Heating a workshop with air heaters...

[Hickorystick]

Hi,
Mine is only a small shed but I have tubular heater plugged in via a wickes time switch so that it comes on intermittently on a 24hr cycle and it stops rust. When I am in the shed I merely override the time switch.
Russell.

What is this tubular heater - is it an oil filled rad ?
I am worried about rust also, I insulated the roof but only lined the walls due to space and worry about the constant heating up then cooling down effect on condensation.. .?

 

[Hemsby]

Although I use a fan heater before I use the workshop, just a few words of caution. It is the surface temperature of the element that is the danger, just because an element does not glow does not mean it will not ignite sawdust.

We keep a small amount of sawdust/shavings to use in the wood burner in the house. After being shutdown all night the embers feels only warm to the touch but a handful of sawdust/shavings on the embers will, with the airflow lever open ignite within a few moments.

I also use a desiccant dehumidifier and no longer have a rust problem on any tools/machinery

 

[DennisCA]

I'm using an air heater of a similar model as posted on last page to heat my shop and its working OK. I try and keep the dust cleaned up in my shop and put it in a place that is as free of dust as possible. And I only run it when I am there, and I don't run it when using the table saw or other machines, nor when I am not there.

In the future I plan to get an oil filled element instead, and complementing with a homemade solar catcher.

BTW I wouldn't consider a fireplace in a woodworking shop safe either. Infact I find it a bit strange to hear that idea from brits actually, given how safety oriented (obsessed?) you guys seem to be in most other respects.

 

[John15]

I have two 0.5Kw greenhouse heaters for my small insulated wooden workshop and are very effective if switched on an hour before starting work in there. They are fixed to the wall about a foot off the floor and positioned nicely out of the way. They wouldn't have much effect in a larger workshop of course, especially on a morning such as today with an outside temp of around -3^.

John

 

[DennisCA]

-3 is pretty warm actually, was -12 here last night, can be -30 a few days a year.