Heating my new shop to protect equipment

[Provincial]

Your part of Oregon doesn't get the humidity that the Western part of the state does. If you look around, steel left outdoors doesn't rust very fast, which tells you a lot.

One of those heat pumps like they have in motel rooms should be enough to take the edge off the cold. You can adjust it when there is a front moving in with wet air. That doesn't happen often, so you should be able to predict when the duct needs to be opened more. If your home heating system keeps the humidity down in cold weather, you will be miles ahead. The heat pump should also act to de-humidify the air.

I have found that 40-45 degrees will keep the "sweating" problem under control over here on the Wet Side of the Cascades. I normally keep my shop at 50-55 degrees in the winter, because any warmer makes me sweat when exerting. A denim jacket is all it takes to be comfortable when sitting around in that temperature.

You will find that the big advantage to getting a little heat to the area is that you will get out there more and enjoy using the equipment.

Edited after I realized that the shop is not attached to the home, and the home is not stick-built.

 

[ChazzC]

As far as adding heat to the area, ChazzC has the best idea. That will help take the edge off the cold, and if you put an easily adjustable damper in the duct, you can open it up when you are expecting a frontal system to replace the dry, cold air with warmer, wet air. That doesn't happen often, so you should be able to predict when the duct needs to be opened more. If your home heating system keeps the humidity down in cold weather, you will be miles ahead.

Thanks – the T-Bar in the center of the register controls a butterfly damper: I prefer it around 68°F. in the Winter, so the damper is open more than in the Summer (even though the basement is walk-out, it's on the North side of the house and mostly underground so it rarely gets above 75°F. without any A/C).

 

[MrWhoopee]

I live in the mountains of northern California, overnight temps in the teens this time of year. My garage is unheated, uninsulated and not very tight. I built an enclosed, insulated, mostly unheated room inside the garage where my mill and lathe live. The only time I have a rust problem is when outside temps are higher than inside and I leave a door open, allowing the warm, more humid air to rush in. I keep all of the bare metal well oiled, just wiping it down with way oil as necessary.

 

[frugalguido]

I have been thru this battle before, who doesn't want a heated workspace? I first used a infrared heater with an open burner, very bad idea. Stuff would start to rust the further away it was from the heater itself. I finally got a sealed combustion Reznor heater and all the problems went away, plus I can even spray paint without any danger. I highly recommend this setup. And get a programable thermostat, nice to walk into the shop and it's heated and ready to go to work!

 

[Shotgun]

You're fighting to keep the metal temperature above the dew point.
A 25W light bulb near the bottom of each machine will envelope the machines in a just slightly higher temperature.

 

[BGHansen]

My shop is 40' x 32' with a 10' ceiling in central-Michigan. I went with a Mr. Heater MAXX 125,000 BTU propane heater. I leave the temp at 40 F and kick it up when in the shop. It's hooked to a Google-nest thermostat which can be switched on from my phone (shop is 50 yds. from the house). It's WAY overkill for BTU's needed as I wanted it to warm it up in minutes, not hours. My heater will take the shop from 40 F to 55 F in about 10 minutes. I would imagine you're insulated well. In my case it's 6" in the walls and 12-14" in the ceiling. I could have gone with a 55,000 BTU for a couple hundred bucks less, but I like the "git 'er done in a hurry" set up I have. All of the hook costs were the same, so I went big for a quicker head-up.

I also have 3 ceiling fans that run 24/7/365. That's probably what helped the most, along with LPS1 squirted on cast iron surfaces. As Randal mentioned, condensation is your source of rust. If you can keep the air moving, you have a better shot at keeping the humidity as a gas instead of a liquid.

More than you want to know, but my fans run blowing down on high in the summer, up on low in the winter. It's nice in the winter to not have direct air blowing on my neck. My shop has a digital clock with a thermometer mounted high near the ceiling. I used to have the fans on high in the winter which would make it uncomfortable by the side walls (too much air movement). I kicked the heater on for a 40 - 50 F warm up and noticed up high the temp peaked at 53 F. Then settled closer to 52 F (with the fans on high). On a whim, I changed them to low speed and got a peak temp of 56 F. Within 10 minutes, it was at 52 F up high. I barely notice the air movement in the winter time with the fans on low, much more comfortable.

I go through around 150-200 gallons of propane a year in my shop. It was WELL worth the investment to keep warm.

Bruce

POTD- PROJECT OF THE DAY: What Did You Make In Your Shop Today?

That's what we do , and that's what we are . :big grin: @Firstram. I appreciate that. I do believe that you have to be a few fries short of a happy meal to have that many chucks tho.

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POTD- PROJECT OF THE DAY: What Did You Make In Your Shop Today?

POTD was done yesterday; ironically “spring time” on the first day of summer. My wife has a coworker who bought a KitchenAid mixer that is missing a spring at the mixing head (for securing attachments). He found a replacement spring on line for $35 and was complaining about the cost. We have the...

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[great white]

I’m north of 49, so when we built the house we had the slab heated (electric/hot water) and included the garage/shop.

never drops below 15c.

Summer get the heat pump to cool and remove ambient moisture….

 

[Aaron_W]

I also have 3 ceiling fans that run 24/7/365.

Yes, I forgot to mention this. Moving air is drier and helps to prevent layering of the temperatures helping to maintain a more consistent temperature as the air mixes. Fans are cheap, I picked up a pair of wall mounted 16" oscillating fans for about $60, I have one running in the shop and one running in an unheated covered workspace to help reduce rust. I have a second floor mount oscillating fan in the back of the shop. All of these fans run continuously.

 

[rabler]

My shop is 40' x 32' with a 10' ceiling in central-Michigan. I went with a Mr. Heater MAXX 125,000 BTU propane heater. I leave the temp at 40 F and kick it up when in the shop. It's hooked to a Google-nest thermostat which can be switched on from my phone (shop is 50 yds. from the house). It's WAY overkill for BTU's needed as I wanted it to warm it up in minutes, not hours. My heater will take the shop from 40 F to 55 F in about 10 minutes. I would imagine you're insulated well. In my case it's 6" in the walls and 12-14" in the ceiling. I could have gone with a 55,000 BTU for a couple hundred bucks less, but I like the "git 'er done in a hurry" set up I have. All of the hook costs were the same, so I went big for a quicker head-up.

I just picked up the Mr. Heater 50,000 btu unit for my new shop so that I can hook up the flu for the woodstove and the natural gas heater at the same time. Trying to minimize trips crawling around in the attic and on the roof. I wanted the smaller unit given the fairly long buried natural gas run from the house after the regulator. Of course I'm also a bit warmer climate. The mini-split is already wifi controlled, and the natural gas heater will be on a wifi thermostat.

 

[HoboMachinist77]

keeping things above the dew point is helpful, and that can be managed through heat, a dehumidifier or both.

Good advice.