Hot Dawg 45K Heater Install

[pcampbell]

That is what I am thinking, I hope to live here at least 30 to 60 more years

 

[u3b3rg33k]

in that case maybe go solar and a GSHP? longer ROI but you can lock in low rates for power for 20+ years

 

[D45]

I am very, very pleased with the current heater..........the old 45k was nice and cheap, but the 75k heats the shop up faster and honestly seems more efficient than the old 45k, since it runs less once the temp it up

Its time to time the valve and shut off the gas supply for it, and unplug it from the outlet

 

[D45]

Here are my costs then, taken from the original HD 45k install and I added and adjusted what I had to buy for this 75K intall:

Heater: $575.00
B Vent Kit: $63.75
New B-Vent Elbow: $23.80
Thermostat: $20.05
Tstat Wire: $8.00
Black Roof Caulk: $6.00
Clear Silicon: $10.00 (2 tubes, one for each install)
Wiring & Flexible Conduit: $15.00
Plug: $12.00 (1 for each heater)
Black Pipe/Flex Line/Fittings/Dope/Valves/Hangers: $405

Total: $1,130.60

Then, take off the $450 that I sold my old HD 45K for, and the new grand total for the install will be:

$680.60

I would say I am forgetting some small items here and there, but I know for a fact the total heater and install parts was way under $750

 

[D45]

Early time to fire up the heater, but I had to last night

Turned on the valve in the basement, the valve near the heater, and plugged it in to the outlet

Fired right up and within 30 seconds, the heat was blowing

 

[D45]

Coming up on March 1 soon, and the heater and setup did great this winter

As time and funds allow, I would like to research and look into some sort of insulation under the roof sheathing

I have open rafters that I like having and use the space for storage

I also have soffits running the entire length of one side of the shop, and also 6 roof vents...........so I am certain I have a lot of air circulation and heat loss, which I would like to cut down on

 

[D45]

Several local businesses have quoted me a price on spraying the roof deck

$2.50 to $3.00 per square foot is expensive!!!

 

[D45]

Turned the gas valve on in the basement

Turned the gas valve on in the garage

Heater fired right up

 

[D45]

A tad under 5 months later...……..think spring is here

Both gas valves turned off and the heater is turned off

Honestly was a mild winter, short of a few stints...…..heater worked great all winter

 

[D45]

Fall is here.........turned the gas valve on in the basement and the valve on in the garage

Unit fired right up...........ran it for 20 min just to make sure all is good

 

[Showkey]

Fall is here.........turned the gas valve on in the basement and the valve on in the garage

Unit fired right up...........ran it for 20 min just to make sure all is good

You tell it’s fall with all the Garage /shop heater questions. 32* this morning

 

[D45]

Yes for sure! The outside temps dropped to 39 here last night

My garage was still 58 this morning......with no heater on

 

[D45]

You tell it’s fall with all the Garage /shop heater questions

Even though my install took months............atleast I started planning in the Spring

 

[TractorJeff]

I had 34 this morning, midway between you two!

 

[D45]

I installed six temporary roof vent covers, on the inside of the roof deck

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=464711

They seem to be working nicely to help prevent the warm air from escaping

 

[Mainiac Mat]

I just read this whole thread and the lesson learned for me was .... go bigger.

I did a heat loss calc and planned on using a 45K BTU. But since I will not heat continuously and want a faster heat up from cold iron time, I'm going to go with the HD60.

LPG for me... so I'll install and vent and wire and then have my friend the licensed gas tech hook up to the bottles.

Happy trails...

 

[D45]

I do not have insulation on the ceiling or roof deck........I use the rafters for storage

Installing vent covers/caps on the six vents in the main shop really seems to help with heat retention...........I will find out more this winter

950ish square foot shop attached to a 480 square foot shop

The 45k took too long to heat up the main 950 sq ft area and was running too long at that

The common wall for the other 480 sq foot shop (fully insulated and fully drywalled) only has windows and not a door. On occasion I open the windows to get warm air in the other side

My goal one year is to remove the windows and install a man door

 

[65GTOTRIPS]

I swapped the tiny sheet metal screws shipped on the brackets for some beefy bolts. I didn’t trust those little screws...

 

[65GTOTRIPS]

I’ve got everything setup to fire-up my new 60K HD...I changed it to propane with the conversion kit. I’m a bit nervous to start it up...it’s all vented, gassed, and electrically up to snuf...

 

[D45]

Coldest morning since last winter

Temps dropped to 23° outside and garage stayed at 43°

Looks like the 6 vents caps are working

 

[65GTOTRIPS]

Hot Dawg 60K Heater Install - Flame quality question

Hot Dawg - Flame color

Hot Dawg 60K Heater - Flame tips yellow OK

Hi’yall,
Just fired up my 60HD with propane conversion kit, and input gas is 13.5 H2O inches and I adjusted the outlet to spec at 10 inches H2O...

My question is...Is it OK to have blue flame with just a tinge if yellow at the base of the flame, turning to mostly yellow down in the exchanger tubes

The manual indicates it’s OK to see some yellow flame if there’s no soot.

Besides replying here, I’m perfectly OK to have anyone text or email me directly. I have to spell out my email because the rules say I need (5) posts to do that.

Dave Larkins
Call/Text: (610) 842-7905
Email: 65gtotrips (At) gmail (DOT) com

 

[rlitman]

Re: Hot Dawg 45K (NOW 75K) Heater Install

Got a picture of the flames? LP does have a more visible flame than NG, and also requires more oxygen. So if you take an NG appliance and swap it to LP without adjusting the venturis, you may get a yellow to orange flame.

A lick of yellow here and there should be fine with LP (less so with NG). Dust in the air can cause that for one thing. But enough yellow to create any soot is certainly bad.

 

[D45]

Start your own thread maybe?

 

[65GTOTRIPS]

Hiya,
Yea. I did begin a new thread too, just figured I’d piggyback here cause there’s alot of great input...Thanks

 

[Mr.N]

Start your own thread maybe?

Yeah, but it's always nice to bump a good old thread...

 

[D45]

Yeah, but it's always nice to bump a good old thread...

I appreciate it!

I was a cool install and I am glad I did everything myself

I don't mind others on this thread at all, just feel that starting your own thread with your own title sometimes gets better/faster responses

 

[D45]

Gas valve on in the basement, gas valve on in the garage, power connected to the heater

Fired up and working great

$750 total investment and was a DIY project

 

[rawen2]

D45,
How's your gas bill doing with the new heater compared to the old heater?

 

[Showkey]

D45,
How's your gas bill doing with the new heater compared to the old heater?

Thats back to BTU’s or BTUS’s discussion* size for the heater is more about run time …….gas is sold by the BTU ( therm) so the size of the heater should have little effect on the bill.


* other threads created many discussions on the size of heater, time to heat the space up some would argue fuel cost would be higher.

This year the propane and Nat Gas are significantly higher…….so bills might be 30-100% higher year over year.

 

[D45]

D45,
How's your gas bill doing with the new heater compared to the old heater?

Can't really tell a difference

The 45k ran, and ran alot

The 75k brings the temp up much faster and doesn't run as much

So it's a trade off I guess in gas consumption

 

[D45]

The fan size and motors also have different amp draws, but as with the natural gas, I haven't noticed any additional electric consumption

The 45k uses a 10" fan

The 75k uses a 14" fan

45K AMP DRAW: 3.7

75K AMP DRAW: 2.5

 

[PoorUB]

* other threads created many discussions on the size of heater, time to heat the space up some would argue fuel cost would be higher.

A properly sized heater that runs longer cycles to heat the space will consume less fuel than a larger heater. How much difference? Hard to say, perhaps a few percent, probably to little any of us here without scientific test equipment to tell. It is pretty hard to compare one years heating bill to the next as the outside temps and the wind are not the same.

It surely is not a huge amount, maybe 5%.

 

[D45]

My main attached two car garage is not heated, however its fully insulated and drywalled

According to the garage door opener pad (has a digital temp readout), the temps never drop below 47

There was a furnace vent running in to this area, that I plugged and blocked off

I think the duct work going to the vent radiates some heat to keep the temps up

I have a a shared common wall with this main (original) two car garage and the garage/shop addition. This wall has two windows............I am going to crack both windows open an inch or two and see this winter how the temps are affected in both garages

The roof vent plugs are still in place in the shop addition

 

[D45]

Fighting the urge to spend more money on this project, even though it works flawlessly

Thinking about upgrading my $20 low temp thermostat for a wifi tstat

Turn it on while I'm driving home or turn it off from inside

Just ideas

 

[Showkey]

Fighting the urge to spend more money on this project…….As a side note:
Focus on Energy project sponsored by many power companies is selling NEST T-STAT for $4.99 with free shipping.

 

[mike93lx]

Definitely check your utility for incentives. I've bought three discounted nests, although never one for $5

 

[PoorUB]

I have the Honeywell Redlink set up in my house and garage. I worked for a wholesale house and got the set up for free when I went to a school. A bit over kill for a shop!

You can buy a WiFi 'stat for $100-$150 that will do what mine will. I set mine to 55F and I can bymp up the thermostate from a computer or cell phone. My shop is detached from the house so it is nice to turn up the heat an hour before I go out there.

 

[D45]

What wifi thermostats are low temp rated?

I keep my tstat set at 55 and just click it to heat, to turn it on

 

[zc15]

What wifi thermostats are low temp rated?

I keep my tstat set at 55 and just click it to heat, to turn it on

https://www.menards.com/main/heatin...51-c-12864.htm?tid=1097799256820364392&ipos=2

This one goes down to 40F and is wifi. After the utility rebate I was in for $20

 

[PoorUB]

Pretty much any thermostat should go down to 55F.