How Big for the Shop? Quality vs. Quantity

[beartoothweb]

I've been planning my shop for a while now, and finalizing some things, hoping to pour concrete when it warms up a little (it's 25 below right now here.)

I want to build a "vintage gas station" type shop, complete with a flat facade, overhang for the "pump area", etc.

This kind of thing takes a bit more money than your typical 4 walls and a roof.

Here's my quandary. I had originally decided on 38x32 with 10' ceilings and a 12' coffer for the lift (I don't like the look of the 12' walls, plus the cost). That's just over 1200 ft. It would give me probably way more room than I really need, and I might just fill it with ****. It would give me potential to park 4 cars easily (one on the lift), more if I need. Max we'll own when my girls are of age and at home will be 3 in there, including my project car. We also have a 2-car at the house.

I'm trying to balance budget with long term needs. I have 2 other outbuildings we use for garden stuff and pool/kids stuff. We have plenty of room, I could build a huge shop if I wanted to, but I'm not sure it makes sense.

I'm considering cutting a bit off and doing something more like 32 x 24. That'll save me like $7500. I'm doing all of the work myself with the help of a construction buddy. We'll do the floor in 2 pours.

Just looking for help making some decisions.

I put up a couple of pics, the vehicle on the right is our 03 suburban, by far the biggest rig we own, and will likely ever own. The project will be a 65 Cobra replica (FFR), and the girls cars will likely be some sort of 4 banger like a Honda or the like.

Please help a guy make some decisions.

 

[tdkkart]

As big as you can possibly afford. The "might get filled with ****" is just like guns, buildings do not fill with ****, people fill them with ****. If you have a tendency to do that you need therapy, or a larger building.
Years ago I spent alot of time working in a 60x120 farm shop. It was divided in 1/2, 1 half was the shop, the other was equipment storage. So 60 x 60 was the actual shop area, gaves lots of room to work on most anything.

I just bought a place with a 30 x 40, nice size, will always wish it was bigger, but it'll do for now.

 

[rsanter]

the way I see it is you have 3 options

1 build bigger now and to save cost you can cut corners on stuff that can be done later.
you can add the front overhang and interrior appointment after the have taken care of the shell of the building.

2 you can build a smaller shop but build it with a master plan so that you have a way to add on to it later without disrupting the flow and with minimizing the add on costs.

3 you can build the smaller shop and not look back. if you need more storage for junk later you can buy a container to set out back

bob

 

[sam 8]

Well, let me tell you what I did.

I wanted something like what you are after, complete with the "Gas Station" look. I have a vintage visible pump I am going to restore to be the centerpiece. I also wanted two stalls for parking, a place for a poker table and a "B.S." session area in front of the cars in my existing shop, and one large area for a lift, and space for fabrication in the new shop.
(I don't want much, I know)
I had an existing 20x30 garage, finished, with 9' ceilings. Let us say that it runs west to east, with a double door on the west end. After fooling around with some of the same considerations you have mentioned, and looked at my needs, I added a 24x30 building to the east end of the 20x30. It runs north and south. The east end of the shop is now a 50' wall. I used scissor trusses to mach the 4-12 roof pitch, inside they are 2-12, so the center of the ridge is about 14'ish.
On the north end of the 24x30 I am building a false front using barn lumber to make my "Gas Station" dream come true, and the fab area is next to it. A loft covers it, giving me an additional 190sq.ft. of storage space with a minimum of 4' height up to 6 in the center. It is barn lumber to the ceiling. I have some rusty reclaimed tin roofing I am adding for effect. I installed a 10 ft. roll-up door in the addition portion, it'll lead to the loft eventually.
Starting to look almost the way I want it.
Almost. LOL
Sorry, no pics yet.
Anyway, think about something other than a square or rectangle and see if perhaps it better fits your needs.

 

[4me2nou]

I just finished my 32x40 and my father asked if I would have done anything different. Of course I said maybe 36x44 lol. That said I designed it all my self and must say stick with any dimension that breaks on 4' you wont notice the price difference and it just goes up easier (less waste). I would say you couldn't fill up a pickup truck bed with all the waste that was left, mostly sawdust. I also used scissor trusses 6/12 outside 3/12 inside for clearance for a lift. I left one bay with a standard truss cieling, for storage and HVAC equip. I had the garage doors installed with the slope of the cieling and gained 2' of clearance. Some framing suggestions, if you can get 9' studs (lowes had them here, used in finer homes for 9' cielings) they only costs cents more and you gain 1' right there. I left one block above floor level and poured inside, gained almost another foot and cut down on forming for the concrete. I also framed in for a future garage door on the back wall (installed header and jacks), just in case I want to expand out back (paint booth winkwink). The biggest problem I have with **** accumulating is keeping my father from bringing stuff to my garage (pack rat), and me being able to turn my back on super deals for future projects. Take your time making your decision, and build as big as possible. When my wife saw the corner stakes her comment was "are you sure thats big enough", I should have taken advantage of that, but I told her it was more square footage than our first house LOL.

 

[e-tek]

I noticed in your poll that a couple of the dimensions where less than 40 feet in length. I built mine 24 x 40 and I'd suggest you don't go less than 36 or 40 feet. Reason being is you need 20 feet per car in order to have enough room to work, to get around them, and especially for a lift. Your Suburban I'd bet is near 17 feet long. My 67 Galaxie is 18 feet!

As for width, sounds like you'll be wide enough. I think 24 feet is minimum. 30 feet will allow room for a bench and to open the car doors.

Overall, I have an attached 2 car and my 4 car shop. I have 3 projects and a Yard Truck (46 MErc 1/2 ton). I also put up a shed for any garden equipment and bikes. That means all the rooms at the inn are occupied and I could use more!! Now, you're saying you won't have 3 projects, but you'll have 4 cars for you, wife, daughters, plus your project will need 2 stalls MINIMUM.

Best of luck with the build!

 

[ryno]

as stated before build it as big as you can right now and worry about the look later.

 

[Henson]

We are like fish. We grow to meet the size of the tank.
I wish I had a bigger garage though it is 3x the size of the last one.
You'll never be satified with garage size. And if you do become satified that's the sign your garage is too big.

 

[boiler7904]

Any size you want as long as you go in 4' increments to minimize material waste (mostly exterior sheathing and drywall) and to stay on nominal masonry coursing if using brick or block. Also keeps you on standard concrete form modules and 24" truss spacing and 16" wall stud spacing.

I wouldn't do anything less than 28' deep. Lets you get around each end with the door closed and gives room for a workbench, toolbox and misc. storage at the back wall. To figure width per vehicle, open driver and passenger doors and measure width to outside edge of each door. Add what ever working clearance you think is appropriate - 2' should allow you to sneak by without closing the door or rubbing up against it. Make sure you account for a walkway around each of the lift's posts.

I second the idea of getting the basics built right the first time to the size that you want and / or need. You can always add things like the gas station facade or some storage bays for the kids' cars or a project in progress as budget permits down the road. The main space will be harder to modify down the road but anything is possible for enough $$. If planning for a future facade or additions, make sure that you add any framing and blocking now. Roughing in a door frame and header where you might add another bay in the future is cheap and easy now. Just infill it with studs and wall it off like it isn't even there. Adding a door to a load bearing wall gets pricey. I'd also size the HVAC for any future additions so that you aren't adding a second unit or replacing and upsizing the original unit.

Don't forget that whatever you build, it will be half as big as you really want and cost twice as much as what you really wanted to spend.

 

[GSSFC]

Quantity, quality can always be added later!

About 100,000 square feet would be good starters for me! Just get the shell up and let the kids make it looks nice after I die!

I have a 28x36 and (2) 20x20's and am looking to make a 14x36 addition to the existing 28x36 and also build another 24x28 to actually park my truck and wife's car in! Thinking about a basement garage for the new one can NEVER have enough storage.

Tim

 

[Palmetto]

Bigger is always better when it comes to shops! Build the biggest you can afford.

 

[tdkkart]

And.........definitely put the pex tubing in the floor up front, well worth the money.
My short experience with infloor radiant tells me I'd skimp on something else rather than skip the tubing in the floor. Yes, it's more expensive up front, but it's worth it IMO.

 

[kvom]

I just fired up my radiant floor for the first time yesterday. In the overall cost scheme it was negligible. Tubing and fixtures, etc. for a 25x36 floor was only $1200. Water heater and plumbing ran $3K, but that included a full bath and kitchen sink upstairs and a shop sink in the garage. Definitely the way to go, esp. if you want to spend a lot of time in the shop during cold weather.

 

[W-Cummins]

How about both quantity and quality?? Just because it's big it doesn't have to be a piece of ****. I'm already thinking about another building to store the equipment in and a 3 car for the house...

William...

 

[beartoothweb]

And.........definitely put the pex tubing in the floor up front, well worth the money.
My short experience with infloor radiant tells me I'd skimp on something else rather than skip the tubing in the floor. Yes, it's more expensive up front, but it's worth it IMO.

I've done quite a bit of thinking and research here on the radiant, and since we're on propane here, it's not something that makes sense for me in our environment. First of all, times like this, which it's -27, I'm not going any where near the shop. I'd have to run the radiant a good bit of the time to take advantage of it because it takes a while to heat up the shop.

I considered using a big propane heater, but I could be looking at $30/DAY to heat the shop.

For shops/garages here, wood stoves seem to be the norm. A lot of my friends have them, and all you do is pop out in the morning while the coffee is brewing and fire it up. It'll get a balmy 75 degrees in there with big doors closed and well insulated. Wood is plentiful and cheap.

We already go through $300 a month in propane for the main house, so not sure I want to double that.

If I had no concerns about long term cost, I'd definitely put it in. The other consideration is anything that would require me to crawl around on the cold winter floor will be Up on the lift.

Agreed on the rest of the advice though. I'm working up some more plans and will post for comments. Thanks all!

 

[sberry]

You can do a lot of things to try and compensate but its not the same as having room. Just like there is no substitute for horsepower there isn't any for square ft and ceiling height.

 

[walrus]

I' m going 30 by 34. I think 24 feet isn't deep enough if working on cars is what you want to do in the shop. I want an area for 1 bay and then the rest is going to be for wood working. 12 foot walls are a must also

 

[russlaferrera]

Bigger is always better when it comes to shops! Build the biggest you can afford.

+1 and a project car takes up 2 spaces.

 

[sberry]

30 isnt wide enough for 2 cars side by side with anything along the walls, 36 is better.

 

[beartoothweb]

You guys have been really great helping me figure all of this out.

I think I've come up with a middle-ground solution that will work. The new design is 40x28. That's 1120sqft, 3 bays with decent spacing in between, plenty of room for the lift, plus 8-10 feet still between the cars and the outside wall for the "work bench area."

You'll see here I've got just some mocked up stuff like cabinets and benches. Not sure if that's where and how long they'll be. I'll be putting in a slop sink, but run off an external tank instead of hard plumbed. I'm 300' and behind my driveway to get real water to the shop, AND, you can't viably have water there in the winter anyway. The idea here is to get a 250gal or so tank, mount it high for gravity feed, then pipe in a cold water spiggot right at the slop sink with a daylight drain. I live in the country, so no codes to deal with, and it'll just be a little soapy water anyway, no chemicals.

Floor drains will be daylight as well, same deal as above, no junk out into the yard, other than whatever comes from washing the cars inside now and then.

The main problem I ran into is that I really don't think a 12' wall that's 40' wide is going to lend itself to the "Vintage" look. I tried it several times and it just looked strange, the facade wall on front was HUGE. It seems to just be the height of the front wall. It's not worth it to me to spend the money on 9x10 garage doors to lessen the effect.

You'll also see I added an external "room" for the compressor. I can open the door for airflow in the summer if needed, and it'll be insulated in the winter.

Attached is a new 3d look. Comments and suggestions are welcomed! The forum kept messing with my file so i'm just linking to the layout file.

 

[qdvuu]

What's the cost of energy to heat it? Would you tend to use it more if it's heated? You need to consider what needs to be heated. After all, there's no need to heat stuff that's only accessed occasionally. If you want to use it in the winter and keep heating costs down, consider partitioning it so that you can have a small & warm place to work on the project at hand without having to heat the entire structure. Maybe also consider some alternative energy modes, such as geothermal/ground source heat pumps, solar, etc. I'd find it frustrating to have a shop that's so cold that it's unusable for a large part of the year!

 

[beartoothweb]

What's the cost of energy to heat it? Would you tend to use it more if it's heated? You need to consider what needs to be heated. After all, there's no need to heat stuff that's only accessed occasionally. If you want to use it in the winter and keep heating costs down, consider partitioning it so that you can have a small & warm place to work on the project at hand without having to heat the entire structure. Maybe also consider some alternative energy modes, such as geothermal/ground source heat pumps, solar, etc. I'd find it frustrating to have a shop that's so cold that it's unusable for a large part of the year!

Heating cost will be pretty cheap, primarily because I refuse to heat it beyond what I need. This means no underfloor heating, big propane heaters, etc. I estimated based on BTU needs that it could cost $30 a DAY to heat something this big with propane (That's what we're on.) Most guys out here just put a decent wood stove in there, and fire it up when they will be out there long enough to need it. Wood is pretty cheap out here, and plentiful, so that's the easiest way to go.

The strategy will be to get my coffee started in the morning I want to use it for a long time, go out and start a fire, and by the time I'm ready to start, it'll be pretty nice in there. My buddy does this, and there are days he has to open a window because it gets too hot, even with temps around 0 degrees.

 

[tfi racing]

I would even it up to 40x30,that extra 2' will come in handy.You should mark out the area(yes,I know what Montana is like this time of year!)and park two or three of your vehicles in it,that will give you the feel for the size of it.I did and found out that 1200 sq ft is big on paper-not so big with vehicles in it!,The 12' tall walls do look a bit ungainly,but you will appreciate the extra height for a lift and tall shelves for storage.For that vintage look,add a carport/drivethru style roof to the front,if budget is an issue it can be planned for and added later.You will get a bunch of guys here warning you of the danger of wood stoves,but my buddy in Kalispell has had one in his race shop for about a hundred years,its a warm place to grab a beverage and gather round for some bench racing.

 

[beartoothweb]

I would even it up to 40x30,that extra 2' will come in handy.You should mark out the area(yes,I know what Montana is like this time of year!)and park two or three of your vehicles in it,that will give you the feel for the size of it.I did and found out that 1200 sq ft is big on paper-not so big with vehicles in it!,The 12' tall walls do look a bit ungainly,but you will appreciate the extra height for a lift and tall shelves for storage.For that vintage look,add a carport/drivethru style roof to the front,if budget is an issue it can be planned for and added later.You will get a bunch of guys here warning you of the danger of wood stoves,but my buddy in Kalispell has had one in his race shop for about a hundred years,its a warm place to grab a beverage and gather round for some bench racing.

I stuck at 28' for the "variables of 4'" benefit. With metal siding, keeping it in 2 and 4 foot increments should really cut down on the waste, plus sheeting, etc. To go to 30, probably ought to go to 32'. At least that's the idea, would love to hear the argument against it.

Good idea with parking vehicles. This isn't actually a bad time of year since the ground is so hard and it's easier to drive in the field. I'll give that a shot.

Thanks for the note on the wood stove. I talked to a stove guy here, and he confirmed as long as you keep it off the floor by 18"-24" for vapor concerns, you're good to go.

 

[Brad54]

What other guys have said--as big as you can make it.
It's not that you'll fill it with ****...you'll fill it with Cobra parts. A taken apart car takes up WAY more space than you think. Just imagine how much space and "safe area: a windshield occupies. What do you do before you get the body on the chassis?

Also, think about the space shop tools and equipment will take up. Just because you don't have them now doesn't mean you won't get them in the near future. If you're building the car from the ground up, you may want to install an old kitchen stove so you can do Eastwood's powder coating. That takes up space. Got a drill press? It'll be handy, trust me. Bead blast cabinet? Welder, work table, vise, parts washer and the list goes on and on.
do the rough layout for the number of cars you're going to have in there, then plan for future shop equipment.

-Brad

 

[beartoothweb]

Also, think about the space shop tools and equipment will take up.

So funny that you posted this, I was just thinking about that stuff today...I wonder if there are any pics here with good overhead storage shots?

I'm thinking I can try to make the most of the 12' ceilings by building a mini-catwalk storage area around the top of the room (just around the perimeter).

I'm also wondering if I need to order "storage" trusses, or if there will be workable area up there with the standard truss layout? I'm not planning on filling the attic up, but it would be nice to stick the Christmas decorations and stuff like extra carpet up there.

My design program has stuff like drill presses, welders, saws, etc, so I'll put some more thought into laying that out and make sure it all fits.

 

[sberry]

What one costs 30$ a day? Something is wrong with that picture? I would want to at least heat my nice shop to 40 or so continuous, nothing beats having things above freezing, knowing once you get something inside its safe from temps or to thaw things out. It doesn't take a lot to keep it there or warm it from there. I NEVER let my place freeze.

 

[beartoothweb]

What one costs 30$ a day? Something is wrong with that picture? I would want to at least heat my nice shop to 40 or so continuous, nothing beats having things above freezing, knowing once you get something inside its safe from temps or to thaw things out. It doesn't take a lot to keep it there or warm it from there. I NEVER let my place freeze.

To heat a shop of this size from yesterday's temp of 30 below to even 40 degrees with propane, you need 105280BTU's (per hour). Propane is 91,600BTU's per gallon. So, you're using more than a gallon per hour, at $2.25 a gallon. Even if you only do that for 1/2 the day, you're still at $27 a day, or $810 a month. Granted, it doesn't stay that cold, but we'll see almost 3 weeks of sub zero temps here in this spell, and several more before the winter is over.

I'm building a special heated cabinet for any freezable stuff (paint, etc.) Everything else can handle freezing temps (oil, etc.) I'd wait to run the lift until I got the shop heated with the wood stove just so I'm not running thick hydraulic fluid in it.

I know MI is very cold too, but at least out here in the West, shops don't get heated all day.

 

[e-tek]

To heat a shop of this size from yesterday's temp of 30 below to even 40 degrees with propane, you need 105280BTU's (per hour). Propane is 91,600BTU's per gallon. So, you're using more than a gallon per hour, at $2.25 a gallon. Even if you only do that for 1/2 the day, you're still at $27 a day, or $810 a month. Granted, it doesn't stay that cold, but we'll see almost 3 weeks of sub zero temps here in this spell, and several more before the winter is over.

I'm building a special heated cabinet for any freezable stuff (paint, etc.) Everything else can handle freezing temps (oil, etc.) I'd wait to run the lift until I got the shop heated with the wood stove just so I'm not running thick hydraulic fluid in it.

I know MI is very cold too, but at least out here in the West, shops don't get heated all day.

I think there might be something wrong with your math - or the equalized-payment scheme I'm on really lessens the load. My shop is 1000sq ft with 11 ft walls, heated with a HotDawg style forced air heater on natural gas. I keep it at 7C/46F and raise it to 12-14C (56-60F) when I'm in it. It's added about $30.00 A MONTH to my heating bill. And I live in one of he coldest places ON EARTH! If it added 800.00 a month I'd be letting it freeze.

I really like having it above frezing because nothing deteriorates and all my paints, etc are OK. To warm it up it takes a minute or two maximum, as the forced air is blowing right across the shop. I'm so glad I didn't go with in-floor or radiant heat for these reasons.

 

[PurdueSD]

Check out my build for some ideas...

I ended up 56x30 deep. The 30' depth is perfect for a working garage in my opinion.

I dont buy in to the 4' increments. Material waste is more of a builder error than a math problem imo...

Here's a pic for reference... Plenty of room for a work bench in front and room to walk/ move stuff in front of and behind decent sized vehicle.
(please ignore the clutter, it seems to follow me around)

 

[beartoothweb]

I think there might be something wrong with your math

This is entirely possible, keep in mind, I'm just going based on looking up BTU requirements to heat the space and then putting that over the average BTU output of propane per hour per gallon.

$30 a month does seem pretty cheap though to heat that much space, but I can't dispute real numbers when mine are virtual. ;->

The main reason for me on wood heat is that I can get a $5 permit to cut a lot of wood. My brother is in the forest service, so he knows the good places, and my stove will be free. Now that's cheap heat.

If I really wanted to, since I work from home, I could actually keep the shop pretty warm with wood by closing the damper down a lot and putting a couple of logs a day in there.

I guess we're just tougher here in Montana. I figure if it can't get cold, I better put it in the basement workshop instead.

Purdue: That's a nice size shop too, looks like the 30' does give some good room, thanks for the picture!

 

[Brad54]

So funny that you posted this, I was just thinking about that stuff today...I wonder if there are any pics here with good overhead storage shots?

I'm thinking I can try to make the most of the 12' ceilings by building a mini-catwalk storage area around the top of the room (just around the perimeter).

I'm also wondering if I need to order "storage" trusses, or if there will be workable area up there with the standard truss layout? I'm not planning on filling the attic up, but it would be nice to stick the Christmas decorations and stuff like extra carpet up there.

My design program has stuff like drill presses, welders, saws, etc, so I'll put some more thought into laying that out and make sure it all fits.

I didn't notice on your plans: are you planning on an office in the shop? I have 12-foot ceilings, and did an office in the front corner with 7-foot wall studs. After the footer and top plates, I have 4.5 feet of storage above the office...I left the rafters open, so I have to duck between them, but I can stand up there and pack a lot of stuff into a 10x10 area.

For yours, you might want to think "storage loft" or something.

Up inside the rafters is good too, if you can easily get to it.
OR, even better, and now I wish I had done it, you could get open trusses and have a big open area upstairs--walk-up storage, or better yet, stuff an office up there. My shop is 32x40, and it would have been $80 per truss. 22 trusses, that was kinda spendy. But I never thought to put my office upstairs, and now I've lost a 10x10 section of shop.

-Brad

 

[Shocker]

I am also curious about the math. I am just about done with my 24x32 shop (biggest I could go according to the city).

I understand that the BTU's required to heat the space etc, but the usage depends on the delta-T.

So, I calculated the about of BTU's for my shop to get to 60 degrees F from 0. It will take 68,974 BTU's of energy to achieve that.

Now, once it is 60 degrees F. I need to maintain that level of heat. So if my thermostat turns on the heater at 55 degrees F, you will need 5746 BTU's to get it back to 60 from 55.

So, starting at zero, 68974 + 137904 (24hours run) = 206878 BTU's to keep the shop at that temp for 24 hours. 8620 BTU/hour for the first day. Then 5746 BTU/hr thereafter.

American Gas Assoc says 91600 BTU per gallon = 2.26 gallons per day to keep it at 60.

My propane is currently at $1.85 per gallon - $4.18 for the first day day+ = $2.77 per day after it is heated = $84.51/month.

So, with delta-T being variable, your cost to heat the shop will also be variable. I do have a pretty extreme example, but it might be closer to your situation than mine (I hardly ever see zero. Even with the freeze we are enjoying. 25 is about the coldest it gets around these parts)

So I am betting that your fuel cost won't be quite 300/month. but it could be 200 if the weather is at it's worst. And then you have the spring, fall and summer. No heat on in the summer. Light heat in the fall and spring. Bet you pay maybe $1200 - $1500 a year in fuel costs keeping it heated 24hours a day.

Now, these calculations DO NOT take into account insulation, elevation, heat distribution method, or building heat retention. It is also for a 10 foot wall height.

So, toss in insulation value of R14 in the walls, you can reduce your thermal transfer rate by a ton. My calculations get more fuzzy in this area. I show a loss of 52,000 BTU/hr for a R0 wall. An R14 wall of the same dimensions is only 3771 BTU/hr. This is based on 880 sqft of wall in my shop. Doesn't even take into account the ceiling which is 764 sqft. That works out to 45,840 BTU/hr R0 and 1528 BTU/hr for R30.

So if my math is correct. I will lose 5299 BTU/hr through the walls and ceiling with the above insulation.

So, theoretically, you should be able to keep the shop at 60 degrees F with the insulation listed (after it is already at 60 and assuming zero degrees outside) with only needing 3320 BTU/hour to keep it at 60 for the 24 hours or 79680 BTU per 24 hours. This is after the shop is at 60, it doesn't include the first calculation of the 0-60 degrees energy usage.

So that is .87 gallons per day x $1.85 = $1.61 per day = $48.28/month.

So, it looks like it is pretty do-able. Assuming my math is correct. Seems pretty close to what others are saying their bill is.

Also, with the shop insulated, it is more likely that the delta-T will be less as it should stay warmer in there, so your start up from zero is more like 15 or 20 to get to 60 degrees.

Man, my head hurts....

Mike

 

[beartoothweb]

Brad:

I actually office out of my house, and have a very nice office inside, so no office for the shop, just can't see that I'd get much use out of it. I'll be putting a computer and all that in the shop, but won't dedicate a room to it.

I will, however, likely spec out at least a portion of the trusses as storage trusses to take advantage of that space.

This all assumes that my buddy who does steel buildings can't find me a good deal there. I'm considering it so I can have shorter sidewalls and still have room for the lift.

MIKE:

Man, that's some serious math, you're way smarter than me! Those numbers seem pretty reasonable, and I can see that the major flaw in my math would assume that I heat the shop, then turn it off, open all the doors and windows, then start all over the next morning.

My 1000gl propane tank is pretty close to the shop location. I think what I'll do is go the wood stove route, and see how it goes. If it does work out, it would be super easy to just add the black pipe and hang a propane heater in the corner at a later date.

Thanks for doing this math, hopefully this thread will also help some of those in the future with heat planning.

 

[rburke65]

Brad 54....that is $80 each truss for the storage truss, correct? Not an additional $80 per truss?