Shop Heater Suggestions...Which Fuel?

[bkuhn]

I'm looking for a heater this winter to heat a shop (36x24). Right now I have a woodstove in it which works great on days when I know I'll be working all day (i zip out in the morning and give it a few hour head start). But for those evenings when I'm just there for an hour or two it seems like it just starts be warm up about the time I'm packing it in for the night. So what I'd like would be something that will heat it up quickly, but will only be used a few hours at a time at most.

I think I'm down to two options (links included below). I was thinking I'd go with one of these propane forced air heaters but ran across a diesel/kerosene version tonight and it got me thinking. Diesel is appealing since I have a large tank of that on the property for vehicles/tractors. But I wondered if there is an odor as it burns? Have not experience with any of these units (propane or diesel/kerosene) and would love to hear any input on the pros/cons. Again, in my situation it will be used a few hours at a times, probably a few times a week in a workshop (24x36).


Propane - http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200178674_200178674

Diesel/Kerosene - http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200338951_200338951

Thanks for the input!
Brad

[MadTripper]

I have a multi-fuel unit which burns diesel, kero, jp-8, jet fuel....

We used it for building the house and now I keep it for backup. Mine is 165K which took care of 1280 sq ft that was uninsulated in Pa. winter.

They heat an area up very quick and either have thermostats included or you can purchase a plug in version that works well also.

The diesel/kero versions do have an odor and ventilation is imperitive. The propane versions don't have as bad an odor however put lots of moisture into the air to the tune of 1/2 gallon per hour depending on the size of the heater.

One additional note, you can get more heat out of a unit of heating oil than you can propane however typically efficiencies are better with propane.

There are some newer type radiant style heaters that I was looking at but I have a feeling they don't put the heat out as quickly as the torpedo heaters do.

For instant heat, these units work great. There is normally a large difference between the high and low meaning that you will probably find yourself very warm when it shuts down and farily cool before it kicks on but it is certainly better than the alternative. Additionally, they can be quite noisy with a high pitched sound that resembles a small jet turbine.

Here is a link to my heater:

http://doitbest.com/Kerosene+Heaters-Desa+International-model-R165DT-doitbest-sku-449563.dib

Good Luck!

[annabella1]

You can't make propane, but you can make biodiesel, if you can get a source for oil (grow your own or someones discards)
you could also make methane which can be used in a natural gas heater. Just thinking about what would you do if your fuel was not available. (but you could always use the woodstove)

[Rancher]

My home is solar heated. For over 60 years, on two ranches, my shop has bee heated with wood. On our ranches we have enogh areas of treas that every year I clean up the diseased, and dead treas with a chain saw and use the wood to heat my shop. In many aeas in the west there are areas of National Forest where you can cut wood for your own use.
I believe that if wood is available, (free like we have) there is no other cheaper way to heat a shop. Especially since I don't need to heat it every day.

[kawalekm]

Hi Brad
To touch on using diesel fuel, I bought a Corona kerosene heater that I have been happy with. Initially I had been fueling it with very high grade lamp oil that I got for a $/bottle at the flea market. I had been fueling the heater with that and it performed very well with little odor. Recently though I've tried fueling it with diesel, because it's half the cost at the pump as oil is. I found that diesel burns just fine, with the same kind of flame, but the fume levels are signicantly higher. I had to shut if off the other night and open the windows because I was getting a little nauseous. It was set at a medium low flame though, and comventional wisdom is that lower settings are what generates the most fumes. Still, it was noticablly greater than lamp oil. The next time a fire it up I'll leave it at high and see if the fumes disapear. For now, I would conclude that in a pinch, diesel will work, but the performance isn't as good as the fuel it's designed for.
Michael

[machinemaker]

For a cheap alternative in my shop I went by a heating contractor that routinely puts old forced air heaters out to be scraped. Several of then were functional, but had been replace when the customer converted to more efficient forced air or to hot water. I hauled off a 100K btu forced air furnace for free and converted it to propane. It works great, will heat my shop quickly and it is a great way to recycle and save resources, other than burning propane. The first winter I ran it off of 100 lb. bottles then the next winter I could justify a 250 gal tank. This winter I will be spending more time daily in the shop and will install a programable thermostat. I also use an old (free) wood stove.
kent

[SolarGary]

Hi,
Any style of radiant heaters feel warmer faster because they radiate the heat directly to you (like standing in the sun). They don't have to heat up the shop air and mass for it to feel warm.
I've seen gas powered radiant heaters in shops that take the form of a long tube mounted up by the ceiling -- when the heater is running, the whole tube radiates heat.

If you insulated and sealed the shop, it might retain heat better into to the evenings.

If you have a good south sun exposure, solar heating can work well and payoff very quickly:
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/SpaceHeating/Space_Heating.htm#Passive

Gary