Two years ago they expanded their operation and asked for a bid on heating for their new 5,000 sq ft building addition. I recommended hot water fan coils with explosion proof motors and the boiler was placed outside. We also know how it floats around and settles on anything and everything.Ĭase and point: A few years ago I installed a heating system in a commercial cabinet building facility. The surface of the tube gets very hot and we all know how easily sawdust ignites. I would never recommend a tube heater for a wood working shop at anytime. But I would like to collect more information that I can pass on to my students or during any seminars that I do. I should mention that I don't own one of these systems myself and I'm not planning on it anytime in the near future. Or you could post the results on the forum if you think others might benefit from it. does it only heat certain areas and leave many cold spots in others?)?ġ2) Would you buy it again and why or why not? concrete slab on grade, 2 large windows, 2 garage doors with R10 insulation, R40 in the ceiling, R13 in the walls, etc.?ģ) How many BTUs is your radiant tube heater?Ĥ) What did it cost you for the heater, including installation?ĥ) How many hours do you tend to work in your workshop on average (per week, per month, etc.)?Ħ) How many heating months do you have where you live (average temperatures in the colder months, etc.?)Ĩ) How many litres of propane do you typically go through in a heating season?ĩ) What seems to be the average price of propane in your area these days?ġ0) What would be your estimated annual cost to run your radiant tube heater?ġ1) How does the unit heat your shop compared to other systems you've tried (i.e. If you could answer the following questions, it would be very helpful to me.ġ) What is your shop size, including ceiling height?Ģ) What is the insulation situation in your shop (e.g. I would love to hear from people who actually own these systems. Very true, but I would like to get some concrete stats on this from real users, not from the manufacturers. Speaking to the people who sell the units isn't exactly unbiased and you usually get answers like 'it depends on how much you use it'. But one of the most difficult questions to answer is how efficient it is and what the actual cost of running it will be.

We talked about some of the pros and cons, etc. He is considering it for his two-car garage workshop. I was recently speaking with a gentleman about a radiant tube heater system, powered by propane. I'm just doing a bit of research here and hope some of you can help me out.

Radiant tube heaters