Anyone Using Infrared Heat For the Shop ?

I'm gonna buy a heater for my 30x50x12 insulated shop. It needs to be electric or propane powered. Thinking about buying Infrared. Asking for suggestions . Thanks.

I'd like to know this too.

its warm and toasty in my shop lol

I/R is the way to go IMO

I installed it in my last garage but it was powered by Natural gas. The most important thing is you need a good ceiling height. I had 10' which was technically too low but it seemed to work. I have several relatives that have them in their shops as well and they all really like them.

I personally like a propane furnace. I've got a 30x65 shop and I leave mine on 40 at night and it was 11 degrees this morning and within ten minutes it was 65. I had inferred heat and replaced it with the furnace. The thing I didn't like was if you stood under it you cooked and ten feet away you froze until it got the shop up to temp. Also I've got a 4 ton ac unit on mine. You can't do that with inferred.

Propane should be cheaper. Tried and infared once, worked good, drew alot of current, 80-100amps if I remember corectly, 230v 4 bulb. Had a high and low settting, so you could run half the bulbs if you did not need full cap. Would want propane myself if I was going to be in the shop alot in the winter.

Wes Littrell wrote:I personally like a propane furnace. I've got a 30x65 shop and I leave mine on 40 at night and it was 11 degrees this morning and within ten minutes it was 65. I had inferred heat and replaced it with the furnace. The thing I didn't like was if you stood under it you cooked and ten feet away you froze until it got the shop up to temp. Also I've got a 4 ton ac unit on mine. You can't do that with inferred.

Infrared heating works by heating objects in the shop which radiate heat to keep the shop warm. It works best to keep a steady temperature not so much a on/off device (unless maybe you want to cook some hotdogs on the grill. lmao).
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supervel45 wrote:Propane should be cheaper. Tried and infared once, worked good, drew alot of current, 80-100amps if I remember corectly, 230v 4 bulb. Had a high and low settting, so you could run half the bulbs if you did not need full cap. Would want propane myself if I was going to be in the shop alot in the winter.

I was looking at propane IR heaters.

We've got IR at work, not a big fan, one line starts over my stalls and it's like working in a broiler. Hot on one end cool on the other, constant battles over the thermostat. The back shop is heated by 2 hanging furnaces, much faster recovery time after the doors are opened. I'd rather work in the back. At my last house I heated the garage with wood and used a couple of fans to move the air around, once the concrete was warm it stayed pretty even.

Look into a waste oil furnace.

Aren't the IR heaters designed to heat the floor and other objects in the shop?

Back in the early 90's I was doing some sideline work for the gov't, and we had a shop that we pulled main battle tanks into in the middle of winter. The shop had I/R heat in it, and the tanks would come in with a layer of snow and ice on them, and within a couple of hours we were able to work around them comfortably. I/R heats objects, and has a fast warm up time for a shop that is pulling items in and out a lot in cold weather. You can get a waste oil furnace or I/R heater, that burns old oil, if you have a supply that is handy. Nat gas, is best, but propane will work too. Do not try to heat large areas with electric I/R, it requires a huge service to supply the needs. Another option is I/R with a forced air unit combo. That is the best of both worlds.

Ok guys, thanks for the suggestions .

whatbumper wrote:

supervel45 wrote:Propane should be cheaper. Tried and infared once, worked good, drew alot of current, 80-100amps if I remember corectly, 230v 4 bulb. Had a high and low settting, so you could run half the bulbs if you did not need full cap. Would want propane myself if I was going to be in the shop alot in the winter.

I was looking at propane IR heaters.

Sorry my bad. I thought you where comparing the gas vs. electric. The one I had, 2ft or so gas filled bulbs, and may have been Zeon gas, or some such, been a long while back.