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I’m blessed to have a 30x50 shop/garage which I love to work in 6 months out of the year. The other 6 months are called winter here in Wisconsin and it gets cold. The shop isn’t insulated and it’s really too big and expensive to heat normally. (Yup, first world problem to be sure)
I decided I would try this experiment. I purchased a “tent” for 60 bucks and set it up inside the garage. The ZR-1 is inside the tent. I can now heat inside the tent without heating the rest of the shop. Yeah, I know the tent isn’t very efficient at holding in the heat, but it’s much better than nothing. I just set it up today and I won’t really have a chance to use it for a couple weeks due to some other issues, but my preliminary test seems to indicate this should work. I plan to run my torpedo heater for 15 minutes inside the tent, and then switch to one of my electric heaters. In the small space, the torpedo heater will really warm things up, but it’s so darn loud. I’m hoping the quiet electric heater will be able to sustain the warmth over a few hours.
I’ll report the results in a month or so, if anyone is interested. In the meantime, I’ll don my nomex suit and you can flame away regarding my idea.
Nothing wrong with that idea. I would shorten each leg post to allow white sides to be able to put weight on top to seal all sides. You could also use a mini free standing propane heater for peanuts and keep it on low. As long as you have a little fresh air to be able to come in you'll hardly even know its on. I keep a Carbon Monoxide detector in mine to be safe also.
What exactly is the experiment? I hope you are going to be using one of those nice smelling (less stinky) kerosene fuels or you might not like how the car smells. Are you trying to heat it all day long or just for working? It will probably be cheaper and less aggravating to get heated storage. My neighbor has her's stored at some place for a very reasonable price.
Be very very careful with that material and combustion. If it is not rated as fire retardant getting too close to/touching the torpedo heater or electric heater could cause some buyer's remorse, big time.
Nothing wrong with that idea. I would shorten each leg post to allow white sides to be able to put weight on top to seal all sides. You could also use a mini free standing propane heater for peanuts and keep it on low. As long as you have a little fresh air to be able to come in you'll hardly even know its on. I keep a Carbon Monoxide detector in mine to be safe also.
Good ideas, especial the CO detector. I may take the one off the ceiling and place it inside the tent. There will definitely be some fresh air coming inside.
Originally Posted by aklim
What exactly is the experiment? I hope you are going to be using one of those nice smelling (less stinky) kerosene fuels or you might not like how the car smells. Are you trying to heat it all day long or just for working? It will probably be cheaper and less aggravating to get heated storage. My neighbor has her's stored at some place for a very reasonable price.
The experiment is to see if I can keep the work area inside the tent 50* while it's 10* in the rest of the garage. Yeah, I burn kerosene in the torpedo. I will just heat it while working, a few hours each evening.
Originally Posted by Whaleman
Great idea. It will work. Dan
Thanks, I hope it works.
Originally Posted by drcook
Be very very careful with that material and combustion. If it is not rated as fire retardant getting too close to/touching the torpedo heater or electric heater could cause some buyer's remorse, big time.
I absolutely agree. I won't have the heat on unless I'm out there.
The experiment is to see if I can keep the work area inside the tent 50* while it's 10* in the rest of the garage. Yeah, I burn kerosene in the torpedo. I will just heat it while working, a few hours each evening.
So you want a quick heat with the kerosene followed by sustained heat from the electric heater? How big is the heater? Something like THIS maybe?
How well insulated is your shop? I see that the walls may be but the ceiling is not. With that said, if you insulated the ceiling, I feel as though it would make a big difference in heat loss during the winter and you will find that the shop will be cooler during the summer. I understand your thought process on heating the small area in the tent....but I also see a nice lift near that beautiful ZR1.... If any of the work you plan on doing over the winter requires a lift, then maybe the tent won't be such a great idea. If not, then it should work just fine.
….. I feel you about the cold and all … the other morning it was in the 40"s here on the Gulf Coast … of course , temps were into the 70's by noon but … Brrrr ! …..
The torpedo is 150K BTU, and the electric is a 220V unit similar to the one you linked.
Yeah, sorry, I know I shouldn't complain
Oh, don't get this tent for a garage - it wouldn't hold up in the weather
you're kidding. honestly, this house was built 50s/60s so I have no freaking clue what actually would fit in my garage. I can only use 1 door on the vette as it sits now anyway. Anything larger and who knows.
Suggest 6" F-glass insulation in the roof trusses + 2 of 4 or 5 blade 52" ceiling fans to blow the head down. When insulated a 150K torpedo heater will bring your 30 degree shop up to 65 degrees in 15 minutes.
For the metal building I run diesel fuel in my 200K torpedo heater kerosene is 4.00 a gallon here..
1990, and it's a driver. I have 60K+ miles on it. My wife and I enjoy putting a "few" miles on it each summer.
Originally Posted by mazdaverx7
How well insulated is your shop? I see that the walls may be but the ceiling is not. With that said, if you insulated the ceiling, I feel as though it would make a big difference in heat loss during the winter and you will find that the shop will be cooler during the summer. I understand your thought process on heating the small area in the tent....but I also see a nice lift near that beautiful ZR1.... If any of the work you plan on doing over the winter requires a lift, then maybe the tent won't be such a great idea. If not, then it should work just fine.
Not insulated at all. I agree that if the whole shop was insulated, I could use the whole area including the lift. But, I won't spend the money on insulation now ... need that to mod the Z
And, thanks for the concern and suggestions. I plan on using this setup safely.
01-17-2019, 09:06 PM
You have a tent in your garage ?!
