Propane forced air reccomendation

[Baclay9]

I have a 40x40x14 isulated Shop in Central OK. Walls and ceiling have R10 insulation with insulated garage doors. Inside temp of shop rarely drops below 28 deg. I am planning to put a propane Hawt Dog forced air heater in it to heat it up when I go out there to work or hang out.

I have been reading till I am cross eyed and have really yet to find a really good suggestion on what size heater will be adequate for my shop. I am thinking 100k or 125k BTU but didnt want to go too big as I know that can cause issues with running it on a thermostat as well.

I wads also curios as to how loud the fan was on those units? We do have a spot in the shop we hang out and watch TV and while I know it will make some noise I dont want something so loud you cant carry on a conversation.

I am currently heating it with a 200k btu diesel tube type forced air heater. While it heats quickly it stinks and is really loud.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[mygarageone]

I have a 40x40x14 isulated Shop in Central OK. Walls and ceiling have R10 insulation with insulated garage doors. Inside temp of shop rarely drops below 28 deg. I am planning to put a propane Hawt Dog forced air heater in it to heat it up when I go out there to work or hang out.

I have been reading till I am cross eyed and have really yet to find a really good suggestion on what size heater will be adequate for my shop. I am thinking 100k or 125k BTU but didnt want to go too big as I know that can cause issues with running it on a thermostat as well.

I wads also curios as to how loud the fan was on those units? We do have a spot in the shop we hang out and watch TV and while I know it will make some noise I dont want something so loud you cant carry on a conversation.

I am currently heating it with a 200k btu diesel tube type forced air heater. While it heats quickly it stinks and is really loud.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

You didn't read enough. Before you get a unit . Do A Heat Loss . Then you'll know what size unit you need.
Please do not let the bigger is better crowd sway your decison. Let the heat load calculation determine your needs.
I have a 30 x 40 garage well insulated in cold country U.S.A and my heat loss was. Less than 60,000 btu

 

[theoldwizard1]

"Hot dog" style heaters generate a lot of CO and CO2 and typically make a lot of noise from the burner and the fan. I would never use one in a well insulated/sealed building without both a CO and CO2 detector.

Not your choice of fuel, but watch this video.

 

[Baclay9]

This is the style I am considering

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[jdcompman]

I heat my garage which is around 35x40x10 with a 75k Mr Heater. It heats up fast and is very quiet. I don't think there is any reason you need a 100 or 120k.

Another thing that would help a lot in your case is to put a lot more insulation in the attic. that's where most of your heat lose usually is.

I have about 18" of fiberglass blown in the attic and my garage hasn't dipped below 40 all winter even when it's been in the -10's and -20's even without running the heater!

 

[Adk Mike]

I've had a Hot Dawg in my shop for 10 years. I also sell them once in a while in my day job. They are vented so no problem with the CO worries. Your climate is milder than mine so a heat loss is in order.
Great unit. I mounted mine under a shelve. I thought it would keep the heat down. You'll find once you do a heat loss a smaller unit will work fine.

 

[dogdas]

"Hot dog" style heaters generate a lot of CO and CO2 and typically make a lot of noise from the burner and the fan. I would never use one in a well insulated/sealed building without both a CO and CO2 detector.

Not your choice of fuel, but watch this video.

This fella is referring to Torpedo heaters, not Modine Hot Dawgs. That explains a lot.

I have 2 Hot Dawg 75K heaters, one in each garage.

The attached garage HD is about 15 years old and runs like a champ. The new detached garage has the same unit and it is quieter than the old one but they are both very quiet for a compact unit.

The bottom line for me is that theses are great units and you can get them at QC Supply for $714 delivery to your door. That is about 150 cheaper than I can buy them at my piping supply house and I have a very good discount there. Get a Wifi T-Stat and you can warm it up without going out there. I keep mine at 45 so the cars and trucks are snow free and warm.

 

[Nekit]

I have a 75K hanging forced air heater. Bought it a Menards for about $500. My shop is pole barn style 36'x54'x10'. R-19 batts in walls. About 12" blown in insulation in ceiling. I can not have the heat on for weeks and never gets below 38 degrees in shop. I have a lot of big steel equipment that probably helps as a heat sink.

Easy to install with the forced air, exhaust out wall. Have furnace in corner and the thermostat on far wall. Works great. Warms up shop 65 in about 1/2hr. I think a larger furnace would cycle on and off too much. It will heat the shop up at -10 but stays on more. I'm in N Indiana.

 

[Baclay9]

I got a heat loss done by a local heat and air guy and he said it was 68,000.


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[Charles (in GA)]

The OP needs to add ceiling fans. With 14 ft there is room to hang them, and they will be quite effective at pushing the heat down.

Charles

 

[Baclay9]

I had actually considered that. I figured even two would help a lot.


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[nehog]

My 30x60x12 I keep at 40 degrees. When working out there I warm it up to 55. It takes my 150K BTU heater about 15-20 minutes (a 12 minute run, then another 6-8 minute run usually) to bring it up to temp. It is insulated (of course) but I don't know exactly how much I have, and am too lazy to go dig up the documentation from when I built it.

 

[6768rogues]

I have a 36 by 48 (about the same area as yours) building with a 14 foot ceiling in western NY and I heat it with a 100K BTU Reznor hanging heater. I keep it about 40 degrees and it will go up to 60 during the time it takes to eat dinner.
My other building is 40 by 60 and I also heat it with a 100K BTU heater.
Your climate is milder, so you would not need anything larger.

 

[Baclay9]

Thanks guys, that is the kind of input I am looking for. While I would probably be fine with a 75k I am going to go ahead and go with a 100k. For the $100 difference I figure I might as well


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[jvitez]

Baclay9: going too big with a fuel burning heater is worse than too small.

If your heater is oversized, the thermostat will be satisfied very quickly with long periods off. This means a big blast of hot air, then nothing. Hot air rises, so heat stratification means all the heat you just paid for will up at the ceiling, you'll be cold down where you are, and you're installing a heater for your comfort, aren't you?

A smaller heater will run longer, but that's a good thing as it keeps the air circulated so you're more comfortable, but even more importantly you'll save heating dollars. A fuel burning heater takes a certain period of time to achieve steady state efficiency. An oversized heater will never reach that, and therefore use more fuel. Your insulation is light, but your climate isn't too bad. You could do well with a 60K heater, so 100K is way too big.

Get the 75K if you're really worried about too small. Bigger isn't better here.

 

[CNGsaves]

^ ^ ^ +1 to listen to guru. No way you'll need 100K Btu heater for mild climate of Central Oklahoma. Go with 75K Btu heater and over time improve insulation.

 

[metalTobman]

For just a little more money you can go to a propane fired radiant tube heater. Your ceiling is high enough. These units heat objects, the floor, etc. which then heat the air as they cool. No fan blowing air around and cycling on/off. Quieter than any forced air heater.
I have two 30' units in my 42x 82 shop (they are each 80 mbtu) but they are on separate thermostats, usually only one runs and it keeps the whole shop at an even temperature.
I have a small quiet fan over the wood stove and a 48" ceiling fan, both run continuously, I think these help to keep the warmed air circulating.
I have a second ceiling fan waiting to be installed. These fans are definitely a good investment, and they are cheap to run.

 

[SeniorCitizen]

I'll take a wall heater with a thermopile so if the power is out I have a place to warm the back side similar to a wood stove but no wood cutting.

 

[thammel]

Check out Reznor UDAS. This is a separated combustion unit. Outside air is ducted in for combustion air. This keeps all combustion separated from the interior. I thought this was a good thing to do in a garage where there might be possible combustion vapors.

Tom

 

[Baclay9]

Is it kindof six of one, half dozen of the other between the Modine and Mr. Heater units of similiar size? The Mr. Heater 80K BTU units are quite a bit cheaper. This isnt going to run every day all day though. Maybe 8-12 hours a week total in the coldest part of the winter.

 

[dave67fd]

They are both good heaters with the Modine probably having a slight edge on quality. The Big Maxx are probably more popular because of price. My Big Maxx has run flawless for the last 2.5 years or so.

Remember gas BTU heater ratings are input not output. My 75k (60,000 btu output) suits my 28 x 38 space just fine.

The R10 in your walls are probably your biggest down fall.

Hope you have plenty of fresh air intake when your running that Kerosene torpedo.

Fan noise is generaly not an issue with a properly operating garage style FHA heater.