Radiant quartz heaters

Boondox · Nov 16, 2003

Tapping the collective wisdom of TBN again. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

In the middle of winter, regular maintenance of the tractor or car and truck can be downright painful! I back it into the garage, don as many layers as is humanly possible, but with metal so cold my bare hands freeze to it there is a huge temptation to put off preventive maintenance. Gloves don't always work, as it's difficult to pick up a small nut much less thread it onto a bolt with gloved hands. I have a propane heater, but don't use it for a couple of reasons. Firstly, all the heat goes straight up, so unless I'm standing right next to it I feel nothing at all. And secondly, open flame near gas and other petroleum products makes me nervous.

Lee Valley Tools has a two-foot long, ceiling mounted radiant quartz heater that is supposed to heat objects, not the air. I've seen something similar at Costco, a parabolic dish that really pumps out the heat, but the ceiling mount would be conveniently out of the way.

Any experience with this sort of unit?

Pete in the frozen North

Inspector507 · Nov 16, 2003

Pete,
It's going to heat....some, but I doubt if 5K BTU will do much in a short time in an area like a garage. I may be wrong but, I think I'd look for a ceiling mount Unit heater, either Nat Gas or LP fired. Either way you do it, cold metal brought in from outside in the frozen North will take some time to heat up.

_RaT_ · Nov 16, 2003

Pete, what are you talking about? It's not that cold in my shop, usually a long sleeve shirt will suffice. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I should think that puchasing a propane space heater would be far more advantageous. The ones that use 120 volts to run a fan work extremely well. The speed with which it heats and the directional ability of it is great. We use them in construction frequently. You do need a small amount of fresh air to feed the oxygen it consumes.

Egon · Nov 16, 2003

Pete:

The ferries on the Alskan Marine Highway had a solarium aft which was covered over but open on three sides. It was heated with overhead radiant heaters that did do a fair job.

This was the area where the poor people unable to afford a cabin rolled out thier sleeping bags.

Cold weather, cold tools and iron make it difficult to keep your fingers warm.

Remember changing a starter at - 20 F. Brrrrrrr!!!

Egon

Boondox · Nov 16, 2003

RaT -- I say this in the spirit of friendship, and remind you that I was a Californian until my escape eight years ago, but when the wind is howling and the entire world is covered in ice and snow...that small amount of fresh air needed by propane heaters is definitely begrudged here in Vermont! The idea here is to keep the warm air IN, and the winter OUT! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

My first winter here I valiantly tried to maintain my southern Cal habit of washing the car every week. In San Diego I'd wash the car and chamois it dry, then cruise around town before driving home. Tried that here at minus twenty. The car looked pretty good, but when I tried to dry it the chamois froze to the metal and I couldn't get it back till early March! My wife, whose family has been Vermonters since 1796, found this hysterically funny!

Pete

Boondox · Nov 16, 2003

Inspector507, thanks for responding. You've given so many of us such great advice over the years that I was particularly interested in your point of view. The problem with an LP fired unit is the garage is huge (3-bay), uninsulated, and you can see daylight between the planks that serve as siding. So whatever heat source I use will pretty much be on full blast as long as I'm out there. So I'm trying to figure out the most cost effective way to heat a very small area within that space.

I'm giving serious consideration to a small Modine LP unit in my woodshop, which is insulated and much smaller, but never thought about using one in the garage for fear of wasting gas trying to heat the universe. How efficient are those puppies?

Pete

Inspector507 · Nov 16, 2003

Pete,
I had a Nat GAs fired unit at my old house. Was it efficient? Don't know....it put out heat though /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Currently I use an 80,000 BTU propane model whenever I'm out there working. I can see a lot of daylight myself. The garage does stay warm when it's on. I can work out there in shirt sleeves.
Now as far as the radiant heater......think of a Toaster/Broiler oven trying to heat your work area /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif The radiant heater will warm whatever it's aimed at and then the warmed item is supossed to warm the air somewhat. Picture your self leaning over the fender of the Dodge, the heater aimed at your back. Your back will be warm, but the front of you will still be cold and so will everything in the "shadow" your body creates.

_RaT_ · Nov 16, 2003

Pete, interestingly, I just sent an message to 5030 explaining how Southern California and Northern California are two very different worlds. He was wondering if I had any issues with the fire and I mentioned that from where I am at, that is many hundreds of miles away. I have not even been to San Diego in all my years here in California.
I should think that for just heating a small work area rather then a space (as it does not sound as though your shop will heat anyway), a propane radiant heater would work well. Here in my area, no one uses electric heat, it's just way to costly, even for small portable heaters. Propane is the preferred way. I use a small variable heat output propane radiant heater. It works extremely well and the cost was right, $45 as I recall. It clamps right to the tank.

kevincook · Nov 16, 2003

I bought a kerosene heater about five years ago to heat my uninsulated garage so that I could work in there. I have found that the heater works well enough that I can usually just work in a long sleeve shirt. I also like the fact that I can aim the heat where I want it. If I'm working on something that won't fit all the way in the garage and the door is open I can get enough heat on me to make the job tolerable.

I saw these at Walmart the other day and the price was pretty reasonable. I think the kerosene heater will be much more economical to run than a propane heater unless you have a bulk propane tank and not just a 20# tank.

Reddy Heater