Which kind of heating for a garage workshop?
I live in New York and have my woodshop in a 3 car garge (approx 20′ by 25′) attached to the house. The garage abuts the house on 2 sides. One of the other sides I beleive has basic fiberglass insualtion (2×4 wall) with 2 windows and the entire front are insulated firerglass garage doors. During the winter, it gets so cold in there that I cannot work. I have tried electric heaters, but they must run for hours before it is even close to tloerable and they obviously suck a lot of juice. I also tried Kerosene heaters, but the combination of the fumes and the moisture make it a no go. Two possible alternatives are: 1) gas powered heater/fan unit like the Modine Hot Dawg (45,000 BTU) or 2) running another zone off my furnace (which is oversized) and using a hydronic heating /fan unit. The gas powered solution is $2,000 to have installed and the hydronic unit is $2,600. The question is whether the hydronic unit hooked to my furnace will be sufficiently more efficient to make up for the extra $600. I also like the fact that there is no flame involved.
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Replies
A loop off your boiler sounds like the way to go and if you find a weekend moonlighter type I would think the install would be just a few hundred. An easy DIY project really. Keep the heat on to 50-60 as the low set point and you may quite enjoy the new found comfort.
Also there is PEX tubing specific to high hydronic temps. Very easy material to run and easy on cost too.
Richard,
You mention the fact that you have a furnace, but then you talk about a hydonic fan/coil unit. So which is it -- do you have a furnace or a boiler to heat your house?
Would either option (Hot Dawg versus hydronic) use the same fuel? (You didn't tell us what fuel you use to heat your house.)
Are you talking about propane or natural gas?
What's the efficiency of the appliance you use to heat your house?
What's the efficiency of the Hot Dawg?