Heating the garage

[dtanner]

Ross sory for no getting back to you on this

. my garage has a closed system with a 40 gal hot water tank with gylcol and water. it will stand -40 if loss of power is a problem.i wash my cars and have install a ceiling fan blowing down to take car of moisture. the thermostat is set at 64 deg and is left at that temp all winter. i have noticed an increase of about 120.00 every 2 months electric bill. i have bad arthrits and this helps me a lot to have a place that is not damp or cold.the hole system cost me about 1120.00 to install. i `am happy with the way it works . DonT

 

[kide]

Don - do you have hot water loops in the floor? I was gonna put PEX loops in the new barn when we built it last year, but the $$$ for the foam, PEX, etc. would have driven me about 15% over budget.. A neighbor is using a hot water heater setup like yours in a 16 x 40 addition on his barn that's really well insulated, with loops in the concrete - it really is comfortable in there....

 

[dtanner]

here is a picyure taken before the cement was poured (4.5"thick). i have leveled and tamped adding the foam 3.5" thick with the vapour barrier.It all runs from a 40 gal hotwater heater.

 

[kide]

Don - nice work. I'm looking at what it would take to retrofit a 40 year old workshop.. To do it right would mean sawing around the perimeter of the slab, just inside the wall, breaking out the old floor, etc. The new furnace sits just behind the workshop.... I'll probably just put another heat exchanger and fan in and wear insulated boots when the weather is cold.

 

[rwilke]

Kendell I.,
Although busting out the old floor and laying down a couple inches of styrofoam and vapor barrier would be ideal, it would also be a LOT of work!

Instead of busting out the old floor, could you lay a vapor barrier on the current floor then fasten the coiled tubing to the floor, then pour another 2-3" on top? Yeah, the ceiling would be 3" closer, and you would likely need to box out a 'drop down' at the doors entrances and such (otherwise it would be more work again to raise the door sills), but the majority of your inside work floor area could be raised and heated...?
Ryan W

 

[kide]

Have us guys ever been known to do things the easy way?? My major concerns about an overlay would be the amount of insulation under the concrete and the ramp ups in the doorways. Like I said, I'll probably go with just air circulation.. One thing I may do any way is dig down around the edge of slab and put in foam insulation to help prevent heat wicking out from the slab..

 

[dtanner]

Kendell Ide (Kide) 2 feet is all that nec for heat wicking and is a big help. i don`t have any snow or ice close to my garage anround doors. kind a nice to. DonT

 

[kweaver]

Garage heating talk...

...1...
...2...

 

[mjames]

i use a oil fired hot air fernice it used to heat my fathers hole house. now at heats my 17x20 garge. timer and t stat 15gal tank

 

[digger]

Hey!
When you guys get done messin around with these little spaces, lets get into heating a 50x100 building with 16' sidewalls.

 

[kweaver]

Yea but YOU ARE the only one that can afford that size of building !

Drill a gas well in the center of the floor, when it gets cold light it !

 

[kide]

Charlie:
My 40'x46'x14' high is "three season"... I retreat to the 22'x30'x8' for the winter.

KentucK... I read the threads - I agree with the last guy on the last page.. Too many screwed up hydronic in floor systems.. I think I'll complete the insulation in the attic ( the rest of the workshop is insulated, except the closed off attic), maybe insulate the footing down 2' like Don sez and then run a water/air heat exchanger off the new furnace. I'm using 400-500 bucks a year of propane in the workshop, heck, that'd pay for half the wood to heat the house and workshop for a winter if I gave up scrounging from the neighborhood..

 

[rwilke]

Hey Guys,
I was discussing 'garage heating' with a friend of mine and a question came up: "Say you have a pole barn with sheet steel siding mounted to horizonal girts. If you install insulation on the inside of the girts, be it rolled fiberglas batting or styrofoam sheeting, will the steel sheeting sweat on the inside surface in between the insulation and the steel?" This isn't a problem when the pole building isn't insulated, because the inside steel surface is open to the air and can easily dry/evaporate off to the inside air.... But if the walls were insulated, any condensation / moisture would be captured inbetween the insulation and the sheet steel, maybe causing rusting over time at any nail hole (such as the "fastening nails" penetrating in from the outside) or inside surface scratches which expose the bare steel?

Maybe a polyethylene vapor barrier is recommended between the insulation and the sheet steel siding?

Ryan W

 

[dtanner]

hi guys just looked in to see how the infloor heating is going. I put a system in and would be willing to help if required. this is not the first system i had helped install. there is a few things that are not necessary in a diferent heat zone (area you live) you can not use the insulation under the slab if you don`t get realy cold weather for weeks like i do here.the Ft around the outside will help a lot to keep the heat in your slab from being bled off from contact with frozen ground.The part i had the most trouble with was air in the system, but i now have an airscoop to get rid of the air in the floor. if you have a question just ask! LATER DonT

 

[kweaver]

Since winter is approaching it's time to revamp this post !

I have a 110k BTU portable forced air heater I heat the garage with and was planning on shooting it into the Machine Shop room (12x14) and leaving the doors open in there.
I searched within a 20 mile radius of the house and there's no kerosene sellers anymore !!!
I'd have to hit the interstate and go to the north side of town exit in another county even to get kerosene.
I just ordered a Mr.Heater propane heater / 12' hose / in-line filter to use inside the MS.
I could have driven to Lowes and bought it but that is past the place that I'd have to go to get kerosene so if I don't want to drive there to get kerosene I'm not driving by there to get the heater !!
It'll be here between Thursday-Monday. I already have a 100 pound propane tank behind the garage for my blast furnace so I'll just plumb it in.
I ordered the 9k BTU heater , probably wish later I had bought the bigger one ... but the 9k is suppose to heat 200sg.ft. and the room is 168sq.ft. unless I find a GOOD horizontal mill then I'll be pushing a wall out 48".