Heating your reloading area

[EMT40SW]

I am just curious what those of you that reload in the winter in areas that are not centrally heated do for a heat source? I am trying to find a heat source that will be safe in my uninsulated garage. I am considering a pellet stove or a space heater turned on before I reload then off once I start bringing out powder & primers. Any suggestions. I want to accomplish this for under $300.

 

[AirplaneDoc]

Got the same dilema, Hope there are some good responses

 

[zxcvbob]

I've been looking at different design waste-oil-burning heaters. Mother Earth News has one made from an old electric water heater tank, then several people have improved on the design to make it more efficient and easier to clean. But this year I'll probably use my forced air kerosene heater, just enough to take some of the chill off without getting the place too fumey.

 

[Arkie]

I would probably look for an Oil-Filled Radiator Heater. No flame on those.

 

[jhansman]

Well, my little reloading world is under my house, and while it is fairly well insulated, the space is too big to heat with a portable heater. I expect this January to be a test of my concentration and stamina, and plan on wearing many layers.

 

[joneb]

I would probably look for an Oil-Filled Radiator Heater. No flame on those.

Thats what use in a insulated garage, you may want two. You will save money in the long run if you insulate and sheet rock.

 

[Grandpa Shooter]

Oil filled radiator heater for sure. No open flame or exposed elemet heaters!

 

[mc223]

+3 on the oil filled heater. I keep mine set just to keep stuff from freezing, but it will make it comfortable too.

 

[Jetsurgeon]

Recently I to needed a portable heat source, in order to take the chill out of the air in my garage where I reload. I didn't want to deal with the fumes (smell) of kerosene, so I opted for the propane route.

At my local Lowe's Store, I picked up this Reddy Forced Air Propane Heater for $180.00.

Full description on Reddy's site is here: http://www.reddyheat.com/productType.cgi?type=3&target=10124.3.1-&sub=10124

My garage is completely finished, but I don't think the builder insulated it. Anyway my garage is 22' x 24' with a 10' ceiling. Last time I had to run that heater, the garage temp was 38 deg, and with it on high for 9 minutes, the temp reached 67 deg. I shut it off and started my reloading session.

Best part: no smell of kerosene.....

Hope this helps,

Jeff

 

[bobotech]

My reloading room is my spare bedroom. Problem solved.

 

[RugerBob]

I just bought one of them K-1 360 degree heaters. It don't need elec so it wont run up my bill. I ran it for the 1st time sunday.Area was well warmed within a half hour. Ran it for 6 hours on low-medium heat setting and used about 1 gallon of fuel.Heater at walmart or home depot for 125.00 and K-1 is cheap, unless you heat your whole house with it. Glad someone posted this. I had talked of different heat sources with my wife for about 6 months and it seemed the best for the price. Good luck all, Bob

 

[kestak]

Greetings,

Initial and ongoing cost efficient and comfort you won't beat a good ol' wood stove if you can chop your wood yourself. Second in place is the pellet stove.

The problem with any eater that may cause carbon monoxide is that you need good detectors. (In any way, I would put at least one smoke detector anyway with eating or not).

I lived in Canada for 33 years and NH for 5 years (Now I am in Sunny GA) and too much eat will never be a problem with a wood stove: Just open the door as much as you must to control the temperature.

Thank you

 

[Eric F]

Wooh burning cook stove on the other side of the room. If I am not careful I find 100* isnt too hard to do.

 

[donttellthewife]

I tried the unvented propane and it left a lot of moisture in the room and I stopped useing it. I found a useable fan forced propane trailer heater where the heat exchanger and burner mount outside the reloading shack and just heated air circulates in the room. 12 volt power supply, a CO 2 alarm and metal 4" venting will do the job.

 

[armoredman]

Ditto, Bobo. I was going to reload in the garage, but waaaay to hot in the summer, and too cold in the winter. My whole setup takes very little room, so I just keep at it in the computer room.

 

[The Bushmaster]

Got a question...What are you guys doing? Throwing your powder up in the air? How do you figure the powder is going to explode just because you are heating the space with a electric eliment and fan unless you are throwing powder at the heater. Some of you may want to get one of those small wood burning stoves (pot bellied) and install a flue and chimney and put a fan behind it to circulate the heated air. The oil filled heaters don't put out very much heat. I have a small basement about the size of a single car garage and even two oil filled heaters won't do the job...The pellet stove is another very good idea...

Me? I used to have to use the garage until the 5 kids moved out. Now I have my own room in the house. My problem is solved...

 

[dmftoy1]

+1 on the K-1 Radiant Kerosene heater. If you properly maintain the wick you won't get fumes. (at least that's been my experience in 3 years of using it)

We have a huge unfinished basement with a wall that divides it into two halves. On mine, if it running on the other side of the basement/wall it will noticeably warm up the basement to the point that I don't feel cold at all.

For casting I work out in an insulated 24x24 garage and I use a wall mounted propane heater with an electric fan. (20k btu optimisticly rated). It does a fine job down to about 20 degree's, but much colder than that and I fire up the reddy propane forced air for a few minutes. Both of these solutions generate ALOT of humidity but my casting stuff is stored in ammo cans with dessicants so I don't worry about it too much.

Regards,
Dave

 

[glock30]

I just picked up a DeLonghi oil filled radiator from Lowes for about $60.00.I used it today in the garage while I was working on the car. I thought it did a pretty good job. I stuck it out there about a hour before I started.Depending on how big the area is you want to heat it may be a economical solution.
Dave

 

[Wildfire]

Eden Pure

I have one of the Eden Pure heaters and I love it. This thing will heat my house and keep my furnace from running so much. There are 3 Models.
http://www.edenpurestore.com

 

[Nanook]

I recently installed one of these beauties. One of my better moves. The garage is now officially part of the house.

 

[redneck2]

I have two different 1-car garages. One has a heater amost identical to the one above. My reloading area has a wall mounted natural gas unit. No blower on it.

For casting I work out in an insulated 24x24 garage and I use a wall mounted propane heater with an electric fan. (20k btu optimisticly rated). It does a fine job down to about 20 degree's, but much colder than that and I fire up the reddy propane forced air for a few minutes. Both of these solutions generate ALOT of humidity but my casting stuff is stored in ammo cans with dessicants so I don't worry about it too much.

The amount of moisture put out by these is unbelieveable. I had one in my 2nd garage. In about a month, I had mold growing thick on all the walls.

If you've got natural gas and insulation, I'd bite the bullet and get a good heater. It's really nice to walk into a warmed room, even if it's only 52 degrees. Keeps your stuff from rusting. Added virtually nothing to my utility bill. I put the clear plastic sheets over the windows in the winter and have the wooden door covered with a layer of insulation.

You don't have where you live listed. I'm in Northern Indiana, so it's cold in the winter. If there's any way to do it, I'd try to get the walls insulated. Worst case, staple some heavy clear plastic to the walls and fill them with rock wool. As noted above, worst case get a wood stove. They'll throw off enough heat.

 

[BAT1]

My 10 x 20 Workshop has a 5000 BTU air conditioner/ heater in the wall. To bring up to temp real fast, I plug in a 1200 Watt paint stripper element. In five minutes its 75 Degrees. In the summer when I'm gone the temp goes up with the unit off. I put my powder in a plastic cooler [with the drain open] to keep it stable. No open flames or carbon monoxide.

 

[FieroCDSP]

Dependig on the room size, an oil radiator is the safest way to go for anything under 20x20 feet. No flame, if it tips, it can't hurt anything. Run it a while before hand and you're set.
We have an inefficient furnace in an 1869 house. Laff and plaster walls. Poor insulation almost everywhere that hasn't been thoroughly renovated. With the gas prices so high, we've taken up using only the radiators. The higher electric bill for the entire winter is small potatos to the first winter month's gas bill in this place.

If you are dealing with a drafty workshed, like one that has gaps in the planks or such, you'll need something that can crank out the heat. Torpedo heaters work well with ventilation, so long as it's a newer one with the ceramic flame-shield to prevent exposed flame.

Effective safety requires you assume the worst can and will happen. Imagine dropping a can of flake powder in front of an open flame heater ::shudders::

 

[Crazy4nitro]

I place an Electric oil filled heater under my desk on low and the heat keep me warm enough.

'Nitro

 

[evan price]

I have a ceramic electric "disk furnace" that puts out enough heat to keep a large room warm. Luckily, I rarely need to use it since I moved my reloading stuff from the unheated garage into the den.