Heating a detached studio

WShawn

Hi:

I'm in the process of building a detached garage/studio in Portland, Oregon. We're getting ready to start roughing out the electrical, and we're looking for some suggestions as to the best way to heat the studio.

The studio portion is around 170 square feet, 2x6 construction. The ceilings are vaulted, 2x10 rafters with two new 4x4 skylights. There are french doors at one end and a 9x5 window on the south side. My rough calculation is that we'd need something that can generate around 7,000 BTU for the space.

My wife will be painting in this studio using oil-base paints.

We don't have natural gas service to our house, so we're probably looking at electric heat. We're currently paying around $0.085/kwh, around 1200 kwh per month for our 1928 house.

Any thoughts? Baseboard heating? In-wall heater? Some kind of radiators? Heat pump? We'll probably use a window air conditioner in the summer. An electrician friend suggested a reversable ceiling fan to help push warm air back down in the winter.

Here's a website showing my construction progress:

http://www.marshall-arts.net/Garage-...ge-Studio.html

Thanks.

Shawn Marshall
Portland, Oregon

goose134

Baseboard heating will most likely be your easiest option. There may be a way to use a small electric blower type unit.

It's probably a good thing that you don't have gas appliances in there. I know with linseed oil and other clean up chemicals from oil painting it can get a little dangerous with an open pilot.

WShawn

Hi:

Thanks for your reply. I'm not necessarily looking for just the easiest solution. We want something that will heat the space well, as efficiently as reasonable, but that also works aesthetically.

Do baseboard heaters work more efficiently than in-wall heaters with fans? We think we'd prefer something that can live in the wall so we're not taking up floor space, but not if it doesn't work well for our room.

Shawn Marshall
Portland, Oregon

goose134

When you're talking about electric heat it's almost 100% efficient. The only time you start taking losses is in ducts. With an application such as yours, a lot of it depends on how the room will lay out. You could wire up a single in-wall unit that needs some clearance in front of it. Or you could go with baseboards that you can put things in front of, but not drapes on top of.

I don't mean to sound like I'm waffling, but it really is a personal choice. Honestly, for simplicity's sake, I might consider an in wall electric unit. I have a small one at a place my wife and I own and it's come in handy. I didn't install it and unfortunately I can't even steer you in the direction of a brand that I like. Most of the units I saw online have a variety of features, including remote thermostat, heat off fan on for cooler days.

I'm not sure how you're fixed for power in the garage, but most of these you'll need at least a 20A 240 V and many times a 30A circuit.

I'm going to include this link. I'm not saying you should or shouldn't buy here. It's just what I've found to give you an idea of what's out there.

http://www.iap-home.com/index.cfm?fu...FQm6PAodUDJlLQ

WShawn

Hi:

Thanks again for your reply; I appreciate your information. I think it will be safe to go with whatever fits the room best. Right now we're thinking about a wall heater under the big window. Our electrician friend thought we'd be better off having the heater under the window, though I'm wondering if it'd be better to have it on the opposite wall (10 feet away.) I'm concerned about losing the insulation on that part of the exterior wall where we'd install the wall heater.

We're wiring up the garage/studio from scratch, so we can run whatever we need. That's one reason we're trying to figure out what type of heater we need to install.

The link you provided is one of the ones we've been looking at.

Shawn Marshall
Portland, OR

CowboyAndy

WShawn, depending on how much you are willing to spend on the initial install, a direct vent heater may be a good option.

http://www.toyotomiusa.com/products/...aters/L-30.php

They are either kero or fuel oil. The initial expense would be a bit higher... probably in the area of $800 or so for the unit, plus a fuel tank. They are incredibly efficiant. My father in law and sister in law both have them heating their entire house (not this particular one, though).

They vent directly through the wall to outside.

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Leah Frances

I bought, and love, my Reiker heating ceiling fan to heat an unheated porch. They're in the $350 range. It's nice because it moves the warm air around - giving the room a 'warmer' feel at lower thermostat temps. It could, at least, work in tandem with another heater.

Will you need to humidify for your wife's paintings? I know Portland in the winter isn't that dry, but electric heat can be very dry (we moved from NE PDX last year).

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If I could only remember to THINK about what I was doing before I did it.

WShawn

Hi:

Thanks for your suggestions. We'll check out those options.

Shawn M.
Portland, OR