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I Forge Iron

how do you heat your shop


RLD

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I use a standup kerosene heater, not one of the jet engine types. It heats the shop from 30 to 70 in about a half hour, then I can turn it on low. I use around 1/2 gallon to a gallon a day. Last Saturday I had to run it all day on low, and it used 3/4 of a tank.

Once I start the coal forge of course I don't need it. I like it because with Kerosene, you know what you get, but at $3.49 per gallon it isn't cheap. Costs around $20 per month for weekend forging. My shop leaks air pretty well so Co2 isn't too big of a concern, I am in and out enough for a good air exchange.

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Phil, Bet your not over 60 des old bones do not like cold and damp. If the gasser is running ok. If welding CNC cutting or fabing I like warm.
Ken


You are right, I'm a little over half that. I don't like cold and damp either, but I don't have a very sweet work shop yet. I find that putting down wood or cardboard so my feet are off the concrete (or if I have to crawl under a car or something, also to stay cleaner) helps a bunch as the cold concrete removes heat quickly and makes a body more tired and sore.

Since I have moved several times, and this is the first house we don't intend to move from, I have insulated overalls, and coveralls which help a lot. I also had neighbors tease me about wrenching using a Coleman lantern for light (and heat)

I have found that the best answer to cold, without a heated workspace, is to keep dry and off the ground. Make sure you are dressed so you are not sweating because that will make a body hurt when work is done. Last winter I split a lot of wood in shirtsleeves (long sleeve T-shirt) when it was 20F outside. I just put my coat on when I took breaks.

That said, I want heat. I have insulated the ceiling of the garage, and plan to open the walls to insulate those too. The garage door is getting replaced in the spring, and will also be insulated. Building a separate garage is also planned, but I have an extra house to sell in Toledo first.

Almost forgot, this house is all electric, no NG no propane. Everything I do I have to carry the fuel in. I have a kerosene heater but my wife doesn't like the smell. My wife is on the fence between geothermal or propane for a new furnace, and induction or propane for the stove. She has been anti-propane and NG because a house explosion killed her cousin years ago, so I expect that the propane won't happen, although she likes cooking on a gas range top.

Phil
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My shop leaks air pretty well so Co2 isn't too big of a concern, I am in and out enough for a good air exchange.


I used to think the same thing! After a bought of CO2 poisoning I don't anymore. Get a monitor if you use un-vented heaters with doors closed!!!! Mount it at about chest level as CO2 is heavier than atmospheric air.
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I used to think the same thing! After a bought of CO2 poisoning I don't anymore. Get a monitor if you use un-vented heaters with doors closed!!!! Mount it at about chest level as CO2 is heavier than atmospheric air.


CO2 (Carbon dioxide) poisoning? Do you mean CO (Carbon MONoxide)?

The only time I've heard of CO2 being dangerous is if it actually displaces the oxy and a person suffocates. I've never heard of it being toxic.

Frosty
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My shop woodstove is a WWII era 'Warm Morning' top-loader. On real cold nights I take a shovel of coal ashes and clinkers from under the forge and throw on top of the wood fire. There is probably 15% coal that can still burn in my forge waste. Makes me feel less guilty about keeping a clean forge fire.

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I used to think the same thing! After a bought of CO2 poisoning I don't anymore. Get a monitor if you use un-vented heaters with doors closed!!!! Mount it at about chest level as CO2 is heavier than atmospheric air.


Doors closed is kind of a misnomer in my shop, the door has 1/2" gaps or better between the boards, and I have a forced air fan bringing in huge amounts of air. I know each shop is different, and what works for me may not be suitable or safe for someone else's shop.
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To heat our shop we just open the doors n winders, it was 47 deg C in Kurri during the week, with the doors and windows open the heat just comes straight in.
What we need is some rain, we had a few drops of rain the other day, one of the kids at my daughters school fainted after some drops landed on him, as he had never seen rain before, they had to throw a bucket of dust over him to bring him round

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