Here’s my situation…I’m a hobbyist that is currently building kitchen cabinets. I plan on spraying a water based clear coat. The area I want put this in is a garage. The reason for doing this is to get good ventilation. I plan on draping one bay in plastic and either having a window or the door partially open for ventilation. I need to heat this area and I don’t want to spend a ton of money to do it. What suggestions do people have for a heater that can heat that type of space long enough for the finish to set up? (without breaking the bank)
Thanks,
Tim
Replies
Like Dylan at the '65 Newport Jazz Festival - Go Electric!
beachfarm....good times waiting for the ferry...and a six of colt 45...
I use 2 portable electric/oil filled to heat my 700 sq ft shop. I bought thes at Home Depot for about $40 each. During the winter they run 24/7 with no problem and seem to be fairly energy efficient.
Edited 12/3/2005 11:39 am by DougF
While different heaters may not distribute heat equally, all electric heaters are equally energy efficient--100%.
Actually, you are wrong there. An electric oil heater heats the works like a heat pump and therefore is not 100% efficient...
Better re-think. The only source of efficiency loss is possibly a light from the on-off indicator that goes out a window. All the heat transferred to the oil is eventually transferred to the environment, just spread out a bit.
Sorry, but again you are wrong. All heat (i.e. energy) transfers are not 100% efficient. Any time you transfer from one medium to another, you get a loss. This is a basic pricipal of thermodynamics. Baseboard electric (or radiant) heaters are 100% efficient because it is just an resistance element that you run electricity through. And by the way, where do you think the energy goes to run the fan that pushes the air around?
I agree with you that thermodynamics must prevail. However, since there must be losses in the energy transfer, won't these losses actually be in the form of heat? I doubt that either photons or phonons would be created. I am not getting your face, just genuinely curious. Could a heater be considered 100% efficient because the loss mechanism is actually the desired end product anyway? If there are fans and other things eating up the energy, than I do understand that there will be losses in terms of mechanical as well as heat energy.
I think this depends on definition of the system. If the shop is a well insulated isolated system it's the first law (Energy is neither created or destroyed) that must prevail. The shop is doing no work on the outside, and the shop is not transferring heat outside. Therefore, all heat and all work being done within the shop must ultimately be transferred into heat energy, since energy in the system must be constant, or in otherwords the movement of the air doesn't continue forever. The second law is telling us that heat energy cannot be 100% converted into work, but the losses are in the form of waste heat.
College Physics 101: There is a law in physics that has no exception. Matter and energy cannot be created nor lost but in certain conditions be transformed one to the other. Fact -- If electricity is dissipated by resistance, the energy is converted to radiant energy is 100% -- no less, no more. Makes no difference if a small part is converted to light the energy is still 100%.
The portion converted to light is wasted, but you're right, the energy is not destroyed. Neither, of course, is energy destroyed in a gas heater, or a propane heater, etc. :)
But even the light is not destroyed. It strikes a wall where it is converted to heat of goes out the window. Anyway it stays in the universe
Thermodynamics aside I also like the electric oil filled radiator type heaters. They are slow to warm up the area, but once they do they maintain it well. They are probably the safest option as well; no open flame, or exposed elements. All in all no more likely to cause an explosion than your air compressor or turbine. Make sure you have a way to vacate the fumes.
Mike
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