Infrared heaters for shops

[joemcc]

I'm interested to hear from anyone who has infrared heating in their shop. I'd like to know positives and the negative aspects of this type of heating. I have a ceiling mounted natural gas heater in my shop but it's expensive to heat with that so I keep the thermostat low and its okay when I'm working hard but cold if you're not. With infrared I'm assuming you feel warmer even if the air temp isn't as warm. Let me know from your own experience. I live in northern Indiana.

Thanks for your input.
joemcc

[Gordon Maney]

Initial cost is high, I believe. I have worked in shops heated that way and they work well, I can say that.

Also, do you have room at that altitude in your room? Will they interfere with any lifting devices?

How high is your ceiling?

[joemcc]

My ceiling is 10 ft high and it wouldn't interfere with lifting devices. Some ads say that its up to 50% less to heat with infrared, what do you think?

Thanks, joemcc

[Gordon Maney]

I would say if you are happy with the initial cost with respect to how long you think you will be there, go for it.

[53Crusher]

I live in Wyoming where the winters can be especially harsh. I have a 3car garage and similar sized shop. Both are around 900 sq/ft in size. I've been heating them with infrared for about eight years now and love it. I use a small unit from enerco http://enerco.com/product.aspx?group...atid=74&id=370 which can be run on natural gas or propane. They run around $300 to purchase and have high elevation jets which I installed. Only mistake I would correct is that they claim to only be able to heat around 600 sq/ft so I installed two in both my garage and shop. In retrospect, I believe that I could have used one in each and would have been fine for heat. Cost is minimal to use and they are not dependent on electricity. When I have a power outage, these still run. I generally keep the thermostats at 45 degrees until I am working in the shop. I turn up the temperature, and they warm up very quickly. Floors are warm, which is also a nice feature!

[joemcc]

Thanks 53 Crusher, It sounds ideal to me and your personal knowledge of it is so helpful. Thanks for the link to enerco also, there's a lot of info there. I've been thinking of a new heating system and will probably go with infrared.

joemcc

[75Crew]

Electric Infra-red heaters

Gas infra-red heaters are great for larger areas but if you are primarily working in a small area such as over a work bench, electric infra-red heaters work very well. For about $50 or so, you can install an overhead electric infra-red heater that will keep you warm while working at your bench for an operating cost of about 15 to 20 cents per hour, based on your electric rate. The installation is similar to putting up a fluorescent light. Infra-red heaters (gas and electric) work by heating the objects and not the air, so you get instant heat instead of waiting for a forced air furnace to warm up the space. They also work well in shops where the doors may be open a lot or in shops where there are no doors. Many of these electric units run on 120volt power (plug it right into your bench outlet) and are available at most home improvement stores, Rural Kings and on-line at Amazon. ( http://www.amazon.com/Howard-Berger-...6766558&sr=1-8) Since many of us only spend a few hours or so a week in the garage during the winter, this is a real economical alternative to the gas units. No piping to install and no worries about potential leaks. I have a couple in my garage and am very happy with them.

[joemcc]

Interesting stuff here, I do make my living in my shop so I'm wanting to heat the whole area and be warmer than it has been since fuel prices got so crazy. Thanks to you 75Crew for your link too, helps with my looking at different alternatives.

joemcc

[MrMarty51]

I tried an infrared heater in My garage,it was the tube style,about a three inch if I remember correctly,ten foot ceilings was too low for that critter.
I run the pickup in the garage one real cold day right after installing the heater,went in the house for supper and when I came back out the hood of the pickup was so hot I could`nt hold My hand on it for very long,almost paint blistering hot.
I think I got too big of a heater.
I sold that heater to a shop with sixteen foot ceiling and it worked very well in there.LOL

[joemcc]

MrMarty51 I've been looking at different types of heaters and saw that most of the tube heaters were supposed to be mounted higher than 10 feet and I wondered what would happen if they weren't now thanks to you I know! Thanks for posting from your own experience, I really appreciate all the input from this forum.

joemcc

[MrMarty51]

MrMarty51 I've been looking at different types of heaters and saw that most of the tube heaters were supposed to be mounted higher than 10 feet and I wondered what would happen if they weren't now thanks to you I know! Thanks for posting from your own experience, I really appreciate all the input from this forum.

joemcc

Oh yeah,a bald old F#*t like Me walking under that heater felt like blisters was going to form on the top a Mee head.
I like them tube type heaters as they bring in their own combustion air from outside and painting and fuming about wo`nt cause an explosion versus the hanging garage gas heaters.
I tried to figure a way to deflect the radiant heat so it would warm more evenly but then that would cut the efficiency of the heater and what it was designed to do.

[MoparNorm]

Ha! Ha!
Marty is right, those heaters work!
I've installed them in outdoor patios with a 14' ceiling height, without walls.
Folks sitting underneath, during a rain storm, in 40 degree weather, had to take their coats off! The heaters work that well.
One word of caution, the electric type of radiant heater will spin your meter faster than you'd like. Natural Gas is much cheaper to operate.
Grainger's has a fair selection of heaters that are a much higher quality than the Home Cheapo offers.