper/formal heater would get. I'm a weekend warrior at best

That's why I'd like to try and use something smaller and/or cheaper this winter and see how I do.

Are there any drawbacks to kero heaters? I see they are not too expensive to buy and seem to have the BTU output that I can work with. Again, I wouldn't be out there much so the cost of kero wouldn't seem too bad.

The blower construction heaters that run off of propane was the only other gas heater I had looked up, and seems the general thought is they are ok for construction or where ventilation is good, but maybe not in a sealed off building, regarding fumes and moisture. But I haven't really looked too much into it. And hadn't researched the kero heaters yet.

 

[thooks]

You might look at a 5kw electric unit heater. You'll need a piece of 10-2 Romex run from your panel and a 2-pole, 30-amp breaker.

Put it in the corner near the door(s) and let it blow diagonally across the space.

It will be better than a couple-three 1500w consumer heaters from Walmart.

You might look at a 10kw heater, but it's going to take 6-2 wire and a 50-amp breaker. It really should be a 60-amp breaker... It will heat the space a lot quicker.

Give Johnstone Supply a call about these, Grainger, etc. If you have trouble, shoot me a PM and I could try to get with someone at Mingledorff's.