Heater recommendations for heating area of large pole barn

[iBison]

I have a large pole barn that is unfinished, no heat, no insulation. I'd like to find an affordable solution to provide heat to work on vehicles. I don't want to heat large areas or the entire building. I'd like to find something that is economical to heat a localized work area when working on a car. Requirements are it needs to be electric or self contained, no natural gas, piped in propane, etc. Must be safe to be used around things found in your normal shop. A plus if its easy to move around while on.

Some I've looked at below, what do you use or recommend?

electrical option
kerosene option
propane option

 

[NoDak]

well I will take a stab at this.

1. how cold are we talking about? -20F to t-shirt temp or 40-60F temp?
2. are we going to enclose a small area from the whole pole barn?
3. pricing per tank of propane vs kerosene? as this varies from area to area


1. usually the bullet kerosene ones heat up an area faster than the propane ones, but safety of shutdown on the kero's and cooldown on them are the ones you hear about burning down a place.
2. if your going to enclose a small area and heat that propane may be viable
3. pricing will determine your direction outside of the other 2.

its been a awhile since ive looked into this (deal never went thru) so my data might be off.

edit: and what I mean by bullet kerosene heaters I am talking about these things, not that puny thing you listed. for a pole barn, that thing wouldn't keep up on trying to heat it, but then again I live in a area where your trying to raise a pole barn temp from maybe -20F to about 50-60F to work in.

https://www.google.com/search?q=bul...IO1AYWmNr_-gagP&ved=0CB8Qsxg&biw=1536&bih=759

 

[iBison]

well I will take a stab at this.

1. how cold are we talking about? -20F to t-shirt temp or 40-60F temp?
2. are we going to enclose a small area from the whole pole barn?
3. pricing per tank of propane vs kerosene? as this varies from area to area


1. usually the bullet kerosene ones heat up an area faster than the propane ones, but safety of shutdown on the kero's and cooldown on them are the ones you hear about burning down a place.
2. if your going to enclose a small area and heat that propane may be viable
3. pricing will determine your direction outside of the other 2.

its been a awhile since ive looked into this (deal never went thru) so my data might be off.

edit: and what I mean by bullet kerosene heaters I am talking about these things, not that puny thing you listed. for a pole barn, that thing wouldn't keep up on trying to heat it, but then again I live in a area where your trying to raise a pole barn temp from maybe -20F to about 50-60F to work in.

https://www.google.com/search?q=bul...IO1AYWmNr_-gagP&ved=0CB8Qsxg&biw=1536&bih=759

I think right now the main use would be to use say when it's in the 20-40 degree range. It needs to be warm enough to work comfortably with a sweatshirt. I think the only practical thing at this point is to try to direct heat to where either my son or I am working. It is not feasible to heat the entire building. At some point we would like to wall off a section to put a car in.

It's mostly for my son, he wants to be able to work on cars year round. I am restoring a car but I have enough pieces to clean and paint over the winter in my garage. I think when it gets to cold he's just going to have to move his tools and work in the garage.

I'm concerned about using one like kerosene with an open flame with the types of chemicals normally used when working on cars. Looking at maybe one like this.

http://d3spdo3nk3n5ki.cloudfront.ne...-manufacturing-co-4000-watt-garage-heater.jpg

The other thought I had was a rack of four heat lamps like a bathroom, but I doubt that would work very well.

 

[wnelax04sr5]

what is in the barn currently and what kind of floor is it? if its still a working barn and you have things like hay, straw, etc in it or a dirt floor, theres certain types of heating i would avoid

 

[iBison]

what is in the barn currently and what kind of floor is it? if its still a working barn and you have things like hay, straw, etc in it or a dirt floor, theres certain types of heating i would avoid

It's basically like a butler building, guessing about 40x70is in size about 20-25' tall. Floor is cement, walls are metal, uninsulated, no internal walls. Long story on the building, but it's mainly a combination of storage and workshop. Stuff stored would include furniture, stuff that doesn't fit in the house, tools, and, right now about 6 cars give or take, atv, appliances, the usual crap. Like I said, I'm not interested in heating the entire building, just focused heat on a particular area to make if semi-comfortable to do car repairs.

 

[wnelax04sr5]

It's basically like a butler building, guessing about 40x70is in size about 20-25' tall. Floor is cement, walls are metal, uninsulated, no internal walls. Long story on the building, but it's mainly a combination of storage and workshop. Stuff stored would include furniture, stuff that doesn't fit in the house, tools, and, right now about 6 cars give or take, atv, appliances, the usual crap. Like I said, I'm not interested in heating the entire building, just focused heat on a particular area to make if semi-comfortable to do car repairs.

that simplifies things. you could go for either ambient heat or forced air. in the shop i used to work in that had a similar design, we used forced, this heater to be exact
Mr. Heater Portable Propane Forced Air Heater — 35,000 BTU, Model# MH35FA | Propane Construction Heaters| Northern Tool + Equipment

 

[NoDak]

well for your situation, there wont be an easy solution. open flame and chemicals wouldn't work, same for propane.

heat lamps, that's gonna get expensive real quick for electricity but they are somewhat directional output wise.

infared is another choice but, the only application for those I have seen are to heat our high bay at work which can hold 2 semi cab & trailer length wise and 2 rows across. and trust me, that system can put out some heat even at 20-30 ft in the air down to the floor.

in the end its gonna be a factor of cost vs risk. you might be able to mitigate the risk if you have some kinda of air venting of the chemicals, but it will come down to how cold it will get with the new fresh air.

another option, build a small vent hood to work on the items that use the chemicals and just vent that outside instead of working on it inside the whole air space of the pole barn.

 

[JB.]

Just thinking out loud.

What about venting one of the car exhausts to the outside and letting it idle with the heater on.

 

[shootmymime]

ok guys, im kinda in the same cituation. i cant work on my bikes in this 10 deg weather in my storage unit. Its a 10X20 so 200 sq ft. and slightly insulated (not holes to the outside nor direct air or drafts)

im thinking i want a tube kerosene heater off craigslist but i want to keep the price around $50. Or should i spring for a circle propane heater and use my grill tank?

 

[gjfmvallan]

it will come down to how cold it will get with the new fresh air.

 

[NoDak]

it will come down to how cold it will get with the new fresh air.

as above, whatever solution you go with, you will have to consider the makeup fresh air. running any type of heater in an enclosed area that doesn't have a contained combustion exhaust venting to outside will put too much co2 into that enclosed space, hence the fresh air to displace the bad air.

only exception is electric heaters.

 

[fourwd1]

Moved to OT

 

[1blink]

Get on the garage journal forum

 

[iBison]

I think it's going to come down to something like this and point it to where we are working. It's either that or not use flammable chemicals. I think there is enough fresh air coming in to run a propane heater, but better to be safe and go with electric.

Thanks for all of the creative ideas.

 

[1engineer]

I think it's going to come down to something like this and point it to where we are working. It's either that or not use flammable chemicals. I think there is enough fresh air coming in to run a propane heater, but better to be safe and go with electric.

Thanks for all of the creative ideas.

I've used versions of this Great deal on Infratech 14-1005 at ToolTopia.com in the past with excellent results. You can move it around the vehicle to wherever you are working, it heats up the vehicle also which in turn emits radiant heat and you can use it for it's intended use - to dry paint. They work great, especially to thaw stuff out, like hydraulic cylinders, solenoid valves, etc. Something like the one I linked will let you work comfortably in a sweatshirt in say, the engine bay, or front suspension, bodywork on a door or fender, etc. The only downside is it only heats that small area, so to go 20 ft away to get something it will be cold there, but warm where you are working.

 

[slapdappy]

construct a tent room or whatever. a smaller space which you can heat. drive vehicle in, lay rigid foam on the floor, lay plywood/osb/wharever over it to insulate from concrete floor, or this stuff Exercise & Gym Flooring - Flooring -Â*The Home Depot. pvc frame? pipe? wood?cover with clear plastic. Ideally, figure out a way to put a second sheet above the first with an air space to create a thermal space, like a double pane window.
FlexPVC.com Projects, aka, What can you do with all these pvc parts and fittings?

 

[Quatre Coureur]

What about a waste oil heater like a Cleanburn? They burn used motor oil, gear oil, ATF, and fuel oil too. Clean Burn - Waste Oil Heater, Waste Oil Furnace, & Used Oil Recycling fwiw... :smokin:

 

[Nervo19]

Here's a whole forum on how to heat garages. Hours of reading enjoyment

Heating and A/C - The Garage Journal Board

 

[DenisDinkledj08]

We often use some heaters to heat a room. But they are electric, and they need to be constantly monitored, plus it is not economically profitable. I used to have one at home, which cost more than usual. To solve this problem, we ordered a column radiator, which did its job very well. I can also recommend them to you for heating a particular area.