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Re: Shop HVAC questions

 

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I installed radiant floor heating when I poured the 2400SF concrete floor over 2 inches of foam insulation. ?That was only three years ago when propane was under $2 per gallon. ?Now it is $3.59 per gallon. ?We don¡¯t have natural gas available 3 miles outside of town. ?The point here is no matter the type of system you install, you should consider the cost of the energy that will drive the system. ?Installing a cheap system that is inefficient, or uses a more expensive energy platform may trap you into spending a lot more over time. ?If I were to do it again, I would look closely at a geothermal heat exchanger system. ?They are considerably more expensive to install, but appear to be far less expensive to operate over time.

The radiant floor was a DIY project, so it was reasonably inexpensive with out of pocket expenses being only the components needed for the heating system. ?Costs was a little over 5K, not including the concrete for the floor, which was just part of the overall shop build. ?A bonus is the combo boiler also heats the domestic water for the shop (I have a small kitchenette and a bathroom), and the 500SF apartment I built into the attic space.

Make no mistake, the radiant floor is awesome. ?The shop is comfortable at 65 degrees with a Big Ass fan keeping the ceiling temp near the same temp as the floor. ?It is silent, and no air currents unless I crank up the fan. The only drawback is I have no way to cool the shop in the warmer times of the summer. ?To combat the heat, I have to keep the shop closed up and take advantage of the insulation in the walls and ceiling. ?Really good insulation is probably the best bang for the buck when it comes to minimizing your heating and cooling costs.

Good luck with your project,

Alex B.



On Apr 24, 2024, at 6:17 AM, John WI <jnadank@...> wrote:

?
For heating my 900 square foot garage/shop, I went with a radiant tube heater.? One tube heats the entire garage.? I don¡¯t have to worry about dust and since the radiant heater heats objects and not the air, I don¡¯t lose as much heat when opening the garage door and it lessens the recovery time compared to forced air.
I installed a Re-Verber-Ray brand for about $2,500 about 12 years ago.
John Adank
Onalaska, WI

On Wed, Apr 24, 2024 at 8:09?AM Wade Dees via <wjdsignature=[email protected]> wrote:
For my money, Hydronic heating is the way to go, if you can do it! ? It¡¯s quiet and out of site for the most part! ?

Wade

On Apr 23, 2024, at 5:50 PM, splinterboy <splinterboy@...> wrote:

?If you're starting from scratch, I would at least look into the radiant floor heat option. ? My shop had a new concrete slab but it was sloped towards the middle for washing the previous owner's RV and that was going to make a terrible shop floor. ? I installed rigid insulation and tubing myself and the plumbing was easy enough. ? I run it from a cheap secondary gas hot water heater which I just turn off 6 months out of the year so I have no standby heat loss. ? This was 20 plus years ago and the system requires essentially zero maintenance. ? There are no filters to clean and no moving parts other than the hot water. ? A non forced-air system is also nice if you are going to be doing any finishing in the shop. ? There's nothing worse than having your HVAC turn on unexpectedly and blow dust all over the wet finish you just laid on.? The radiant heat is nice and even and with no moving air and wild temperature swings, my lumber and machines are perfectly happy. ? ?You don't get AC with such a system but I can get away without it here in the Pacific NW.

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-Rusty

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