Official Luthiers Forum!

My shop heater just died.
I've been using one of the propane radiant heaters and will probably replace it with the same, but thought I'd I see if anyone had any words of wisdom for me otherwise.
Thanks.

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

A shop heater? Who would have thunk it

Jim,

It is approaching summer here in Western Australia, if we can hook up a 4" pipe between our workshops we could form a symbiotic relationship. You pump that beautiful cold air down here and I will pump all the heat you can handle back up.

Cheers

Kim

don't know the size of your shop, but I have a Modine Hot Dawg 45,000 B.T.U. propane heater w/100 Gal tank outside and 2 oil filled radiators.I bump it up to temp with the hot dawg then use the radiators to keep the temp 68-70 deg.F. I have a 400 sq ft. 2 car detached garage with a hip roof in the northeast PA.Gets pricey some years but this year is great so far. 100 gal lasts about 2 months when supplemented with the radiators,1 month without.hope this helps.
Tim

I use a direct vent propane heater that I installed last year to heat only my 12x12 assembly and wood storage room. Works great and is fairly economical.

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Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

I use a combo of a propane heater and K2.

I use a used household gas furnace that I bought for $50.00 from a furnace installer. My shop is 24X30 feet, and it does he job nicely. The walls are fully insulated, but I still need to upgrade the ceiling insulation.

Al

Jim, no words of wisdom. It's expensive to build guitars.

My central heat electric unit is a heat pump. Cost me a rosewood dred with a cedar top. Works great, shop is always comfy.

My $.02....I'd be wary of anything with an open flame heat system. Airborn wood dust is explosive and of course we are all aware of the potential for the various fumes from the finishing process.
I use electric radiant type heaters in my shop and blow any dust off the element on a regular basis just for extra precaution. The oil filled electric radiants also work well, but then I'm not dealing with snow drift conditions in my part of California.

One horror story: Back in high school in the 1960's a local bowling alley was closed for upgrades, including refinishing the lanes. The workers had all the heaters, etc shut down. They went to lunch and about half an hour later the compressor kicked on. Well, the spark of the motor starting ignited the accumulated fumes and ....POOF... no more bowling alley! They found pins and BOWLING BALLS as far as two miles away! Fortunately no one was injured, but think how far a much lighter dreadnought would fly!

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Hank Mauel

When it gets bitterly cold here in socal we put on our insulated flip-flops.

Dean

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Dean

I just got my heat/cool unit put in the wall a couple of weeks ago...it's a Fedders thru-the-wall which is supposed to handle my 16X32 shop and it's vaulted ceiling (12ft)...now if I can just get time to get out there and build something! I thought that at $488 it was the way to go over the redi-heat I was using before.

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

Man, I feel really bad.... in my shop I always worry about getting saw dust in my toes because I always wear flip-flops.... and if gets "cold" a long sleeve t-shirt may be a little too much to wear...

But then in the other hand you guys don't have to struggle with the humidity like we do around here.... I get mostly 52-56% all year round. bummer

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

[QUOTE=peterm]

But then in the other hand you guys don't have to struggle with the humidity like we do around here.... I get mostly 52-56% all year round. bummer



[/QUOTE]

Until the Santa Ana's start blowing...then watch your hygrometer plunge.

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Hank Mauel

yup.... a couple of times a year my zoot gets to spend a week in the bathroom!

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

[QUOTE=larkim] A shop heater? Who would have thunk it

Jim,

It is approaching summer here in Western Australia, if we can hook up a 4" pipe between our workshops we could form a symbiotic relationship. You pump that beautiful cold air down here and I will pump all the heat you can handle back up.

Cheers

Kim

[/QUOTE]
I really liked Kim's suggestion but when I went to my local Ace Hardware they said they they were a little short on pipe. Oh well

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

[QUOTE=Jim_W] I really liked Kim's suggestion but when I went to my local Ace Hardware they said they they were a little short on pipe. Oh well [/QUOTE]





Kim

Four portable floor oil filled electric radiant heaters. Two in the assembly room and two in the saw room When it is bitter cold I have 4 over-head catalytic heaters in specif work areas but I rarely need to use them. By the way both rooms are approx 800 sq ft my typical average day time winter out side temp is 42F Typical overnight lows during major fronts maybe 15F. I keep the shop around 65-70F

I have a suggestion that may sound odd..

One word: Insulation

Overnight temps here are in the 10's and single digits, it's 20 outside right now around noon. This year I blew insulation into the attic, into the walls and replaced my garage door with one that has a much higher R rating. Last night it was 23 outside and 65 in the shop when I got home, last winter before I worked on it you could not go out there on a cold day without a jacket and gloves.

We ordered a heater/AC unit from EBay that we got ripped off on, and I was in a panic but so far I've not needed it at all.. now if I could just get my money back from EBay I'd buy a new tablesaw

Cheers

-Paul-

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-Paul-

Patriot Guitars