Shop heat...

[PipesByDesign]

I live in central Illinois, and while we've had somewhat mild winters recently it still gets cold. In my long and drawn out garage/shop revamp I installed a wood burning stove since I've got essentially a never ending supply of fuel available to me. Heating with wood is somewhat temperamental but kind of like pipe smoking it is the ritual and maintenance that is enjoyable to me... building, stoking, tending, etc.

However, at night the fire dies down, and while I'm working my normal job (three days on/three off) the temps drop down and my shop gets quite cold.

So, questions:

Does anyone recommend a heater that I can use during my "down" time? Just something to keep the chill off.

Also, how much of a negative effect is there on briar to change temps like that? During the day I keep the shop around 60 - 70, and at night it falls down to around 30. It is insulated, so it holds the warmth for a little while after I let the stove die down.

[wmolaw]

I live in central Illinois, and while we've had somewhat mild winters recently it still gets cold. In my long and drawn out garage/shop revamp I installed a wood burning stove since I've got essentially a never ending supply of fuel available to me. Heating with wood is somewhat temperamental but kind of like pipe smoking it is the ritual and maintenance that is enjoyable to me... building, stoking, tending, etc.

However, at night the fire dies down, and while I'm working my normal job (three days on/three off) the temps drop down and my shop gets quite cold.

So, questions:

Does anyone recommend a heater that I can use during my "down" time? Just something to keep the chill off.

Also, how much of a negative effect is there on briar to change temps like that? During the day I keep the shop around 60 - 70, and at night it falls down to around 30. It is insulated, so it holds the warmth for a little while after I let the stove die down.

I can just tell you what I did when I used to heat with wood, but couldn't risk a huge temperature differential, I purchased some electric floor board heaters which had thermostats. I would set the thermostat to, at that time, 45 so that when my stove pretty much quit heating, the heaters would kick in.

Don't know if that's much help.

[CACooper]

Greetings,

Living in the Denver, Colorado area, winters are "mild" (compared to Minot, ND I guess), but it does get very cold at night. My workshop is an insulated, single stall garage, about 12ft. X 20ft. with a 10 ft. ceiling.




I installed one of these:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_211812-13468-KB ... facetInfo=

Works fantastic! It runs on 220v, but it will keep the shop at 80 degrees if I choose, no matter the temp outside. Thermostatically controlled, just set the dial to what's comfortable when your working, then turn it down a little when your not there to keep the temp reasonable. Ruggedly built, and pumps out the heat. Highly recommended!

CACooper

[Sasquatch]

These little radiant towers run on 110 and work good enough to de-chill. They cost a couple bucks a day at 10c/kwh.

http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/Canada/Ed ... 324886970/

[wmolaw]

Greetings,

Living in the Denver, Colorado area, winters are "mild" (compared to Minot, ND I guess), but it does get very cold at night. My workshop is an insulated, single stall garage, about 12ft. X 20ft. with a 10 ft. ceiling.




I installed one of these:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_211812-13468-KB ... facetInfo=

Works fantastic! It runs on 220v, but it will keep the shop at 80 degrees if I choose, no matter the temp outside. Thermostatically controlled, just set the dial to what's comfortable when your working, then turn it down a little when your not there to keep the temp reasonable. Ruggedly built, and pumps out the heat. Highly recommended!

CACooper

Damn that shop is neat and clean!

[AlfaDog]

I use an Eden Pure electric. Very cost effective. The recommended way to use them is to get your shop up to temperature by other means and then use the Eden Pure to maintain that temperature. If you use it as intended, it works great and cost is way low. It's not recommended to heat your space from dead cold and if you try to, you will be disappointed in the result and operating costs go up. If you turn it on as the fire dies out and set the thermostat on the Eden Pure you will be good to go. If you read the bad reviews take note of the fact that these people didn't read the directions and they want the heater to be a stand alone unit. It wasn't designed for that. For taking over from another source and maintaining temperature it is great and a big money saver. I have a 20x30 shop and no problems.

As for the effect on the briar I would expect big humidity shifts to be of more concern than temperature changes as long as the average temperature remained fairly constant. Regardless, the wo od is going to acclimatise itself to whatever area you are in. If you build a pipe in New Mexico and ship it to Florida it is going to take on moisture and there could be some swelling. Shipped tge other way it is going to dry out and may cause gaps where there were none before. I know gunstock makers that will artificially manipulate moisture content to more closely match the typical MC of wood in the area of their customer.
Wallace

[CACooper]

Greetings,

Living in the Denver, Colorado area, winters are "mild" (compared to Minot, ND I guess), but it does get very cold at night. My workshop is an insulated, single stall garage, about 12ft. X 20ft. with a 10 ft. ceiling.




I installed one of these:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_211812-13468-KB ... facetInfo=

Works fantastic! It runs on 220v, but it will keep the shop at 80 degrees if I choose, no matter the temp outside. Thermostatically controlled, just set the dial to what's comfortable when your working, then turn it down a little when your not there to keep the temp reasonable. Ruggedly built, and pumps out the heat. Highly recommended!

CACooper

Damn that shop is neat and clean!

The photo doesn't show the gritty detail. Trust me, EVERYTHING is covered in briar dust (note the cover on the M/C). I mean everything! I'll never be able to clean it all out unless I take a hose to the place, and even then I'm sure some will be left (cough).

I do vacuum the lathe quite often or else it would be buried several feet deep in briar shavings.

CACooper

[mcgregorpipes]

i agree the 110 ceramic space heaters at the hardware store would put out enough heat when you're not burning wood and you can get them with a built in fan and thermostat. if it falls over into a pile of sawdust there's a safety shut off

it was -45 here today i'm running at 4800w shop heater and 2 ceramic heaters.. one of them is in my kiln so it dries the wood and heats the shop at the same time. the wood stove in the house runs on shop scraps the dust collector bag can keep a nice fire going too

[e Markle]

Great idea! It dropped to a bone chilling 51 last night!!

[d.huber]

Great idea! It dropped to a bone chilling 51 last night!!

*throws all the pipes at Ernie*

[PipesByDesign]

I should've excluded southwestern desert-folk from this thread...

[e Markle]

I should've excluded southwestern desert-folk from this thread...

That's sage advice anywhere on the forum.

*throws all the pipes at Ernie*

I'm getting used to this treatment.

[Charl]

And I'm trying to get the temps down this side of the world. Yesterday was 30 degrees C.

[mcgregorpipes]

great i'll mail you some snow will trade for briar

[Charl]