[Too Many Projects]

No natural gas in town leaves you in a tough spot. Hopefully, the propane company(ies) don't take advantage of that.
You're welcome to come over and sit under my heater...

 

[2old2fast]

This might be worth looking at and reselling next winter. I use it for my 30x30x12 and it works well.
Requires 240v at 42 amps. I used 6/3 wire and a 50amp breaker to the shops Sub panel.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/DuraHeat-10000-Watt-Electric-Garage-Heater-with-Thermostat-and-with-Energy-Saving-Setting/1001052624

Got mine from Amazon.

Meter Spinner !!!

 

[Rip VW]

No Electric heat here. My house is electric and that bill is already too damn high. It rates up near propane in costs here (Your rates may vary) Propane is the winner here with no other options. The pellet idea was just that an idea but safety dictates I not go that route. I need to keep the installation as close to "Approved" sources as possible in case of an accident. My curiosity concerning pellet stove use has shown maybe 1 or two people actually admitted to using them. I see several admit to using wood but I am in no condition to go cut and split wood. I have worked in a few garage/shops that burnt wood and then I never felt safe using open flame near gasoline and solvents.

It looks like I am down to two choices, One is to use a Infrared setup or to go to a ceiling mounted gas heater. They are both expensive. If I had my druthers I would go with a Oil fired heater. I had an oil fired furnace in my last shop but here I don't have the floorspace to dedicate to a furnace. I was comfortable in my old shop and costs were comparable to electric and gas (Natural) With oil heaters the risk of an explosion due to supply leaks is minimal and the fumes from a minor spill are not as easily ignited. Gas kinda scares me and the wife is ok with oil. In the meantime like mitch says the infrared looks promising even though it is gas. Right now I have decided to make sure I have a ceiling in my shop to help contain what ever source of heat I come up with but of course a ceiling is not cheap so that has to be considered too.

Hey Mitch I will be over in the morning if the lear starts in the morning!!!

 

[2old2fast]

I kind of chuckle whenever I hear the flammable vapor / open flame worry ....with any flammable vapor ignition risk is present whenever a switch is activated , every time an electric motor starts ,every time things are plugged in or unplugged , grinding steel , welding , the list is nearly endless ..I used to do body & paint in my garage , heated with a woodburner (Locke 1911 upright stove) long way from an airtight. The air/ fuel mix would have to be perfect to cause a problem , with the less than airtight construction of my garage , I never worried too much , but I did have outside combustion air to the stove & later to the natural gas furnace....my furnace is a 1990 $10 govt housing takeout , its 96% efficent & heats a 26x32 shop with 9' ceiling , 3-'9x8 overhead doors , 2- 36x 80 entry doors & a 20' x 7'' lean to greenhouse ( furnace is in greenhouse) I have no practical way of knowing what I spend on heat out there , but its not much

 

[johnsongrass1]

Meter Spinner !!!

Not really. It's cost's me around .08/hr to operate.

 

[dinger]

I installed and serviced woodstoves, pellet stoves, gas stoves, as in heaters for many years. Too Many Projects and Curtis73 are spot on. Myself, I wouldn't take a pellet stove as a gift. Too many parts to make it run properly, micro switches, blower motors for exhaust, combustion and heat. If you power goes out, you're dead in the water, unless you buy the back-up battery. The newer woodstoves are around 60% efficient, wood is the cheapest of all heating materials, are radiant heat and also a fan if you wish. Properly installed, they're also affordable, the stove and pipe will run you around 3k.

 

[Rip VW]

Thanks Dinger,
I have been looking at going back to my roots and that is Oil heat. I had an oil furnace in my old shop and was happy as a clam with it. Cost is about the same or less as propane and overall I feel it is a safer fuel handling wise. The wife hates the idea of propane in the shop as she has never been a gas heating fan. One small leak with gas and you have a potential for serious problems. Gas heat your at the propane company's mercy. With Oil I can haul my own if necessary. My old shop I kept a 55 gallon drum handy to haul my own if necessary! I can get a 75,000 BTU furnace New for around $1100.00 . The chimney will run about another $1500 and the rest of the details I can handle myself. I haven't set anything in stone yet as I am going to finish the ceiling in the shop and do the heat in the summer. In the mean time I am switching from my Torpedo heater to a smaller easily movable personal radiant heater of just 15000 BTU. The torpedo heater puts out way to much heat to try and just heat the immediate area I am working in. The torpedo also just drinks propane like a drunken sailor and It just blasts the area with enough heat to peel paint and the excess just goes out the ceiling. and with hoses and electric cords from the torpedo it is hard to move about to just heat the space I am working in. I picked up a radiant heater that sets atop the propane tank and has no hoses or cords to get in the way. I am hoping this method will work for the rest of the winter and not run me broke and then I will have the summer to finish the ceiling and insulate. I am going to try this new low powered approach and see how it works. I am lucky that the cold extremes here are not that cold and I can at least keep myself warm while working. My next idea just may be a battery heated snowmobile suit.

 

[Too Many Projects]

I suppose oil is still available in your area, with propane and electric as the only other sources. I don't know if oil is still in this area. There was a huge push to eliminate oil heat after the price spikes years ago and most people did switch their older homes. I don't think a new home/business has had oil heat installed in 40 years here.
We are really happy to be out from under the propane dictatorship. Our 1 year of that was enough. Last fall, shortly after we moved in, the prices went thru the roof, with the farmers demanding a huge share to dry their crops. Then we were concerned about running low when we went south in Feb and had to make special arrangements to get the tank filled before we left. We were under the impression we had been moved to "keep fill" status, after our application was approved. No dice, different department and the 2 don't communicate. .
Sorry to see you struggling thru this first winter, like I did last year, but after getting a ceiling and insulation in over the summer, you will be a much happier camper and whatever heat source you chose will be far more efficient, and we are already half way thru the coldest month. Spring is coming !!!

 

[Rip VW]

I am not sure if I mentioned that I picked up a alternate source of heat instead of my torpedo heater. I bought a small (15000) BTU radiant heater assembly for the top of my propane tank. With 15000 BTU it should be much better on fuel consumption. The torpedo was up to 75000 BTU. I like this heater because there are no hoses or electric cords laying all over the place. I move the tank heater to about 4 to 5 feet from where I am working and I am in this window of warmth. I worked the last 2 days on the frame mods on the coupe and stayed warmer with the tiny heater just pointed to where I was working. In fact yesterday I was almost sweating. I ran the heater over 4 1/2 hours on what I thought was a almost empty propane tank and it is still going strong.. I am impressed with the sipping of the fuel as opposed to the guzzling of fuel the torpedo heater does plus I am not heating a big empty space just my immediate area. This gives me a new perspective on how to make the shop warmer when I get the ceiling installed. In the meantime I think I have found a temporary source to allow me to work for the rest of the winter. I am really interested in looking in more detail about the Infrared heating source that you have in your shop. If it just wasn't powered by Gas. It still may be a viable option though and it is still on the table.. Meanwhile I am going to pray for a warmer spring and nice warm summer so I can get the rest of the heat plan together before next winter!