Electric Heater for Small Building
Hi All,
This is the first time I have posted in this forum even though I have been reading almost daily. The discussions are always interesting.
I built a small 15 x 20 freestanding workshop with a concrete slab floor and I am looking for an electric heater to nock the chill off in the winter. the walls are 2×4 and have r15 fiberglass insulation. The ceiling is also insulated but I can’t remember the r value (r22 fiberglass maybe in a 5 1/2″ bay). I have a 100amp subpannel, so there is plenty of room to add a 240v circuit in almost any amperage. There is no NG or Propane available. Our house is in St. Louis, MO so the winters aren’t to extreme.
I would like to have a permanently installed heater that has a programmable thermostat so I can keep the temp above 32 in the winter and have the room warm by the time I plan to work in the evenings. I’m not looking to keep the space at 72deg but somewhere in the 55-60 range just to make it workable.
I was looking at Hydrosil heaters (www.hydrosil.com), but after doing some research there seams to be a lot of negative feedback about both the product and the company. So does anyone have suggestions as to a type or brand of heater and what wattage I should be looking for?
Thanks for any advice,
Ryan
Replies
Might try searching the "Cadet Heater" web site. they make all sizes of heaters for in wall applications, seperate thermostats can be used with a lot of them.
This place sells a variety of electric unit heaters that would probably work:
http://www.heater-home.com/category/garage.aspx
I like the Qmark brand heaters, but the Dayton and Dimplex heaters are also fine.
You either want a unit with a fan or an overhead down-facing radiant unit (or both), not a baseboard convection unit. One or two steps up from your basic milk house heater.
Something like this, perhaps:
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product2_6970_1049905_1049905
And maybe with one or two of these strategically placed to warm up specific work areas:
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product2_6970_22292_22292
(I'm not recommending these particular brands or vendor, just giving examples.)
Assuming your place is reasonably well sealed against air leaks, I'm guessing it would need maybe 20-30K BTU to keep it toasty warm in your climate (someone with access to the charts can verify this). But you don't need that much in total to satisfy your needs -- 15K BTU will probably suffice, though more will let you heat it up faster.
I should also point out that any electric heater can be rigged with a thermostat. You just need the appropriate transformer and relay to use a standard low-voltage thermostat, or you can buy a 120/240V thermostat designed for electric heat.For your application you may want to invest in a set-back thermostat, so you can program it to be warm when you need it.
Half of the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm but the harm does not interest them. --T.S. Eliot
Thanks for the advice. Having a fan unit to keep the temp. above freezing and then a radiant unit placed over the main work area seems like the easiest and most economical way to go.
I looked at some of the split duct mini systems for heating/cooling, but the prices on those are ridiculous and they seem fairly complicated to install. This option seems much better.Ryan
I just had 4 of these installed into my new shop/garage/studio. Separate rooms, each insulated r19 walls/r33 ceilings , foam under slab with 3/4 t&g ply over slab. Very quiet. No one area is over 300 sq/ft except garage. For occasional use and have not had much below freezing weather yet. Coastal climate I would call mild.
http://www.bowieservice.com/heaters.html
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