Shop Heat

First, a word of warning. I am not a heating/air conditioning expert. I am an avid woodworker who decided that his workshop/garage needed heat. Last winter I made it through with just a kerosene heater. At 25,000 BTU it kept the room warm enough to work, even on the coldest North Carolina days. However, it smelled bad and it caused rust problems with my tools. Also, the warm humidity and dry freezing of your wood and your work can cause problems with warping.

I did a lot research on my insulation options. Given that the ~~garage~~ shop already had drywall installed my options were limited. Bob Vila's site said it best: Determined DIY'ers can find cellulose or fiberglass blower equipment at their local rental yard, and can economically complete an attic insulation job. The learning curve and the inconvenience factor make most other blown-in applications impractical for a homeowner, and spray-in insulation should be left to the pro. You can see the rest of his article here. Cellulose is easy to install but all the other "post-drywall" options take a little experience. From what I've read, you should start getting the knack for it right after you finish with your shop.

Now that I've figured out what to insulate with, my next step was to calculate how much insulation I needed. I carefully measured out how many cubic feet I needed to fill and then I went to Home Depot to see how far a bag of cellulose would go. It turns out that I needed 8.53 bags to complete the job. I bought 11 because I didn't want to run short. It was perfect, the final space was filled with the exception of the top 3" or so. Another bag would have been too much.

With the insulation figured out, I had to pick a heating option. The main contenders were electric, gas, and an electric heat pump.

Pros

Cons

Electric Heat

	No fumes
	Easy to install

Expensive to operate

Heat Pump

	Also provides air conditioning
	No fumes
	Easy to install

	Do not work as well in extreme temperature (temperature range is worse for smaller units)
	Typically uses expensive electric boosters on cold days

Gas Heat

	No fumes (for direct vent/vented furnaces)
	Cheap to operate

Hard to install (running gas line)

During my reading I learned that the North Carolina climate is about as cold as you can get before the heat pump becomes an expensive option. That is because on the coldest days a heat pump doesn't wouldn't work at all unless you have a more expensive unit that has expensive to operate electric boosters. Also, the heat pump can be slow to warm up a room because the air it produces is usually around 90 degrees while the other options shoot out air over 120 degrees. That left me with electric and gas heat as an option. A quick trip to a fuel cost comparison tool makes it clear that gas is much cheaper to operate than electric. In the end, I chose the Longvie DV20.

I choose the Longvie DV20 because its it was sort of cheap at around $350 and it was attractive. Ok, I'll admit that choosing a shop heater based on its appearance isn't normal but hey, that's me. Also, it BTU rating of 18,000 was right in line with what a 460 sq ft shop (two car garage) needs. When choosing a unit keep in mind that overbuying makes the unit expensive to operate. If you get something "just large enough" to heat the room it's far cheaper to run than something that can handle the room with ease.

	I picked up the 11 bags of cellulose and the blower for $70. The blower rental is free with the purchase of cellulose at Home Depot. I had to put a $100 deposit on my credit card. They refunded the charge when I returned the unit. They let me keep it from Friday night to Sunday night.
	The next step is to drill 3" holes in the wall. This picture was actually taken after the cellulose was pumped in. However, you get the idea. Here's a hint, use a 3" saw bit and a corded drill. They didn't have a 3" bit at Home Depot so I bought a 3 1/4" bit. What a mistake, the damn cellulose covered everything while I was blowing it in. If I could do it again I would have definitely bought the right sized bit.
	Here's a picture of me, on the ladder, and Tom Ferone (aka ToolFerone) working a clog out of the hose. The directions on the cellulose blower said to open the gate to 1/4 of the opening when blowing into vertical walls. I had the bright idea to open it further so that it would pump faster. I bet we spent over an hour trying to unclog the damn hose. It was horrible. Don't make the same mistake.
	This is me holding the hose in place. I tied a dish rag around the end of the hose to improve the seal to the wall. It helped but it wasn't perfect.
	Tom would keep the cellulose broken up and feeding into the bottom of the blower. Also, he would turn it on at the start and off at the end of each space between the studs. It should be noted that this is really a two man job. (Tom, thanks again for the help.)
	A goofy picture of me taking a break while posing for the camera. Notice the cellulose in my hair.
	We kept the garage door open slightly to keep the air flowing through the shop. By this stage of the job we had figured out that drilling four holes at a time and then filling each hole was faster than drill, fill, drill, fill, etc.
	Next I installed the furnace itself. The installation was pretty simple to explain. Drill four holes in the perfect place for mounting the furnace. Next, cut a perfect circle with a drywall saw on the inside of the house for the furnace's vent. Drill a small hole center horizontally referenced to the interior hole though to the exterior of the house so that the vent declines 4 degrees. The purpose of the small hole is to mark the center of the exterior hole that you'll be making next. Cut the exterior circular hole for the vent. Trim the vent length so that it extends 4 1/4" past the exterior wall. Put the vent on the furnace. Take the entire furnace with attached vent and guide it through the hole. Screw it into your perfectly placed pre-drilled holes. Sadly, it's a little easier to explain than it is it do. It took me most of the day to get it adjusted just right and I had to get my wife to drive the mounting screws while I muscled the furnace into place. I spent a lot of time researching how to run the gas lines. I even went to the library and checked out/read a book that covered the topic. Next, I contacted two friends who are plumbers for advice. In the end, I decided that running natural gas lines wasn't a good way to get started with plumbing. The picture on the left is of the two pros I hired to run the natural gas line. You can see the heater's final mounting place too. Sadly, I had to give up about a square foot of pegboard space for it.
	I turned the lights off so you could see the heater's fire glow. The picture doesn't do a good job of showing the super cool flame. It should be noted that the shop air does not touch this flame. The air is drawn from outside and returned to the outside. That keeps me free from fumes and it keeps the explosions away while working with flammable finishes. Some people have noted that the heater should be closer to the floor. If you're looking for heating efficiency you're right, it should be. However, I never seem to have enough wall space, especially on that wall. Also, this is North Carolina so it doesn't get all that cold very often. For example, it's mid-November and I haven't had a need for it yet. For those reasons, I placed the heater in an "out of the way" location instead of the most efficient one. The air filter should circulate the warm air around the shop when I need it.
	The final step was to insulate the garage door. I had an aluminum door that really radiated heat in the summer and made it cold in the winter. I picked up two 8'x4' foam panels at my local home depot (it's great to have a truck). My garage door has ridges along the top and bottom that hold the foam panels in place. I had to cut them in half, bend them nearly to the breaking point, then stuff them in place. If you measure carefully, their pressure and a lip in the panel prevents them from falling out. A nice side benefit of insulating the garage door is that it dampens the sound that used to reflect off of the metal door. I assume that it's also quieter outside the garage but nobody seemed to mind the noise anyway. My neighbors aren't overly close to me.

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