Heating Your Shop

21 August, 2008 04:06:00 Don Johnson

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Heating your shop safely by Don Johnson

"Heating Your Shop / Studio"

by Don Johnson

Sponsored by Airbrush Technique Magazine

For everyone with a little shop there at home, which is who this web site is really dedicated too, heating your shop is always a problem and concern. Or should be a concern anyway as most of the products we use are flammable.

Start out with a well insulted shop is always the cheapest way to keep the heating bill down. If your shop is not insulted well that would be my first order of business. Goes without saying the insulation should be well concealed within the walls so you do not have to contend with that stuff floating around the shop.

Caulk any areas where you might be getting drafts from, around windows, doors, roof line.

For heat any open flame heat source is a big NO, NO, kerosene, propane heats are not what you want to be using. Electric heat as long as it provided by a heating source where chances of any type of spark are non existent or exposed heated coils will work.

Forced Air is great as long as the furnace is well removed from the shop and the air inlet to the furnace is not in the shop. This type of set up can become pretty expensive.

The one heater I have found that works great in my shop is pictured below, an oil filled radiant heater. These can be purchased at Lowe's or Home Depot for under $50.00 and work very well. I actually run two in my shop during the cold months pretty much twenty four hours a day.

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Comments (1 posted):

JakeToo on 31 October, 2008 03:17:49

The one thing to remember even with these radiant heaters is that the switches and thermostats _will_ spark. If you're using flamable solvents/reducers/paints in an enclosed area then it's important to use "spark proof"/"explosion proof" lights, switches, motors - anything electrical. An explosion proof fan venting to the outside, with filtered air intake from the outside is the best way to go. Of course, in the winter that does make things a bit on the cold side ... :rolleyes: Try to minimize the amount of solvent fumes that get into the air. If I'm working in a closed area I stick to water based products (Liquitex, Auto Air, etc.).

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