Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] OT: Intro + Q:Selecting workshop heater

Hi,

I went through looking for a heat source for my shop a couple of months ago.
I wanted oil fired due to cost per btu, but ended up with propane. With the
current pricing of oil maybe not so bad a decision. I was also able to
negotiate(really whined a lot) and am paying a commercial rate, $1.35/gal,
which is $0.25 less than what I was paying for a pretty gas fireplace insert
hookup.

As far as the actual propane unit heater I ended up with, it is a Modine Hot
Dawg 75,000btuh input/ 60,000 output. My heating demand is nowhere near
that high, but I keep the shop at 41f and turn it up when I am there. It
generally takes 20-30 min to get it to 65f. I purchased the unit through
http://www.igcusa.com/. It is $545, but you have to add $70-100 for the
thermostat and the bvent and probably another $70-100 for the propane
install & hookup by your propane supplier. Yeah I know, but that is what it
really costs.

This unit exhausts all product of combustion outside the shop, so moisture
buildup is not a problem. It is not designed to bring outside air in for
its combustion, so you do suck in OA through whatever cracks there are in
you building.

It has worked very well, uses a hot plate for ignition, forced exhaust, has
all of the automatic safeties. The only problem I had with mine was the
balance of the fan blades. The unit had a loud low freq vibration, fan
guard shook pretty good. I took the fan off, 4 screws, and measured the
heights of the fan blades a both ends of each blade, both front & rear, and
bent all blades to be the same. This reduced the vibration remarkably, but
there was still some fan guard shake. I found that by hanging a 5 pound
weight(scrap) from the fan motor housing that was gone too.

Joe Fahy
Snowy Central PA

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jon Anderson" <janders@...>
To: <CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@egroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 19, 2000 11:22 AM
Subject: Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] OT: Intro + Q:Selecting workshop heater


>
> Marco,
>
> I use a propane heater when it gets too cold. Spend a couple extra bucks
> and get one with the piezo ignitor.
> I did have one bad experience once with the first one I bought.
> Apparently some small particle of matter got stuck in the regulator and
> when I lit it off, I found my face about a foot away from a 4' blow
> torch! I think this is a pretty rare occurance, but just to be safe,
> keep your hand on the tank valve when starting it. It's amazing how fast
> one can close that valve when motivated...
>
> Jon
>
> Welcome to CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@...,an unmoderated list for the
discussion of shop built systems, for CAD, CAM, EDM, and DRO.
>
> Addresses:
> Post message: CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@egroups.com
> Subscribe: CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO-subscribe@egroups.com
> Unsubscribe: CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO-unsubscribe@egroups.com
> List owner: CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO-owner@egroups.com, wanliker@...
> Moderator: jmelson@... [Moderator]
> URL to this page: http://www.egroups.com/group/CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO
> FAQ: http://www.ktmarketing.com/faq.html
> bill,
> List Manager
>