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Old 01-11-2022, 03:35 PM
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Default Heater in shop with cars

So I put and HVAC and dehumidifiers in my shop this year mainly to pull the moisture out. Dehumidifiers seem to be working well there. Heater portion is propane since out in the country. So how safe is it to run a heater burner with the potential for gas fumes ? No open gas tanks just normal carb evap.

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1978 Trans Am original owner 10.99 @ 124 pump gas 455 E heads, NO Bird ever!
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Old 01-11-2022, 04:27 PM
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Typically, code is to have any devices with an ignition source or open flame (furnaces, water heaters, etc.) at least 18" above floor level, since gasoline fumes will tend to accumulate at floor level. Is your heater on the floor or suspended? Is it closed combustion, so that it draws air from outside?

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Old 01-11-2022, 04:32 PM
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Where is the heater located? Suspended from the ceiling presumably? Gas fumes will crawl on the floor, not too worried there if its not on the floor. I run a propane heater in the garage too, (ceiling) and Ive had so much paint dust it caused a haze in the whole space. I wont say its my best day, but didn't have any issues. .

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Old 01-11-2022, 04:32 PM
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I got treed. Takes me too long to type!

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Who needs nice and pretty, when you can have mean and nasty?
KRE Aluminum headed 463CID 73 LeMans. Used to run 10.6x @ 124.55. 3700lbs
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So much for 2020...shootin for 9s in 2021...and in 2022 apparently.....looks like 2023 as well.
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Old 01-11-2022, 05:36 PM
hurryinhoosier62 hurryinhoosier62 is offline
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Skip, I use a 250,000 BTU barn heater to heat my garage. As Stuart has stated, as long as the heater is 18” from a source of ignition you should be fine.

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Old 01-11-2022, 05:40 PM
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I've had ceiling hung propane furnaces in my shop for decades. Never had a problem. I spray paint, work on gasoline systems, etc. As already stated, don't have fumes and ground level ignition sources together.

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Old 01-11-2022, 06:10 PM
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I used to work in a dealership with a body man that did side work at his house, which of course included painting. He set his shop up with an external furnace that had the combustion chamber for the heater, only using outside air. The suction side of the blower pulled the air from the garage, pushed it through the heat exchanger, and back into the garage, pretty much foolproof for ever starting a fire inside the garage from paint fumes in the air.

I thought that it was a good design, and filed it away in my mind as a blueprint for future use for myself. I now have an unheated garage (pole barn) that I need to design some type of heating system for at present. I may revisit this design or my own purposes soon.

At one time I leased a 3 bay garage/service station (you can see it in the background in the signature picture of the 69 GP race car) that one of my employees was moving his own car out of the bay, he didn't wait for the rear post of the Weaver twin post lift to fully retract and it hit the rear axle as he tried to back out. He then pulled the car forward and the lift post grazed the bottom of the gas tank putting a 3 inch gash in the tank. That emptied about 18 gallons of gasoline across the floor of the garage, and down into the pit of the lift. Of course it was January and both Reznor overhead heaters were on, it was a very tense half hour or so until we got all 3 bay doors opened up, shut the heaters down, but they had pilot lights so there was still a chance for ignition. Then we cleaned up the fuel as fast as possible. Fortunately I had an explosion proof 110 V pump that we were able to pump the gasoline out of the pit for the lift. That was a real pucker time.....LOL

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Old 01-11-2022, 07:44 PM
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Unit it 10 ft up in the air-so I can pull a car on the trailer in . I wanted it a little higher but A/C guy said it would be harder to get to without a tall ladder to change filters.

The dehumidifers have been a big help before there would be so much condensation when a moist warm front would blow in after a cold front water would drip off the engines in the shop. Now a big puddle outside where the drain goes outside the feral hogs like!

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1978 Trans Am original owner 10.99 @ 124 pump gas 455 E heads, NO Bird ever!
1981 Black SE Trans Am stockish 6X 400ci, turbo 301 on a stand
1965 GTO 4 barrel 3 speed project
2004 GTO Pulse Red stock motor computer tune 13.43@103.4
1964 Impala SS 409/470ci 600 HP stroker project
1979 Camaro IAII Edelbrock head 500" 695 HP 10.33@132 3595lbs
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Old 01-11-2022, 07:55 PM
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Hard to believe that you'd even need a heater in the shop that far south in TX. I get the dehumidifiers, but heat???

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Old 01-11-2022, 08:28 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The Champ View Post
Hard to believe that you'd even need a heater in the shop that far south in TX. I get the dehumidifiers, but heat???
I checked the weather report - this weekend they'll have low temps in the 30s and highs in the 50s, so it can get chilly from time to time.

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Old 01-12-2022, 07:39 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuart View Post
I checked the weather report - this weekend they'll have low temps in the 30s and highs in the 50s, so it can get chilly from time to time.
Stuart

I understand that the overnight lows can occasionally get a little chilly.

The average January high in Katy, TX is 64, the average low is 43. So the temps you mention are the exception, not the rule.

But an insulated garage will stay much warmer than the overnight low.

Regardless, when I turned the heat on in my shop at the house I just sold, I typically only set the thermostat to 50 - 55 degrees - even when the outdoor temp was well below zero.

I've helped built race cars in the winter where the temp inside the unheated race shop was well below freezing. Working in temps above 32 degrees is not a problem.

To the OP....

The one reason I can think of to heat a shop down there is IF humidity is a problem in the winter. If that is the issue, you need to have the shop warm enough to operate the dehumidifier. If that is the case, please disregard all my comments.

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Old 01-12-2022, 10:54 AM
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The problem is the 50 degree swings we have in a day! Drops form 84 to 29 low the next day, than back up like a week ago. So you get 40 degrees in the shop and a 70 degree 75% humidity blow in the next day and it looks like it rained inside. The tractor rear tires are filled with water to act as ballast for the front end loader. There is so much condensation on them it looks like someone threw a 5 gallon bucket on the tire and shop floor! When you are under a car changing oil and water is dripping on your face from condensation all chassis parts are getting surface rust, aluminuim heads and intakes are getting white flay stuff when they are inside I needed to address it.

The shop is well insulated which I think almost makes it worse as things stay cold and no gradual warming, open the shop door and instant inside rain. Plan for using the heat is to maybe keep it at 50-60 so it is not so cold for condensation.

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1978 Trans Am original owner 10.99 @ 124 pump gas 455 E heads, NO Bird ever!
1981 Black SE Trans Am stockish 6X 400ci, turbo 301 on a stand
1965 GTO 4 barrel 3 speed project
2004 GTO Pulse Red stock motor computer tune 13.43@103.4
1964 Impala SS 409/470ci 600 HP stroker project
1979 Camaro IAII Edelbrock head 500" 695 HP 10.33@132 3595lbs
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Old 01-12-2022, 11:28 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Skip Fix View Post
The problem is the 50 degree swings we have in a day! Drops form 84 to 29 low the next day, than back up like a week ago. So you get 40 degrees in the shop and a 70 degree 75% humidity blow in the next day and it looks like it rained inside. The tractor rear tires are filled with water to act as ballast for the front end loader. There is so much condensation on them it looks like someone threw a 5 gallon bucket on the tire and shop floor! When you are under a car changing oil and water is dripping on your face from condensation all chassis parts are getting surface rust, aluminuim heads and intakes are getting white flay stuff when they are inside I needed to address it.

The shop is well insulated which I think almost makes it worse as things stay cold and no gradual warming, open the shop door and instant inside rain. Plan for using the heat is to maybe keep it at 50-60 so it is not so cold for condensation.
Wow! That is annoying! Good luck with the fix!

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Old 01-12-2022, 12:30 PM
Steve C. Steve C. is offline
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Skip, I know your not storing your cars for extended time, but related. My garage is unheated and I was told to put carpet on the floor under my car. I was told concrete can wick moisture up and evaporate under your car. But in some discussions it seems plastic is common, and some suggest not to use the carpet, it could get 'soggy'. Also, pulling a car into a garage, with a hot engine over a carpeted area may likewise seem hazardous. I've had no issues with 'wet' carpet.
And after driving the car I usually let it cool down in the driveway before putting it away.

.

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Old 01-12-2022, 01:04 PM
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One day it was so slick I could barely pull the car on the trailer going up the ramps it was spinning so much!

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1978 Trans Am original owner 10.99 @ 124 pump gas 455 E heads, NO Bird ever!
1981 Black SE Trans Am stockish 6X 400ci, turbo 301 on a stand
1965 GTO 4 barrel 3 speed project
2004 GTO Pulse Red stock motor computer tune 13.43@103.4
1964 Impala SS 409/470ci 600 HP stroker project
1979 Camaro IAII Edelbrock head 500" 695 HP 10.33@132 3595lbs
  #16  
Old 01-12-2022, 01:13 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Skip Fix View Post
The shop is well insulated which I think almost makes it worse as things stay cold and no gradual warming.

LOL, the shop at my new house is un-insulated, and I was thinking of having it insulated in hopes of stopping it from being so damp inside!! I'm having the same thing Skip, horrible dampness with this most recent weather.

Sunday I went into the shop to degree a cam for a customer. The inside walls were dripping wet. Went to the toolbox, and it was wet! Opened up the drawer with my cam degree kit - the dang box for the kit was wet!!

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Old 01-12-2022, 01:42 PM
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Skip, My uncle's Pontiac Cadillac Dealership used two gas heaters 12 or 14 feet off the floor.
Do not remember exactly, along with a water heated concrete floor.
Worked great with two regular sized water heaters for the floor.

I want to install heat in my 4 car separate garage at some point.

Tom V.

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Old 01-12-2022, 02:16 PM
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I have a 125k btu propane in a 30x40 insulated 12' ceiling shop. Love it!
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Old 01-13-2022, 07:17 AM
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In the home I just sold, I had this 80,000 BTU infra red heater set up. Heats objects, not the air. No blower so doesn't move dust around the shop....
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Old 01-13-2022, 10:09 AM
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One of the last 'to do's' in my shop is heat. Right now I am running a small pot heater to keep the chill off but would like to do something a bit nicer. When my brother lived in MD he had one of those hot dawgs like JS Schmitz shows and he loved it. His garage was pretty small though. I had thought about something like that for my 24x40. BUT, he lives in Canada now and has a bigger shop with a heater like the one Champ shows and says it is so much better than the hot dawg. I guess I will know which one I go with the day I place my order.

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