Unheated garage

I built an enclosed and insulated 9x12 room inside my garage, which houses my lathe, mill and precision tools. I can heat it with a small electric heater, but the simple extra barrier from the outside makes a big difference. Also, avoid the temptation to open the door(s) when it is cold inside and warmer outside. Warm, moist air will condense heavily on cold machines. Lastly, propane produces water when it burns, raising the humidity, electric heat doesn't. A small wood burner is also a good alternative, not as simple to implement but cheaper to operate.
 
A wood heater is economical provided you have a source of wood. It does draw combustion air from within the space which means that outside air is drawn in to replace it. Vented propane or natural gas heaters won't increase humidity in the space and have less stringent requirements for the venting than wood. Outside air must be drawn in for combustion though.

When heating is required, outside air, once warmed, usually has a lower relative humidity than what would normally be found in a heated space. 20ºF outside air at 100% relative humidity has a relative humidity of 21% when brought into a 60ºF shop. I figure that anything less than 50% RH in the shop is OK regarding rusting.
 
Archer60x said:
Hello! i have my PM728VT on order.

Any tips for keeping a mill in an attached, but unheated garage? I have a propane heater i turn on when working so that raises the temprature for the hours i am working then everything cools back down to outside temps.

So here in Ohio we go from hot and humid to below freezing.

I have a tiny dehumidifer and i keep a fan on as those have seemed to help prevent surface rust of other tools.

Anything else i should think about doing?

Thanks!
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I would insulate .
I did my garage and it works great.

Dave
 
Archer60x said:
This is what i am afraid of also projectnut. The cycling of heat/cold is going to cause condensation. I dont have a garage door. It has been replaced with insulated wall and 36" person door. I have one wall that is cement block exposed to air. The other walls have earth on the other side or attached to the house.

I would love to do radiant heat in the floor, but i would have to bust up the concrete.

It wont take much to keep the room at like 60 degrees year round. I have a window i should replace with a double pane as it is single.

Summer i will just have to keep fans on and de-humidifer as i dont see myself pumping in AC for a one car garage size room.

I could run a natrual gas line out there for heat...

OK, i will stick a thermometer out there and see what temps i currently have.

THanks!
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I am not in cold country but I deal with high humidity and the summers are very hot. I installed a mini split which is a heat pump and set on auto it heats the garage when the outside temps get cold and cools when they are hot and has a dehumidify function for in between, it is working well.
 
The second best thing I have ever done for my otherwise unheated shop is to install electric infrared heaters. They heat the objects rather than the air, so water condensation is all but eliminated. They also make me feel warm rather quickly. If that seems too expensive, a 60 watt incandescent bulb inside the base of a big ole cast iron machine 24x7 will generally keep it warm enough not to condense moisture when heated air hits it.

The very best thing I have done for my shop was to install a minisplit that keeps temperature and humidity under control. I run the heat at 60° and the AC at 75°. That keeps the machines out of the dew point temps and is comfortable to work in. The heat pump has not made a big difference in our electric bill because it runs minimally keeping the temperature and humidity fairly constant. No auxiliary heat.

DanK
 
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