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How do you fellas heat your shop and control humidity? My shop is 24x24 (no posts) and its in my basement (undergroud) with two small vent windows. I ahve 7 1/2' ceilings. We had an addition put o the house and I had the shop built under it. Problem is here in southwest PA it gets pretty darn cold. Right now its 58 and the humidity is at 40%. I don't really want to heat all teh time, only when I am in it. How do you fellas heat your shop and will not keeping it heated all the time effect the woods stored there?

I'm in Curran, Ontario Canada (near Ottawa). My shop is a stand alone garage, 25X25. It is very well insulated, however. Thank goodness for that (it was -24 with the wind this morning). I installed a propane furnace and I maintain my temperature at around 18 degrees celcius and the humidity stays around 32%. The furnace plus professional installation of the propane was about 1.5k. And I'm pretty sure I'm over the 600$ mark in propane.
Now in the summer time, the heat can climp up to the upper 30's (celcius) and the humidity can be stiffling (80-90%).. Not sure what I'm gonna do then. I have a large window a/c unit (12000 btu) but I don't think it's going to be enough.
All for the love of building guitars...

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I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

Alain, that's some dog house you got yourself there

My shop is 24X34 stand alone. Right now it's -30 outside, without wind chill. After a record warm January, the cold is hitting. My shop isn't as well insulated as it should be, only R-12 in the walls, but I heat with a propane furnace as well and don't do to bad. Keep the shop fairly cool except when I am glueing.

My shop is about the same size as yours. I'm in northeast PA, also in the basement with two small windows. I use two of the $40 electric oil heaters, which I leave on all the time (my wife says the basement is warmer than the house) and have a humidifier and dehumidifer that keep the humidity around 40%. I've got electric heat in the house, but my overall bill is no higher than the gas bill I used to pay for heat in NJ.

Craig

I bought an external combustion propane heater. It's all sealed off so there is no flame exposed to things like sawdust and acetone fumes. The external flame heats a plate which intern radiates to the room.
My shop is 11x24 and I keep it on the lowest setting above "pilot" which keeps it at abotu 63?. I set it a bit higher when I'm gluing.
I think the trick it to insulate well before you do anything. I've got R13 in my walls and 6mil plastic wraping the whole thing. Two layers of R30 in the ceiling as that's where most of the heat is going to be lost.

I am not an expert on homes Like "Holmes on homes" on HGTV but i'd sure look on his website, in the archives for a few tips or do a google search in basement humidity control. I'm sure there are plenty of good tricks out there for week-end warriors IMVHO.

My shop is a 24x36 barn that is only partialy insulated. The bottom 8 ft are insulated right now and I hope to finish the upper half and the ceiling this year. I do have a corner 12x12 room where I do all the glueing and wood storage. It is very tightly insulated and has vapor barier installed. That room is heated with a direct vent propane heater that I installed last fall. I have a fairly good sized wood stove that I have been thinking of installing in the main shop but I haven't yet and am still unsure if I will. In the winter time I try to stay in the smaller room as much as possible at least on cold days. I am also thinking of doubling the size of that room am I am pretty sure the heater will be able to warm the added area. I use a maytag free standing dehumidifier in that room as well and a small room humidifier. The humidity in California or at least my part if Caly doesn't seem to fluxuate like some other parts of the country so it's not a big problem to control in the small room. In the summer I can usually leave the door to that room open and the humidity is just right.

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

heating? It was 82 degrees here yesterday.... I'm thinking of kicking on
the AC

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

And i'll bet you also have TV, the computer and internet and a microwave to heat up the parts to be glued in that bathroom!

What's next chum ? a pair of roller skates to go faster from tool to jigs to tools

[QUOTE=Anthony Z] Alain, that's some dog house you got yourself there [/QUOTE]

Anthony... I'm thinking of installing a toilet in there as well...

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I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

I like the electric oil filled radiators too. They provide a very gentle heat, and
you can put one under your bench which will warm up what you're working
on (& you too).
I'll also second the advice to heat only a closet or enclosed set of shelves for
the time you're not working. Much more efficient than heating the whole
room.
-C

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Freeborn Guitars
and home of BeauGuard©

[QUOTE=af_one] How do you fellas heat your shop and control humidity?
[/QUOTE]

Two options:

1. Climate control the whole workshop.
2. Store work in progress    climate controlled cabinet when not working
on same.

I opted for option 1. I have a dehumidifer (set to 45% RH) running around
the clock and during the winter I have a ceramic panel heater on the wall
that runs on a timer...it kicks in during the night. During the summer an
air conditioner runs during hot weather.

Here in Adelaide Australia outside humidity can vary over the year
between 25% and 100%.

Cheers Martin

24'x48', R34 in the walls(plus a 4" air space -in- the walls that adds R value as well; walls are 12" thick, total), adn R 60 in the attic.

33,000 BTU natural gas furnace keeps it comfy cozy all winter, and the insulation is so good, that even with a record hot summer last year, the temperature inside never rose above 76! The furnace is the type used in mobile homes; it draws its combustion air from outside, and no flame or spark is exposed inside the shop, so it is unaffected by fine dusts(to a point...)

Everything is done in vapour barrier, including the floor, and 90% of the wiring runs outside the walls(armored cabling) so as to not risk breaking the barrier.

The biggest headache is now my spray booth. Finally got a great exaust system in there, but that means I draw in fresh air as it runs. It not only cools the shop amazingly fast, but it kills the humidity in winter, raises it in summer. Grrrrr..... Would need a filtered and heated air source just for the booth.

Yes, a safely heated spray booth would be the bees knees wouldn't it.

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

The place I used to go to to spray had an air intake that was 2 feet square, and the air passed through 3 large radiators(hot water rads). Soemthing like that would be cool...

I don't know if this would work, but at a recent home and patio show I saw a
wall mounted electric infra red
heater. The element
seemed to be completely contained. What about heating the parts instead of
the air? This still doesn't solve the issue of the fan sucking out all of the
(treated) air from your shop. I used to have two fans in my spray area; a big
one to run while spraying and a small one to run while the parts were
gassing off. That seemed to reduce the loss of heated air in the shop in the
winter.
-C

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Freeborn Guitars
and home of BeauGuard©

Wood stove heats my shop (36' x 38'). Wood storage and assembly room (12' x 20') is electric heat & humidity control.

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

Tim,

Sounds like you even have enough room for me!!...When can I move in??? I have a rim sander!

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Canada

I have a 26 X 38' shop which is insulated & vapour barriered. For heat i use a wood pellet stove. $2.00 a day when its "cold" (It's the west coast Eh?... never gets much below freezing here.)
In one corner of the shop is a 10 X 12' wood storage & assembly room, also insulated. All my hand tools & sandpaper etc. are kept in this room... no rust & the sandpaper doesn't roll up into tight tube anymore. A 1500 W. ceramic heater keeps everything nice & toasty. A Sears domestic dehum keeps the R/H in the right range.
I guess I'll need a small A/C when the summer heat & humidity arrive.
I'm searching for a small travel trailer to convert into a spray booth. It's just gotta be small enough to hide behind the shop.

We used to have Winters here in Texas, rain too, currently, I heat with a oil type electric heater and another small electric as well. I guess I need to be more concerned about humidity levels, have nothing at this time except a monitor. My shop is 14'X 18' with a high ceiling and storage area above. I am adding another 14'X 16' to the back as we speak. I just secured me a combo 220v Ac/Heat unit that sits in a corner like a furnace, but requires no outside unit, all built in. I am pretty excited about that. We have really HOT summers, well from May-September, but good mid-range humidity most of the time. I will have total temp control year round soon.

Cool idea on the Travel Trailer!

Mike
White Oak, Texas