IR tube heaters

[strick]

Hey guys I've got a heating question for a farm shop. I have a 42' x 68' x 12' farm shop and I'm trying to figure the most economical way to heat it. Steel ceiling with 3" blown in insulation above it. It's pretty well insulated and fairly tight. I was wondering about those infrared tube heaters that some people are using in chicken houses. Or would a typical gas furnace hanging in the corner be better? My feeling is the tube heaters would be better. I can get a 50' tube setup @ 150,000btu for $1000 dollars. It's a Hired Hand brand. What do you think? I just want to keep the shop around 50 degrees. That's warm enough for me. But I want the heat to be fairly uniform across the entire shop. Thanks for any opinions or advise. See ya, Jason.

 

[Hoefler]

I would go the infra red like you are looking at. The benefit is that it will heat objects and not the air. What this means is, you will have a quicker recovery when you open the doors to take equipment in and out. Instead of heating the air then the equipment, the floor and anything inside will have been heated thoroughly and heat the air. Also by going infra red, you can set the thermostat at a lower setting, wear dark clothes ( dark colors absorb more radiant heat ) you will actually be warmer. I have worked under infra red heat and forced air heat in the different shops that I have worked in, I have the infra red in my personal shop.

 

[PToombs]

Didn't know that about dark clothes! This winter I'll try that at work.