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[ruger]

What is the cheapest way to heat a  12x16 outbuilding with a owb

[R W Ohio]

Build your own OWB. That is what our son did. And I'm proud to say he did a very good job and it works very well.

[willieG]

big old rad out of  a truck from the back 50 and an old furnace blower hooked via 110 volt thermostat is about as cheap as i can think of

[yoderheating]

 If you find a big old cast iron radiator you wouldn't even need a fan.

[willieG]

If you find a big old cast iron radiator you wouldn't even need a fan.

would have to be a couple of big old rads and they don't recover very quick if you open a big door and let a bunch of heat out?

[yoderheating]

 Maybe if you have a garage door open for a while you would need a fan to recover. I've been using these huge cast rads in basements some.  I have customers who the two or three rads in the basement keep the whole house warm enough that the duct system never comes on.

[juddspaintballs]

You could use a cast iron radiator or two (if you found them cheap) with no blower.  If you open the door and the shop doesn't recover fast enough, throw a $10 box fan behind one of the radiators and that should warm the place up quickly. 

[willieG]

you folks in the USA must have an abundance of cheap rads. here in Ontario Canada the scrap price for them is $230 a ton today. that makes "old style cast rads" in these parts ...not cheap

But the cast rads would be very quiet and i know they still use them in paint rooms at auto body shops (no explosions and no dust)

[juddspaintballs]

I found mine in a 1960's mansion that was "donated" to us to breech and break up as training prior to demolition to build 4 mansions on the property.  A little work with a chop saw and lifting into the back of the fire engine, and I had me a free cast iron radiator. 

[yoderheating]

 Many rads do go to scrap but I find a lot of people like the idea of them being used for something. I have had guys give them to me instead of making money on scrap just because I was going to use them. I watch craigslist like a hawk and find some about once a year. 

[yoderheating]

I found mine in a 1960's mansion that was "donated" to us to breech and break up as training prior to demolition to build 4 mansions on the property.  A little work with a chop saw and lifting into the back of the fire engine, and I had me a free cast iron radiator.

Hey, are you payed or volunteer? I'm on a volunteer station here in Va. Last year I ran the most calls, around 60%.

[juddspaintballs]

Both.  I'm a career firefighter and I volunteer at my local station on my days off. 

[jackel440]

I found mine in a 1960's mansion that was "donated" to us to breech and break up as training prior to demolition to build 4 mansions on the property.  A little work with a chop saw and lifting into the back of the fire engine, and I had me a free cast iron radiator.

Hey, are you payed or volunteer? I'm on a volunteer station here in Va. Last year I ran the most calls, around 60%.

  to you 2 guys for running into places that other people are running out of.Thanks for what you do.
I apologize for the hi-jack of the thread.Carry on......

[1grnlwn]

I converted my moms old gas furnace to a water furnace.

[tulenutn2o]

Nice neat job there. Have you thought about a transition from the blower opening up to coil to lessen the turbulence a bit? Just a thought. Again, nice work.