How cold is too cold ?

[nonhog]

To work out in the shop that is. I dont have heat yet but have alot to do .
I have a space heater or 2 . But not enough to heat the whole shop .
So 48 is too cold for me I would think 55 might be o.k.
What works for you ?

 

[ddawg16]

Anything below 60 is starting to get to cold....but then again, here in CA, cold is not really and issue....I did see it get down to 39 deg once......

 

[tdkkart]

I think it's highly variable depending on your situation and also the type of heating you have.

#1 Much of my shop time consists of either standing at the mill or lathe, or standing at the bench assembling kart engines. None of these involve alot of physical activity so I'm not keeping myself warm very well. crawling aorund under-over and around a car and/or beating the hell out of something keeps you bit warmer.

#2 the type of heating system and the shop's construction makes a big difference.
At my old place I had a small 15 x 15 room on the back of the 24 x 24 that was my main work area. Problem was it was not super well insulated. Heating was an old small forced air unit. Without much physical activity I often found myself setting the thermostat at 65-70* just to be comfortable. Fortunately it was a small space so it was cheap to heat.
If and when I worked in the actual garae space I ended up with the thermostat set at 70* just to get things warmed up.

On the other hand, we just moved to a new place which is much different. My "shop" space is now a 16 x 30 room in the back of a 30 x 40 pole building. This space is not only better constructed/insulated than the old one, but it also has hot water heat in the slab. I can now set the thermostat for 60* air temp and be perfectly comfortable in a long sleeved shirt. If I'm doing anything physical at all I'm sweating. I think the primary difference is that my feet are warm, and there's no luke-warm air blowig around. Because the heat is in the floor and the objects in the room, the temp is very even and much less variable. Warm feet and warm tools and equipment make a HUGE difference.

BTW, the temp didn't even make 20* here today.........rain, sleet, freezing rain and snow scheduled for the next 48hrs...........

 

[<>Severed<>]

When I head out to the shop I turn the heat to 65 and let the furnace run once it takes the chill out and then I turn it down to 60 and that works pretty good for me.

 

[HIRISC]

Depends what I'm doing, but I usually keep it heated to 55 degrees and wear a fleece.

 

[nissan_crawler]

I just came in from the garage, I keep it at 65-70 when I'm out there.

 

[Nuit Damnant]

I've worked out there in 0-10 deg weather before, I didn't like it, but sometimes it's neccesary. I ussually talk my buddy into using his garage for days like that, there's a wood burning stove in his so we can ussually keep it around 50 or so. I can't wait to have heat again, for the last 2 years I've had my own heated garage that I kept at 60-65 all winter, sometimes I bumped it up to 70 just because I'll surely miss it this year. I already do...

 

[goodfellow]

My current garage is attached to the house and is very well insulated, so most of the time I just need a small ceramic heater to get the place warm. On really low temp freezing days, (in the teens or single digits) I open the door to the house. The wood stove sits in the adjoining room and will take the chill out of the garage within 30 minutes.

In my previous place I had a small wood stove in the garage and it was perfect. Four/Five 18" split logs would heat the entire 22x28 space most of the day

 

[sberry]

Anywhere above 50 is acceptable for me but we are on the move pretty good. Not much continious standing and I keep my office warmer. I dont mind wearing a jacket, good protection.

 

[krusty the clown]

50-55 degrees in the shop is just about right for working.

 

[Sack]

When I need to go to the bathroom and can't find it, then it means it's either too cold or I ate too much again.

I usually crank the heat up to about 64 when I'm out there. The thermostat is about 7' off the floor and yes that 7' makes a big difference due to low circulation out there.

 

[Matti]

I find 55-60 to be fine. Anything about 60 is too warm for me when I'm working. If I was laying directly on the floor I would want things warmer. Right now I can't get the thermostat to keep the garage under 55 for the times when I am not in there which I hope I can remedy soon.

 

[Junkman]

When I need to go to the bathroom and can't find it, then it means it's either too cold or I ate too much again.

I usually crank the heat up to about 64 when I'm out there. The thermostat is about 7' off the floor and yes that 7' makes a big difference due to low circulation out there.

No matter how cold it gets, my bathroom never changes location...

 

[D KRAGER]

If I'm welding or using the torch, 50 -55 is perfect cause I usually wear non-insulated coveralls.

Wood working 60-65

Drinking beer (which is most of the time spent) lol 65 +

Having a party.... (women present) 75 isn't warm enough for them. LOL

 

[chammyman]

you lot are spoiled!

whatever the temp outside is.

 

[lametec]

I just fixed a couple cars yesterday in my garage.. 20°F.

I wasn't even cold.

One of the jobs was changing the rear diff cover on the gf's Blazer. I'm sure the gear lube would have flowed a lot better had it been warmer.

 

[iamhistory]

I just do what I have to do. It's twenty something here right now and I'm doing some work on my tractor.

Last night it got down to 10 degrees F and I was organizing my new drawers and charging batteries.

It isn't uncommon for me to be in the garage butchering a deer at 9 at night for four hours in below freezing temps. Now, I'm not completely comfortable and I'm dressed warmly b/c I have nothing more than a metal pole barn with no insulation. I do have a wood stove in my shop but with no insulation yet, it can only do so much.

I work til I am not having any fun anymore or until I can't feel my nose. Then it's time to go in the house.

 

[bomber]

I try to keep the Entropy Lab at about 55-60 (F) -- I work out there not only to get things done, but for enjoyment --

If i'm horseing big heavy things around, I'll set the 'stat at 45 or 50 -- if I'm rebuilding a carb, working at the lathe or mill, or otherwise doing something that needs some flexibility form my fingers, I'll get it higher --

if I'd known my knees and hands would remind me of every stupid thing I ever did in the last 4/5 decades, I woulda been a little more careful.

;-}

 

[<>Severed<>]

I find 55-60 to be fine. Anything about 60 is too warm for me when I'm working. If I was laying directly on the floor I would want things warmer. Right now I can't get the thermostat to keep the garage under 55 for the times when I am not in there which I hope I can remedy soon.

I got a cheap digatal one from walmart (not programable) and it goes down to 45 which isnt to bad, but when im not going to be out there for a while I just shut it off so there is not heat but in never drops below 35.

 

[rcleaver]

No matter how cold it gets, my bathroom never changes location...

My bathroom is not so well behaved

 

[rcleaver]

if I'd known my knees and hands would remind me of every stupid thing I ever did in the last 4/5 decades, I woulda been a little more careful.

;-}

George Burns once said, "If I knew I would live so long, I would have taken better care of myself."

 

[bomber]

George was wise --

'course, after all that time, he SHOUD have been wise ;-}

Say good night, Gracie

 

[Mike83]

If I don't have a choice about whether I need to work in the garage, then whatever the temp is I deal with it. I was out there yesterday for about 3 hours fixing up some of the electrical work and installing lighting fixtures. Temp was about in the teens.

At least the tools I was using all had insulated grips (pliers, screwdrivers, etc.). I didn't even wear gloves most the time. The worst is working on the car with my ratchets and wrenches which instantly freeze my hands!

 

[e-tek]

In SK right now, it's -15C (10F) out. Like others, I have a Programmable TS that is set at 7C (46F) minimum. That keeps the paints and stuff from freezing. The shop if pretty well insulated I guess cause it rarely kicks on.

When I come in, I turn it up a few degrees, which kicks on the blower and warm air blows through the shop. Most would rise to the top, so I have a fan circulating it downwards.

By the time it gets to 12C (56F) it's perfect and I'm stripping off my fleece. If I do a lot of spray-can or brush painting of small parts while I'm restoring so I built that parts booth/box with it's own small space heater. That way I just heat a small area to paint (usually to 80-90F).

I wish I would have put foam board insulation under the concrete though - as that's the only place I can think that really looses heat (does anyone know if that's actually the case?)

 

[walrus]

Concrete isn't much of an insulater, so it definetily wicks heat from your shop into the ground. The other thing is with insulation under it the concrete can absorb heat and give it off as the shop cools stopping wild temp swings. Not sure how much insulation you need

 

[kwright]

I live in Michigan and have hot water radiant in-floor heat in my 28' x 36' shop. When I'm not intending to be in the shop for any length of time, such as generally weekdays, I keep the heat at 55 degree (F). Most weekday evenings, especially in the winter, I'm not out in the shop for more than an hour to 90 minutes per day, some evenings not at all, so I don't change it... I can get by at 55 degrees. Though for me personally, 55 is a bit on the cool side, depending on what I'm doing.

On weekends, the pattern may be different.

If my plan is to spend "quality" time in the shop, such as most of the day, which is common on Saturdays especially, I'll typically turn the heat up to 60 degrees first thing in the morning when I go out to do the chores (we have a small hobby farm with animals so I'm out early). I then go in and have my morning coffee, check in on my email and favorite web sites and such, and by the time I get back out to the shop, it's getting about where I want it to be for the day. If my intent is to quality time in the shop on Sunday, I'll maybe drop the heat to 57/58 degrees, and repeat the process on Sunday AM. Then again, I might just leave it at 60 until I'm done in the shop on Sunday.

If I'm not intending to spend more than two hours or so in the shop on either day of the weekend, I don't change the thermostat.

There's no particular reason I worked out this pattern, but it seems to work well for me.

 

[BigK600]

I'm from Fargo, ND. Last winter I was working on cars in the garage when it was around -25 F. Inside the garage I suppose it was a little warmer like -15 F. I just put on my carhartt bibs and boots and sweater and i was comfortable.

 

[gofastman]

I'm from Fargo, ND. Last winter I was working on cars in the garage when it was around -25 F. Inside the garage I suppose it was a little warmer like -15 F. I just put on my carhartt bibs and boots and sweater and i was comfortable.

Yea, I would be happy with +35*F ,that way my chemicals wont freeze and i wont run up the heating bill as much. uninsulated garages in the upper midwest ****!

 

[fourfeathers]

I have a detached 2 car with ZERO insulation, and with a propane wall hanger, it was 48 f. I turned on a floor fan, pointed at the ceiling to move the air lower, I got to 54 in 20 minutes. Try it sometime!

 

[jay50]

I use a small Kersone heater to warm up the shop.
When it gets really cold, I have a bottle of JD on the shelf....

 

[kbs2244]

It depends on the job.
You can change tires and air filters at zero F, But if it is somthing you can't do with gloves on I would say 50 to 60F would be the min.

 

[davestlouis]

My garage won't get much below freezing, but laying on that cold, clammy concrete gets old really quick. All this talk of cold temps got me to thinking...when I was in high school, I was on the swim team. The pool was indoors, of course, but we had practice at 6AM on school days. If the water temp was 60* and above, we swam, if it was 59* or less, we worked out on weight equipment. Let me assure you, 60* water is COLD when you're a scrawny kid in a speedo.

 

[Thomarann]

I have my shop with in-floor heat set to 20*C (68*F) now as I've lots of wall paint and trim glue drying but as soon as I do any work out there, I'm sweating.

Once things have dried, I'll set it back to 15*C (60*F) so I can work comfortably in a sweatshirt.

Marc

 

[fireball 440]

I don't like to run my air compressor in temps below 35F, that's also about the point that my fingers don't like to work anymore.

 

[nissan_crawler]

I'm from Fargo, ND. Last winter I was working on cars in the garage when it was around -25 F. Inside the garage I suppose it was a little warmer like -15 F. I just put on my carhartt bibs and boots and sweater and i was comfortable.

I'm from Williston. I hear you.

This engine swap/******/t-case rebuild was done when it was -35*. With the diesel heater and the tarp room, it got up to a balmy 0*. When you freeze your hand to the crankshaft, you know it's getting cold.

I don't like to run my air compressor in temps below 35F, that's also about the point that my fingers don't like to work anymore.

Eh, ours was never shut off, and ran often in -35* temps, not sure the oil was ever changed in it, We sold it after 15 years, still working great. I wouldn't worry about it. It ran non-stop for 3 days once when a line blew and we were on vacation.

 

[kwright]

I have in-floor radiant heat, and typically keep the shop at 55 degrees (F) when I'm not there. If I'm intending to be there for more than a few hours, such as all day on Saturday, I'll bump it to 60 degrees first thing in the AM and leave it there until Sunday afternoon or whenever I'm finished for the weekend, then I'll turn it down to 55.

I've found that for me, 55 degrees is a bit cool, depending on what I'm doing. 60 degrees is about right.

 

[Kev442]

I'm getting old. Had to change a starter Monday and 28 was too cold. Ran the heater up to 43 at 6' in the air, so that probably worked out to 34-35 on the floor. Survived that!

 

[rinker1]

No doubt about it, to many years working outside for a living, anything below 55 is to cold! But if something has to be done in cold weather I'll do it but complain the whole time. When retirement comes these feet will never be cold again.

 

[Gary S]

For me, it depends on time of year. In the summer, I'm happy if the temp is 80 or under. In the winter, it needs to be above 32, and preferably around 40. That way I can handle going in and out without the temperature difference killing me.

 

[JCQuick]

I was born in Florida and imo anything below 70 is too cold and i should get a snowday pay at work