Heating a woodworking shop

[Doublebit]

Gentlemen,
I have recently retired and am in the process of moving to a house in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. The property has a detached brick / block shop building about 100 feet from the house. This building has 120/240 power, a flue for a woodstove, and there is about 8 inches of insulation in the attic. It will make a very nice shop!

My question is, do I need to heat the shop 24/4 to avoid condensation damage to my hand power tools? I have no problem with using a woodstove during the times I'm working there, but wonder if the heating up / cooling down will damage my tools. I'm sure some of you have the same problem. What did you do?

LT

 

[mtgianni]

I believe that heat will reduce moisture in the shop. I would insulate the walls and get a thermostat capable of heat control down to 40 F. and keep it around 45 when I was not there. You will have too much invested in tooling to not take care of it. If you get a small gas heater, lp or Natural make sure it is vented to further reduce moisture. Sealed combustion would be best.

 

[billwill]

Sounds like you have a good setup on the way, Have fun. If you use a wood stove you can hide from the world out there and enjoy yourself

 

[Maddog 521]

Maybe some windows facing south.

Power tools are kept in gang-boxes on construction jobs. Many times there is no heat inside or outside. Those tools hold up very well and have no problems.

 

[Goldstar225]

I don't heat my shop except when I'm using it. I don't have a problem with rust but I do treat the cast iron on my table saw, drill press, band saw etc. with bioshield t-9 and johnsons paste wax. Yes I do live in a high humidity area.

 

[Qc Pistolero]

I live near Montreal,Qc.Ca.We know what winter means.
I have a 240V heating system in my shop that is set up with a thermostat so as to keep everything at aprox 50*F.This is cool enough for working and doesn't get my electricity bill to skyrocket up in the stratosphere.
What creates condensation is warming things up,say in the 80*s and the cooling down after.When air warms up,the molecules spread apart leaving more room between them to hold H2O.So if you go in your shop say everyday in the afternoon and light up the woodstove and get everything in the 80*s,your tools(or any metallic thing)will collect the humidity that's in the air and doesn't have anywhere to go when the air temp goes down(air gets cooler,molecules get closer together,H2O doesn't have anywhere to go to will then condensate on coolers objects in the place,normally window panes and metallic objects.
Better have a lower but constant temperature.
Qc

 

[arjay]

I used a wood stove in mine for years with no real rusting problems for my tools,but I lived in a semi arid climate.It was great when the mrs was in a grumpy mood on snowy winter nights.The kids and I would hang out there having a great time [emoji1]

 

[Drm50]

I live in SE Ohio, my shop is unheated. At the time of year that
it is cold enough to heat, you are at the lowest humidity. I have
dozens of power tools in there. Corded & battery, never had rust
problems in winter. Batteries should not be left in extreme cold.
Our humid Summer's can cause some rust problems on the parts
of saws that have the paint worn off. I try to keep all my power
tools in cases to keep them from damage. If it's worth having
it's worth taking care of.

 

[Squarebutt]

I rent a storage garage that is not heated, and I keep a couple dozen hand tools in a locked gang box. In 20 years nothing has rusted. At home I have a smaller gang box (2x2x4) with a Goldenrod like you'd use in a gun safe. It keeps the tools a few degrees warmer than the rest of the garage, and again, no rust on anything.

 

[Skeet 028]

built a garage here in Wyoming. Put Pex in the floor and heat water with a small(6 gallon) water heater and pump through the floor. I reload and keep the car and diesel truck in there heated to about 42-45 degrees(easier starts when 25 below). When I go out to load etc I turn on a Quadrafire pellet stove to heat the shop up into the 70 degree range.Works well. Tools don't really rust here in Wy. Virginia may be a different story. The Eastern Shore of Md was much different. Anything would rust there..any time too!

 

[Bkreutz]

I have a natural gas heater in my 1500 sf shop. I set the thermostat to 60 and bump it up to 65 when I'm working. I got the heater from Northern Supply. If you don't have natural gas, they make propane heaters as well. I built the shop in 2009 and have 6" insulation in the walls and 10" in the ceiling, it retains heat much better than my 65 year old house. The heater hangs from the ceiling and is in the upper center of the picture below.

 

[H Richard]

You might have more trouble with humidity in the summer than the winter. When you do heat it up in the winter don't make it too hat, it's more the change of temp that causes problems. In the summer time I'd keep a exhaust fan running most of the time and would add more insulation in the attic.

 

[anglertoo]

I use a thermostatically controlled electric oil-filled radiator. 30 years, no tool rust (at 60 degrees) in my wood shop in Connecticut.

 

[AKtinman]

Some good info here, but you might check out The Garage Journal for more ideas.

 

[bigwheelzip]

A Trombe Wall is a good option for south-facing places out of view. Reusing 2-litre bottles makes for a lot of mass.

 

[RSanch111]

I use a thermostatically controlled electric oil-filled radiator. 30 years, no tool rust (at 60 degrees) in my wood shop in Connecticut.

How big is the radiator and how big is the shop?

 

[LostintheOzone]

A gang box with some type of dehumidifier should work. We live in a very humid climate and keep a dehumidifier in our trailer in the winter. A goldenrod or RV dehumidifier would be my choice. No need to heat the whole shop.

 

[anglertoo]

oil filled radiator

How big is the radiator and how big is the shop?

Shop is 24 feet square; Radiator is a DeLonghi 1500 watt.