Hello,
And thank you to all who replied with all the information, I guess I'm not the only one concerned with rust that never sleeps, hmmm or is it never rests. I need to research my classic rock too.
The room is nice, it's probably better built and insulated than my 1975 double wide. I think I'm going to go for overkill and follow a bit of everyone's advice. Only one my 3 machines were well protected when I went down with heart trouble and my lathe especially, was bit hard by the rust worms.
My house currently doesn't have central heat as the furnace died a quite death over the summer. I have a nice central system being installed next Friday with a new furnace and heat/cool pump (not sure what it's actually called. I have a nice 35,000 btu propane heater that will be freed from the house and moved to the bonus room then. While it has a pseudo thermostat it's not really automatic and to big for 24/7 service in a 12x20 room but it will do the trick while I'm working out there this winter.
I have a couple of oil pan heaters (thanks GeneT) on order from Amazon. I use light bulb socket screw in chicken heaters in closets that store stuff I don't want damaged but don't use that are working well. It sound's kind of like the low watt lightbulbs we used to use to keep our welding rod dry, back when welding rod was a thing. I had those humidity cat litter thingies out there for a while, but I think a dehumidifier with a hose out the wall will be better for the long term.
I'm in a 3 bedroom by myself and I've set the back room up with benches for assembly and gunsmithing and such. It's quit the luxury after using oil drums to wire spools to welding tables to, well you know - any clear surface for bench work for 50 years. This room has a window into the shop room I could open up to push my new central heat into the bonus room/shop, but I'm concerned with chips and other crap flying in to my semi-clean bench room.
I liked the suggestions of regular oil and regular use. That is what I used on my Bridgeport and Atlas before my divorce and move. In Bezerkeley I had a micro one car garage that I could have stayed in 24/7 making Harley parts and steam engines. So regular use and oil is my long term plan now, though I'm still getting settled and setup so shop time is mostly build out now.
It has been my experience since moving to central Oregon we have two temperatures - too hot and too cold. The shop was easily high 90's most of the summer and is mid 40s now on a good morning. My buddy told me "hearses don't have roof racks" so I think long term I will have a dedicated mini-split installed for the shop. The shop is where I've dreamed of spending most my retirement building stuff that makes me happy. I have 4 grandkids that need hand made toys and minibikes like my grandpa used to build. And I'm just the grandpa to do it!
The nasty carpet almost covered and the easy clean vinyl flooring almost complete.
