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Re: Infrared heaters question

To: <shop-talk@autox.team.net>
Subject: Re: Infrared heaters question
From: "Mike Pieczarka" <mikep@bikeswap.com>
Date: Thu, 7 Nov 2002 21:36:41 -0700
Ok, it seems that the radiant heater might not put out enough heat or may be
too concentrated to do the trick and I've received a couple of responses
about the forced air kerosene putting out alot of water vapor. The water
vapor concerns me because rust will be an issue. How much water vapor?

The square footage of the area that I am working in is 200 sq ft with a 10
ft peak on the "roof" so definitely less than 2000 cubic feet and even
though it is just tarp it is well sealed with another layer of tarp on the
inside with an air space of about 2 inches so there should be some minor
insulation there. Unfortunately one of the problems I have is I will be
prepping and painting some areas of the car with POR-15 which will leave the
areas nearby exposed until the POR-15 cures and they can be painted. I want
to be able to paint those areas as soon as possible and not have to rely to
heavily on weather.

Based on some replies I've received off list the radiant heat may be the
better choice for the small areas such as the engine compartment and trunk,
but actually the whole car is a small area. I will not be doing a finish
coat on the car just taking care of rust and priming it until it can be
moved to a paint booth next spring. After looking a little further I see the
forced air heaters are available  for less than the $300 ones I saw. I
really didn't want to drop that much on something that may not work for a
short term use.

So the question now is:
Which is going to be more economical kerosene or propane?
Which will get the surface to an acceptable temperature (55 degrees) better,
radiant or forced air to heat the whole area?

Remember, which ever heat source I use it will be off when any flammable
vapors are present, so radiant might be better if it heats the sheetmetal
instead of the air. Since Northern Tool has forced air heaters in kerosene
or propane putting out 45,000 btu/hour for under $150 cost is no longer the
issue.

thanks
mike

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