If you are thinking about building a garage/shop or a shop one of the biggest decisions you have to decide on is how your going to heat it.
One thing that will help you with this decision is what you plan to do in that shop.
If you are planning to use it as a wood shop then you have to be careful if you install a furnace as the furnace will move dust and fumes around the building through the ductwork. Wood dust can be very dangerous as it is a fire hazard. Its not even the fact that the dust can cause problems in the furnace, its the fact that wood dust moving about at high speeds can cause static electricity which can ignite the wood dust in the air.
One of the safest and most efficient ways of heating a shop or garage is to install in-floor heating, this unit can be run off a boiler system. Tankless flash boilers are even better as they are more efficient and only make heat when they are needed.
The heat lines are installed on a layer of foam that is placed on the ground before you pour the concrete pad for the shop/garage. Once the concrete is poured over top of the heat lines then you don't have to worry about them being damaged and you can drive on top of the concrete with any kind of equipment that you desire.
When the system is installed the heating units do not take up a lot of wall space. They only really take up wall space (on an outside wall) as they require venting to the outside.
When the system is turned on and running in the colder months you just set the temperature and forget it, once the concrete slab has been warmed up it will stay warm and radiate heat from the floor to the ceiling constantly and evenly. Heated floors will stay warm and continue to produce heat long after the heating units have turned themselves off.
Because you are only heating the liquid that is circulated through the floor when it is needed the cost of running in-floor heating is usually much less then conventional heating units.
Warm concrete floors help to reduce fatigue as cold concrete floors are known to affect workers stamina and cause lower body pain.
So when you are planning that shop/garage think hard about how your going to heat it.
Rob Abbott
Great Lakes Custom Homes Inc.
