Outdoor Wood Furnace Info

All-Purpose OWF Discussions => General Outdoor Furnace Discussion => Topic started by: duke on February 21, 2012, 08:18:51 PM

Title: shop heat
Post by: duke on February 21, 2012, 08:18:51 PM
Can anyone tell me what size heatexchanger i need for a 30x40 shop 10' walls?
Title: Re: shop heat
Post by: AirForcePOL on February 22, 2012, 07:57:20 AM
Is it insulated well?  I have been looking at these Dragon Breath 100K BTU for my 36x45.  This website says figure for 4,000 btu per 100 sq ft. 

http://www.altheatsupply.com/shop-by-needs/heat-exchanger/unit-heaters/dragon-breath-heater-100-000-btu.html (http://www.altheatsupply.com/shop-by-needs/heat-exchanger/unit-heaters/dragon-breath-heater-100-000-btu.html)
Title: Re: shop heat
Post by: NewToIt on February 22, 2012, 08:27:03 AM
What ever size you go with, I would consider a "squirrel cage" style blower.  That is what I have in my shop, because I learned from a buddy's shop how loud those regular fans can be.  The "squirrel cage" moves more air with less noise, IMO.
Title: Re: shop heat
Post by: Scott7m on February 22, 2012, 08:37:23 AM
No doubt the squirrel cages are much quieter
Title: Re: shop heat
Post by: duke on February 23, 2012, 07:26:26 AM
Thanks, for replys, and yes shop will be insulated well, will be built this spring. My dealer said it would be $1500 for him to install, so i am looking for cheaper option. I have a buddy with back hoe helping with plumbing shop so ii can burry lines myself. Thanks for link to website too there stuff seems pretty reasonable on price.
Title: Re: shop heat
Post by: koutsman on February 23, 2012, 07:45:20 AM
Can a guy get a squirrel cage fan and mount it to a water to air hx that mount's to the ceiling??  If so where???   I have the regular style fan that blows through the hx and it is noisy, real noisy.
Title: Re: shop heat
Post by: duke on February 23, 2012, 08:11:32 AM
Is the dragon breath similar to squirel cage you guys are talking about?
Title: Re: shop heat
Post by: Scott7m on February 23, 2012, 08:12:06 AM
Can a guy get a squirrel cage fan and mount it to a water to air hx that mount's to the ceiling??  If so where???   I have the regular style fan that blows through the hx and it is noisy, real noisy.

Yes you can.  There a bit pricier though.
Title: Re: shop heat
Post by: Scott7m on February 23, 2012, 08:12:35 AM
Is the dragon breath similar to squirel cage you guys are talking about?

No, they are very noisy units
Title: Re: shop heat
Post by: hddmax66 on February 23, 2012, 09:28:24 AM
this is what i use. works great and the price was right

http://www.freeheat4u.com/catalog/item/6944283/6945972.htm (http://www.freeheat4u.com/catalog/item/6944283/6945972.htm)
Title: Re: shop heat
Post by: hddmax66 on February 23, 2012, 09:35:18 AM
I have a 30x30 with 9 foot walls. That heater heated my garage all season with no insulation and kept up just fine. On the low speed setting as well
Title: Re: shop heat
Post by: NewToIt on February 23, 2012, 12:34:45 PM
hddmax....

Yep, that is very similar to the one I have.  I rarely take it off low speed.  I switch it to medium if I want to raise the temp. quick, but after that I switch it to low speed, and the blower just cycles on and off when calling for heat.  Have only put on high speed a couple of times, and mainly just to say I did.... never needed to.
Title: Re: shop heat
Post by: AirForcePOL on February 27, 2012, 07:36:17 AM
hddmax and newtoit,

Do you guys have any pictures of one of these installed that you could share?  I'm just kind of curious as to how much space they take up and what the entire thing looks like.  They don't have a very good picture on that website.  Thanks!
Title: Re: shop heat
Post by: NewToIt on February 27, 2012, 07:58:54 AM
I'll try to snap a couple pictures this evening.

And just to emphasize what I said earlier, IMO there is no comparison to my squirrel cage blower vs. a buddy's fan style unit.  Might be a little more money, but well worth it.  Don't want you to make the same mistake he did.


Mark
Title: Re: shop heat
Post by: RSI on February 27, 2012, 08:36:36 AM
If you want a squirrel cage blower I would just build it instead of buying a complete unit. You can get a blower for almost nothing because every old junk gas furnace has one.

Also by using a squirrel cage blower you can make it wall mount if you want to. I built a small one for a 24x24 room with stuff I had laying around. Most of it is wood and it works real good.
Title: Re: shop heat
Post by: NewToIt on February 27, 2012, 06:22:11 PM
Here are the pictures... hope they help!  The heating unit is actually hanging about 8 feet off the floor, below a loft and above a smaller shelf.  I keep it at 50-55 degrees all the time, and raise it to 65-70 when I'm out there.  Doesn't take too long to bring up to temp.  I just turned it up when I took these pictures.


[attachment deleted by admin for space issues]
Title: Re: shop heat
Post by: AirForcePOL on February 28, 2012, 08:06:52 AM
Awesome set up! Thanks for taking the time and posting the pics! I agree with RSI, it looks like one of those would be very simple to build and probably be much cheaper.  I can imagine that the squirrel cage blower would move a lot more air too.  Is there any type of filter on it?
Title: Re: shop heat
Post by: gmviso on February 28, 2012, 08:46:57 AM
Just replied to your other post with a description and photo of my setup.

http://outdoorwoodfurnaceinfo.com/forum/index.php?topic=1867.0 (http://outdoorwoodfurnaceinfo.com/forum/index.php?topic=1867.0)

Not going to waste space uploading another copy of the photo.

I know that a typical squirrel cage blower is going to be quieter, however my Dayton fan is noticeable but not objectionably noisy.
Title: Re: shop heat
Post by: duke on February 28, 2012, 09:24:28 AM
Thanks for pics NewToIt, so that set up is pretty quite?, do you have to turn fan on and off or does thermostat do that? I just seen you had switches for on off and fan speed. gmviso thanks for reply to other post,looks like a good setup i'm for sure going with a homemade setup looks like a guy can save a lot of money.
Title: Re: shop heat
Post by: gmviso on February 28, 2012, 09:29:48 AM
Thanks for the detailed photos NewToIt. Did you make or buy the louvers that you have on the front of your HX? I could not find any and did not want to manufacture them so I just installed mine at the ceiling with about a 10 degree down angle.
Title: Re: shop heat
Post by: NewToIt on February 28, 2012, 12:58:07 PM
The thermostat will turn the blower on and off when the room temp. drops below the set point as long as the switch is in the on position.  I put the on/off switch in the circuit in case I want to keep the blower from coming on at all, as the thermostat does not have an on/off switch.

The louvers came with the unit, and I have not needed to put a filter on it..... as it only operates in the winter when there is very little dust windows/doors closed all the time.

It is nice and quiet, unless on high.  On high speed (which I rarely use), the sound of the air simply passing through the HX so fast will be loud with any blower.  She really pushes the air on high speed.

Title: Re: shop heat
Post by: hddmax66 on February 28, 2012, 05:15:47 PM
this was my temp setup. I tried to keep it real simple intill i get the rest of my ceiling finished

[attachment deleted by admin for space issues]
Title: Re: shop heat
Post by: NewToIt on February 29, 2012, 11:05:28 AM
That should do it, hddmax!
Title: Re: shop heat
Post by: golffanman on July 09, 2013, 10:06:10 AM
This post is great and has lots of good information in it. I'll be building one of those.