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Re: Radiant Heat or through-the-wall

To: trovato@computer.net
Subject: Re: Radiant Heat or through-the-wall
From: Brian Kelley <bkelley@ford.com>
Date: Fri, 27 Sep 1996 11:27:18 EDT
Steven Trovato writes:

> >One would be enough for me.  I'd want to keep the shop at 45  degrees or 
> >so all the time, and bump it when a project was afoot.  How much do these 
> >things cost?
> 
> Mine were about $600 each, and that was some years ago.  I know the folks
> who go hunting for used furnaces and such think that's a huge amount of
> money to spend, but it is a luxury I've never regretted.

That is a *huge* amount of money (that could be spent on the car or tools ;-),
especially when you consider that you have two of them.  Obviously,
I'm one of those used furnace people you mentioned.  I've got a 135K
Btu forced air natural gas furnace in my 26x32 garage.  It cranks!  It
wasn't even necessary to install any duct work.  I have a plenum with
three 6" elbows coming out of the top, each pointing in a different
direction.

Costs were basically as follows:

Furnace $75
Furnace inspection $25
plenum/vent $125
gas line $125
30' trench in the middle of winter: $55
permits $75


> My shop is
> basically under the living space of my house.  I do not keep them on at all
> when the shop is not in use, and the area stays above freezing as long as
> outside temperatures don't go too low (like 0F).

My garage is external and will freeze if I don't keep it heated.  I prefer
to keep it at 45 when I'm not working.  It also does a lot to keep the
slab fairly warm.

> You see, that's really the beauty of the propane heaters.  Even if I open
> the doors for a while and drop the temperature down, it recovers very fast.
> Radiant heat makes for nice warm floors to lay on, but I never really
> thought of it as good for fast recovery.  

I believe you are correct.

> They
> make the exact same heater in propane and natural gas models.  The actual
> gas jets are different.  

I expect that you can convert your heaters when the time comes..

  Brian


--
bkelley@ford.com


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