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Shop Heaters

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Kaneskustoms

Finally riding a big boys bike
30 degrees today in the shop Can't deal with it let's see your heaters I need a idea for a safe heater.
 
For portable and really cold a kerosene salamander will get you warm, if a little smelly. A catalytic propane heater pointed at you will probably work at 30F. Both should be available at your local tool rental place. But at that temperature, bundle up and wear gloves unless you want to set up something permanent. Or a wood stove or a pellet stove. How often does it get too cold to work?
 
Be very careful using kerosene heaters. Had mine fired up one winter several years ago with garage door open a couple inches & regular door in the back cracked a couple inches. Was about 70° in there. Was working on something & having a hard time. Blinked my eyes and felt like they were on fire!!:eek: Slung the doors open & ran outside to breathe as I was probably close to passing out from CO poisoning. That would have been the end. Borrowed an oxygen tank from my uncle for a day to help get back to normal.(whatever that means!)
 
I bought a hanging 220 volt heater from Menards for about $150. Has 3 settings, 3500, 4500 and 5000 watts. Has a fan and built-in thermostat with automatic shut down. Compact size and being up near the ceiling it doesn't take up valuable space. No fumes to worry about.
 
“Propane is the answer” says Hank Hill!

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I did all of the work on my '69 Mach 1 in a 10x20 storage unit. Among the many difficulties was never being able to get anything done in the cold Western PA winter months.

I decided to try a dual head radiant heater that mounts on a propane tank, similar to the one in @DonChristie 's post, to see if I could get the garage up to a temp that I could function in. I placed it so the garage door came down to just above the heating elements, with most of the unit physically outside radiating inward. The door was open probably 30-36" and there were two openings in the upper walls for roll door access. I figured I'd be okay.

It wasn't long before I suddenly realized that I was falling asleep under the car. That gave me the shot of adrenaline I needed to get up and out of the garage. I stood in the cold taking long, slow deep breaths until I felt my awareness slowly returning. That was way too close a call. Hank Hill be damned, I'll never go near another propane heater again!

I now have an actual garage with a mobile home furnace burning home heating oil. The garage is 30x40 with a 12' ceiling. That little unit kept the temps at 50-55 all day every day, all winter long, and only used a shade more than half of a 275 gal tank of fuel. That's about $160-200 for the season. I'm pretty happy with that.
 
I have a me han so room in my garage with forced hot air. My garage is insulated and does well in any weather. Cool in the Summer, warm in the Winter!
 
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