heating my man cave

[Albertross]

I recently built a 30x40 steel building with14'sidewalls,&a pitched roof insulated to r10 with the factory supplied vinyl covered insulation-one 10wx12high door and one walk-in door I've found a used SPACE_RAY LTU50 readiant tube heater-for a pretty good price--does anyone know about these units?and how effective they are ? I'm told they're more efficient than a modine-after the holiday,I'll contact the factory to see about options/upgrades.I appreciate any input from users of these units-thanks in advance,Al.Oops I forgot--I sheathed the wall with plywood-to protct the insulation,and create a dead air space-I hope this helps

 

[dave67fd]

Radiant tube heaters are very efficient as long as it's installed properly.You didn't mention any insulation in your walls so i'll assume their not and your area is abit large for a 50k "input" heater. With a 30' tube length it could provide adequate heat if in fact the area is properly insulated. With a pitched roof you might want to install a ceiling fan.

Make sure you properly position it were it becomes most effective.

 

[Gregory M]

I had a friend give me a 1990 HEIL 125,000 BTU furnace this summer, had to change out the secondary heat exchanger it had some crackes in it but it was covered under warranty. had to change it from propane to NG but it heats up my 32X44 with 12ft ceiling great. it was 10-below this morning and i went out and turned it on for 30 min , went back out to the shop and washed the car in a short sleve shirt. its 80 Percent efficent. .

 

[DPelletier]

Radiant tube heaters are actually less efficient from a natural gas burning standpoint than most high efficiency forced air furnaces....however due to the nature of radiant heat, most people are satisfied at a lower air temperature using radiant heat. If you heated both spaces to the same indoor air temperature using a high efficiency gas furnace and a radiant tube heater, the tube heater would use more fuel.

Dave

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Kinda helps to know where you are located. Add it to your profile, at least a state or province or a city and state.

Charles