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Garage heat sadness

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truenorth01
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Garage heat sadness

Post by truenorth01 » Mon Feb 16, 2015 10:00 am

I know this is off topic from restoration work but I can not restore if I can not keep the garage comfortable. So here is my question.

Does anyone out there have a Farenheat 5000 garage heater installed in their garage? The Home Depot has all the technical specifications on this unit on their website. So does Northern tool. Basically, uses a 30amp breaker and per their site information can heat 500 square feet. It is always best to get some true performance intel prior to purchasing so that is why I am asking.

A wood burner is not an option due to insurance limitations. A natural gas ceiling unit will not work due to destroying my driveway and patio to run a gas line.

I dont expect it to work on these super cold days but need something that does a decent job when its twenty to thirty degrees outside. Kerosene is getting too stinky so I am trying to minimize its use.

Thanks.

Mark S
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Al Benton
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Re: Garage heat sadness

Post by Al Benton » Mon Feb 16, 2015 12:05 pm

The Fahrenheat 5000 will probably keep your shop warm on cold days. I have an insulated shop that's about 500 sq. ft. and use a 4KW electric unit heater that keeps the shop toasty on 10 deg days. It's 240 volt single phase and uses a 30A2P circuit breaker. Mine has 2 settings; 4.0 KW and 2.7KW and a built-in thermostat. Get a wall mounted stat; much easier to control.
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truenorth01
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Re: Garage heat sadness

Post by truenorth01 » Mon Feb 16, 2015 12:31 pm

Thanks All. Thats good news. The Farenheat seems to be getting good reviews. It will just be a more direct and cheaper fix to my heat shortage.

Always better to hear from people having similiar experiences.

The last two winters have been really tough to get things done in the garage.

Mark S
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Al Benton
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Re: Garage heat sadness

Post by Al Benton » Mon Feb 16, 2015 1:01 pm

Mark,
It will keep that meter spinning when in use. When running full blast it could add as much as 50 to 75 cents per hour to your electric bill to use, so remember to turn it down when you don't need it. You'll definitely notice an increase in your winter electric bills.
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Re: Garage heat sadness

Post by jim g » Mon Feb 16, 2015 2:24 pm

Over a hundred good reviews on Amazon. Listed for the same price as home depot. Although if your a prime member you get 2 day shipping free.

http://www.amazon.com/Fahrenheat-FUH54- ... nheat+5000

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Re: Garage heat sadness

Post by mfine » Tue Feb 17, 2015 7:13 am

The effectiveness of a heater is directly related to the quality of your insulation. If you know the approx. R values and sizes of the various surfaces, you can calculate the size heater you will need.

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Beanstalk
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Re: Garage heat sadness

Post by Beanstalk » Tue Feb 17, 2015 8:38 pm

Instead of one large, expensive, 220V high-amp heater, consider using several small "milk house" heaters. They plug into standard 110V outlets, cost $20 apiece, and can be placed near your large heat-loss areas (under windows, next to doors) around the shop. I use four 1,500W/5,000btu units to heat my 1,100sf (insulated) shop, and they do a great job. Watts are watts, generally, when it comes to electric resistance heaters.
1958 25' Semi-enclosed

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Al Benton
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Re: Garage heat sadness

Post by Al Benton » Tue Feb 17, 2015 9:41 pm

Trouble with doing that in my shop is having enough separate 120 volt circuits spread around to plug them into without running new circuit wiring around the perimeter. Each 1500 watt heater would take a separate circuit. My 4KW, 240 volt unit heater required installing one new 30 amp circuit to just above the shop electric panel. Same size circuit for a 5KW unit.

I have 120 volt circuits around the shop but they feed tools at work stations (drill press, router table, grinder, sanders, chop saw. planer, lathe, etc.) but if I plug a 13 amp heater into one of them I'll have to remember to turn the heater off in order to keep from tripping the circuit breaker in the middle of running a tool. Nothing like loosing power when you're sending a 1-1/2" forstner bit into a piece of wood at the drill press.

The smaller heaters would work good if your shop wiring can handle it, but most wouldn't. A 20 amp circuit breaker will trip when feeding 26 amps (2 1500 watt heaters).
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truenorth01
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Re: Garage heat sadness

Post by truenorth01 » Tue Feb 17, 2015 11:01 pm

The more you dig into a situation the more you find. Its never as easy as we hope it will be. When it comes to this garage nothing has been easy. The previous owner of this home and garage was never big on keeping things functioning as they could or should. It took me three years to gut the place out and remodel it starting in 2012. I just need to milk another two years out of the garage and then I am gonna find a nice temporary home for my Skiff while my buddies and I use chainsaws to level it. Unless its an old Chris, I hate putting purfume on a pig :)Thanks to everyone for lending your experiences to this thread.

Mark S
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