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Portable Propane Heaters

ScottMatson | Posted in Energy, Heating & Insulation on January 4, 2005 02:08am

I used up a gift card I got for Christmas toward buying a propane forced air heater. It is a Coleman, 50-80,000 BTU. I will be heating a section of my shop that is about 15 feet wide by 35 feet deep. The room has some insulation in the walls and a little in part of the ceiling. I will be trying to make that better.

The owner’s manual says that this model is recommended for 100 pound tanks only–any smaller tank will reduce performance. I have a 20 pound tank and don’t feel like buying another tank (didn’t know this until I got home and started reading the manual).

My questions are:
Would I lose enough performance by using my smaller tank to justify returning this heater for a smaller one?

Would the smaller one heat this room?

Can I heat this area with my boat in it or do I have to take it out first (gasoline tank in floor of boat)?

Would like to know your experienced feelings about these things before I start it up and regret it. I feel like I’d rather have the room less warm and use the 20 gallon tank than spend more money for another tank to keep track of.

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Replies

  1. alias | Jan 04, 2005 02:20am | #1

    i've found you have to watch the moisture w/ propane heaters, once it turned off and cool's down you might get some dew in your shop it helps to have a couple of fans to circulate the air. if moisture content is an issue, this helps.... stay warm.. bear

    "expectations are premeditated resentments"
    1. ScottMatson | Jan 04, 2005 02:24am | #2

      Thanks bear,I'll keep that in mind too. The room is in an old barn and should have more ventialtion than the average space. Hopefully that will be my biggest problem.

  2. greggo | Jan 04, 2005 02:44am | #3

    Just my 2 cents worth.I have a 200k unit and I was told by several people that it could be run with a 20 lb tank.Maybe about ten min. worth  is what I got out of it,that's it.The smaller tank in my case  wouldn't give off enough vapor.

    Try calling your propane guy he should be able to hook you up with the right info.

    Greg

    Lead,Follow,or Get the Hell Out of the Way!

    1. Abe | Jan 04, 2005 02:52am | #5

      I once had to run my house off of a couple of 20# tanks after my propane guy failed to show for a week.  If I remember right it was Christmas also.  and only one store was filling bottles.  I think I was getting about 6-8 hours out of each tank with the thermostat set at 55f.

      1. greggo | Jan 04, 2005 03:08am | #6

        Abe what size unit were you running?At full heat I wasn't getting more than about 10 min.out of itLead,Follow,or Get the Hell Out of the Way!

  3. User avater
    EricPaulson | Jan 04, 2005 02:51am | #4

    That 20lb tank is gonna freeze up from evaporation real quick.............and you're gonna spend ALOT of time running to get it filled.

    I can p/u a 100lb tank at the gas place. Some places you can't anymore, esp. if you can't stand it up and secure it for transport. They may bring you one if you ask. It's a little tricky sometimes for temp. use, which is what you are doing. Cost about 6bucks amonth rental on the tank.

    About the gas in the boat??? Was that a trick question?? You're a big boy........if ya gotta ask..........

    Eric

    I Love A Hand That Meets My Own,

    With A Hold That Causes Some Sensation.

    1. ScottMatson | Jan 04, 2005 05:11pm | #10

      Eric,I guess you had no way of knowing that I kind of wanted to work on the boat without feeling Wisconsin's January air. I didn't explain that part. Maybe I'm asking too much to have some warmth without blowing myself up?Dog

  4. DanH | Jan 04, 2005 04:21am | #7

    The problem is that the gas can't evaporate rapidly enough in the smaller tank. It will frost over quickly on the outside, indicating that it's getting too cold. Once it gets cold, evaporation drops further. Keeping the tank as warm as you can will help (but you need real heat, not simply insulation).

    It's probably not a good idea to run the heater with the boat there, unless you can somehow vent the gas tank outside. As the garage heats, the gas will expand (and the air in the tank too) and push fumes into the garage.

  5. DanH | Jan 04, 2005 04:23am | #8

    (Though probably if the gas tank is totally empty you're reasonably safe. Yes, gas is absorbed into the tank sides and give off when heated, but probably not enough to create an explosion hazard in a large area like a garage.)

  6. User avater
    goldhiller | Jan 04, 2005 05:59am | #9

    Can't you get your local LP biz to bring you a 125 gal. tank?

    Set it outside the shop wall, mount a regulator and pipe it from there to the heater via LP rated hose.....or copper with a short flex leader on the end only.

    125s can be set within 18" of the building around here. Any bigger and you have to move it quite a ways back.

    Max fill on a 125 would leave you with 100 to burn.

    No charge here for the tank, the delivery or while it sets there...(years if I like)......so long as you get your LP from them.

    Knowledge is power, but only if applied in a timely fashion.
    1. ScottMatson | Jan 04, 2005 05:18pm | #11

      I can get my gas guy to bring tanks out here, but I'll tell you this: I converted the farm to natural gas five years ago, and the day they hauled that Pig out of here was a really good one. I considered running a regular furnace out there, or at least a modine type but I didn't want to either get another tank or run a gas line from the far side of a large house plus another 50 feet to the barn, thus my reasoning to get by with one of these portable units.My brother in law has been happy heating his smaller garage with a 30,000 btu heater but with my larger space I thought more heat would be necessary.I'd really like to stay with the 20 gal. tank. I have an extra one so that I can keep one filled continuously, and don't need to use this all that often, just a few hours at night and during the day on weekends as I find time to work out there.Maybe it's one of those situations where I'm trying to get an unrealistic result?

      1. DanH | Jan 04, 2005 05:41pm | #12

        It might be that your best solution would be a manifold that would allow you to attach 2-3 tanks at once. Then the draw on any one tank wouldn't be so great, and you wouldn't have as much of a flow rate problem.

        1. ScottMatson | Jan 04, 2005 06:02pm | #13

          I'm taking it all in. I'll give this post another day and keep watch, but I'm strongly leaning toward returning the unit I bought and getting a smaller one, though no one has said whether or not I can reasonably expect to heat the space with say, 30,000 btu.It's 15x35 with high ceilings. I think they are about 11 or 12 feet. It doesn't have to be hot in there. I'd be happy if it could be 55-60 degrees without filling up the tank every day. Generally, the outside weather I'd be working in would be from 10-35 degrees f.?

          1. User avater
            goldhiller | Jan 04, 2005 07:48pm | #15

            A point of reference. I heat a 5,000 cubic foot space during the winter months. Ply walls and ceilings which are insulated. 6' slider on one end and a four small windows. LP furnace which is 100,000 BTU in....80,000 out. I'm fighting with a concrete slab floor with no insulation under it. That's the big heat sink, of course. This is on a farm also, and there's not much for shelter for this particular building when the wind blows.In the depths of winter (-20 and colder) with some 25 mph wind blowing against the shop walls, that unit heater will probably run 65% of the time to hold 65F inside. At -30 or -35F, wind at 35-40…it might run about 80% of the time to sustain 65F inside.

            If I've got this straight, you're going to be heating somewhere around 5800 cu. ft. Don't know the specifics of your situation, but I think you might be wanting for a bigger unit if you have a 30K in there......even to hold 50F if fighting 15F outside and some wind. I wouldn't personally try it with any less.I have an LP forced air portable that's rated at 165,000 BTUs, which I use on unheated winter inside jobsites. If I can't get coupled to a bulk tank, I've run it successfully on 100 lb bottles.......even when it's -20 in the house. I do this via the use of a 30' LP flex hose which allows me to place the tank out in front of the heater(at a safe distance, of course). Tank is warmed from the get-go that way, never frosts and delivers plenty of vapor to sustain that heater.........until the space warms up. Once warmed sufficiently, the tank can be moved from in front of the heater. I'd still personally be inclined to handle what you describe with a 125 gal. tank. Cheaper by the gallon than portable tanks....and a 125 has a very small footprint. It's what I use outside my shop, FWIW. And running back and forth to swap out small tanks while burning time and $1.85 gas would only add to the cost of heating the shop space. Ain't my call though and you sound pretty set against the idea of placing a tank outside your shop. Edit: Make that a 7' slider. Not a real significant difference in heat loss though.Knowledge is power, but only if applied in a timely fashion.

            Edited 1/4/2005 12:13 pm ET by GOLDHILLER

  7. daFarmerDave | Jan 04, 2005 06:48pm | #14

    I saw a 100 gallon propane tank sell for $7 at an auction.  I've seen them less than $50 in the classifieds too.  Don't miss http://www.opdvalve.com

    Big Macs - 99 cents



    Edited 1/4/2005 11:13 am ET by FarmerDave

  8. ScottMatson | Jan 06, 2005 05:11pm | #16

    Weird how these things happen...

    ...I was telling a friend of mine who's building I helped on about this situation and he said I could borrow his propane heater for the season and find out firsthand if that was a good way to go. He thought it would be smaller than the one I bought but it turned out to be the exact same thing, only his was not marked "commercial" on it.

    So last night I had a couple deer to skin and butcher, we were getting snowed in pretty good and I fired it up. No problem at all, and he had been running it on a 20 pound tank too~! It runs quieter than the smaller ones and kept me warm for 3 1/2 hours. Just what I was hoping for. Only side effect was a very small amount of ice on the propane cylinder after a few hours. So what?

    He also has a furnace that he suspects has very little use on it that I could have for nothing if I wanted to set up the barn that way. Not sure if I do.

    1. User avater
      Sphere | Jan 06, 2005 05:19pm | #17

      I have a pretty big (65K?) propane heater takes a 5" Bvent, no blower just radiant...free to you if ya want it. It's in KY, not too far away. 

      Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks

      I'll just do it>

       

       

      1. ScottMatson | Jan 06, 2005 05:34pm | #18

        Hey thanks for the offer. Very generous of you Sphere. I could trade you some insulation!Seriously, I'm not sure when the next time would be I'd get down your way. We used to go through KY a lot but not these days. Right now I'm stuck in a foot of snow; heard maybe you'd be getting some too.Dog

        1. User avater
          Sphere | Jan 06, 2005 05:42pm | #19

          I think the sno is gunna miss us, I am headed out for a roof today as soon as the rain stops..temps are dropping again tho'.Alotta wind last night and this AM, but it's movin out rapidly.I splurged with some christmas cash and bought some weatherization supplies, might be ready for the next arctic blast..at least more prepped than the last one...LOLIt's a great heater, it's the flue issue that keeps me from using it..that and the $ of propane.No worries, it'll find a home. 

          Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks

          I'll just do it>

           

           

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