Sometimes I make stuff which requires being spray painted, and if it's metal and requires solvent-based paint or cold galvanizing spray, it needs to be 65º or so to do it outside and you can't do this indoors without stinking up the house.
For small parts I built a box with 3 halogen bulbs in the base and a rheostat and put it outside, but larger items required making a tent with lumber wrap and old quilts over sawhorses, and feeding warm air from my diesel heater underneath. It worked but was awkward.
Recently in an attempt to declutter (HA!) the basement extension I figured I could make a heating closet in one of the side bays.I framed in a section with 1/2" OSB, then made a removable door from 1 x 3 lumber, with a 1 x 6 bottom panel fitted with a piece of 4" air duct for the diesel heater input, then cut some 1.5" styrofoam to fill the opening and covered both sides with lumber wrap, which makes the door very light. The rest of the closet is uninsulated except for some scrap 1" styrofoam I put in the ceiling panel. The back "wall" is buried in dirt up on the other side to about a foot from the top, so no insulation needed there.
It's pretty mild here now (mid-50s) but the first time I used it it was about 42º. With the heater only on "2" (it goes from 1-6), the temperature at the output of the heater was 143º, which dropped to 125º at the end of the flexible aluminum duct, but the air coming from the gap at the top of the door was 85º.
I put a removable wire shelf in the closet, which doubles as a storage area.
The door sits in slots at the bottom and is held in place by lever tabs at the top.
in operation. There is about a 1" air gap at the top where the thermometer is, so there is good air flow.
When not in use, the heater is stored inside and the door left in place.
These inexpensive diesel heaters run off 12vDC but I bought a 12v, 15A power supply and mounted it in a box as I'm not using it in a vehicle. This one is a 5K (about 22k BTU at full tilt). I've read of people using them to heat a small shop, and of course the component ones (unlike my all-in-one) can be used in a camper or trailer.
For small parts I built a box with 3 halogen bulbs in the base and a rheostat and put it outside, but larger items required making a tent with lumber wrap and old quilts over sawhorses, and feeding warm air from my diesel heater underneath. It worked but was awkward.
Recently in an attempt to declutter (HA!) the basement extension I figured I could make a heating closet in one of the side bays.I framed in a section with 1/2" OSB, then made a removable door from 1 x 3 lumber, with a 1 x 6 bottom panel fitted with a piece of 4" air duct for the diesel heater input, then cut some 1.5" styrofoam to fill the opening and covered both sides with lumber wrap, which makes the door very light. The rest of the closet is uninsulated except for some scrap 1" styrofoam I put in the ceiling panel. The back "wall" is buried in dirt up on the other side to about a foot from the top, so no insulation needed there.
It's pretty mild here now (mid-50s) but the first time I used it it was about 42º. With the heater only on "2" (it goes from 1-6), the temperature at the output of the heater was 143º, which dropped to 125º at the end of the flexible aluminum duct, but the air coming from the gap at the top of the door was 85º.
I put a removable wire shelf in the closet, which doubles as a storage area.
The door sits in slots at the bottom and is held in place by lever tabs at the top.
in operation. There is about a 1" air gap at the top where the thermometer is, so there is good air flow.
When not in use, the heater is stored inside and the door left in place.
These inexpensive diesel heaters run off 12vDC but I bought a 12v, 15A power supply and mounted it in a box as I'm not using it in a vehicle. This one is a 5K (about 22k BTU at full tilt). I've read of people using them to heat a small shop, and of course the component ones (unlike my all-in-one) can be used in a camper or trailer.
