Official Luthiers Forum!

I am considering infrared heat for a new shop.

I am about to interact with a Rep that works with the following products:

http://www.rg-inc.com/Infrared-home-NA.htm

I would love to hear some commentary from anyone that has direct
experience with this type of heating system.

...and any other suggestions/recommendations would be happily
considered!

Thanks...

LP

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LP

LarryPattis.com
AmericanGuitarMasters.com

Larry, I'd be interested in hearing what you find. My shop is a 24x36 Barn with minimal insulation and a big sliding barn door. Inside that is a 12x12 room that is sealed with poly vinyl, sheetrocked and painted. It is heated at this time with a portable electric oil filled radiator and is not exactly inexpensive to operate. The humidity in this room is controlled with a de-humidifer and a humidifier as required. The large outer room of the shop is not heated at all. I have been trying to figure out what the most efficient (read cheapest) way to heat at least the small room but haven't decided what might be best. I have no natural gas in my area but could and probably will use propane. I have a fair sized wood stove that I was going to install in the outer shop but I really don't want to. Please let us know what you find, I hadn't heard of infrared heaters but after looking at the site you posted, I remember seeing these at Home Depot over the cash register area. They were about 15' up but you could really feel the heat from them.

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

John,

I'll let the group know what I discover, if anything.

I am mainly concerned about the overall humidity/drying aspect of these
heaters...and the potential effects on work that is out on a bench, in
particular.

My application would be using propane, and I am still contemplating shop
design, as well.

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LP

LarryPattis.com
AmericanGuitarMasters.com

Hey guys, Take a trip tp Larry's web site and check his sound clips.

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

Hey Larry, Weren't you doing some playing at the Newport show???

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Don,

Yes, I was at Newport...I taught a clinic, and played a demo-concert for
Mike Baranik.

Sorry I didn't know some of you folks then!

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LP

LarryPattis.com
AmericanGuitarMasters.com

Larry:
We have that type of heat at our plant on the outside walls. I am not sure how efficient it is but it is extremely warm if you are working directly below it.

A friend of mine just built a new shop and he came up with an efficient heating system that is very even heat. He use a small gas fired boiler and circulates the water, in plastic tubing, which is embedded in his concrete floor. He has valves in it and can control the heat in different "zones". He designed and put the system in himself and seems quite pleased with the results.

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tim...
http://www.mcknightguitars.com

Hey Larry,

I can say I knew you back when you were "only" a player. Your CD that you gave me is in the regular rotation in the shop.

I have no info on your heat, but you must be hooked if your doing a new shop.

JO

Tim, that's called a "radiant floor" system. The floor becomes a radiator. Nothing new there, but very comfortable, because it puts the heat where it does best; as low as possible; Heat rises, so putting the warmth at the lowest possible points uses it to advantage. Disadvantage is that it requires a boiler, and it needs to be well planned out to avoid hot and cold spots.

The overhead radiant systems(your infrared system) I've been near warm your forehead while your feet freeze <g> I guess it depends on the climate, but in ours, it is a horrible system. It's only advantage is that it takes up little space, and requires no planning. Otherwise, it is awful(in our cold climate).

For propane, look into a simple wall unit. Sometimes called 'space heaters'. Similar, if not identical, to what are found in mobile homes. I have a 35,000 BTU natural gas unit that does my 1000 sq ft shop, and has no trouble keeping up at -40 to -50f. Thye take up very little space, are direct vent(thus there is no open flame whatsoever), and the units are inexpensive, too.Mario38498.9635069444

You can do electric radiant floors as well. We had them in our old house and shop. I thought it was great.

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CVT Inc.
A tour of our shop (Somewhat outdated)
My Personal eBay profile. BCWoodBug

Though we aren't "Mario cold", we get mighty cold here for a long time. My little shop is heated with a wall mounted propane space heater. I bought one size bigger than was recomended (btu vs. square footage) and it rarely gets off the lowest thermostat setting. I would recomend that route before you go Infrared heat. As Mario said, your forhead sweats while your feet freeze.

Larry,

How nice to see you here on the OLF!

Stick around, great folks here...

John Chamberlain

A friend in Manitoba who is a canoe builder has overhead radiant heat. He loves it but I agree with the others, your head cooks and your feet freez. I also use a wall unit and really love it. It can warm the shop very quickly and gives nice heat. If I had a choice though I would go for in floor radiant heat. A little more expensive to buy a comercially made unit but cheap to build your own, and the nicest heat available. I gon't know what your electric bills are like but I would go for gas.

I don't have a shop, but I did notice that Mario's shop is the size of my house.

Thanks for the responses, guys...very much appreciated.

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LP

LarryPattis.com
AmericanGuitarMasters.com

    I just built a new shop and when planing on the heating I went with central forced air. This made AC and Humdification and Dehumidifying easy. I agree the radiant floor heat makes for a comfy shop but love mine just fine.
   I did insulate with R 30 in the ceiling and rafters. The walls are R18 double sealed and air spaced for best air curculation.
    Heating was under 500 gallons of fuel on a 2 floor 24 by 40.