Thread: Winterizing yourself

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Hey guys , we all know to well we have to get ready for winter ( I hate the cold) I'm doing all the pre work on the coupe and my daily drivers, but I got to thinking it's time to drag out the long johns and thick socks, dusting off the propane heaters and stuff, switch from beer to rum or something. What's your plan?

Well I got the gas furnace I put in my garage last winter finished up. Last year I just pluged it in with an extension cord and it just blew air out the top, not even a thermostat. I put a couple large grills in the plenum on the top, actually wired up a thermostat. I washed my insulated coveralls, although my son borrowed them right affter that. So I guess I'm good to go.......................

dlotraf33 normaly I don't say much about others shops...but you said the hot air blows out the top....unless you have the duct work to get the coldair inlet off the floor you could get into trouble... gas fumes go to the floor ..I always put counter flow furnaces in shops for that reason.. I'd hate to see somthing happen when it could be prevented.. Stay warm and dry

Originally Posted by cffisher

dlotraf33 normaly I don't say much about others shops...but you said the hot air blows out the top....unless you have the duct work to get the coldair inlet off the floor you could get into trouble... gas fumes go to the floor ..I always put counter flow furnaces in shops for that reason.. I'd hate to see somthing happen when it could be prevented.. Stay warm and dry

It is an up flow furnace. Power vent motor, vented to the outside. It is on a platform approx 20" off the floor, (code requires 18"). Return (cold air inlet) in side bottom of furnace. Bottom of return is 24" from the floor. Carbon Monoxide detector in garage. Last year I just did bare minium to get heat (Safely) in the garage. Plenum on top of furnace with 2 vents. The only time my carbon monoxide detector went off, I stupidly forgot about it and fired up the 48 and left running, the garage door was open but detector went off. Damn those things are loud................. BTW I have held HVAC contractors license's in Texas and North Carolina. I may kill myself, but it won't be with a heater................. Oh and I never keep gas cans and such in the garage.

Originally Posted by cffisher

dlotraf33 normaly I don't say much about others shops...but you said the hot air blows out the top....unless you have the duct work to get the coldair inlet off the floor you could get into trouble... gas fumes go to the floor ..I always put counter flow furnaces in shops for that reason.. I'd hate to see somthing happen when it could be prevented.. Stay warm and dry

I thought a little more about what you said about gas fumes, I assume you mean gasoline fumes. You are very correct. If you store gas, or are working with gas, fuel system, where fumes may be present, thinners, or cleaning solvents that are flammable. The best policy (safety wise) is to turn off all heat sources. Now commercial shops where they have high ceilings, normally use hanging heaters, well above floor level and fumes. My advice where alot of us are working in small garages, with low ceilings is to be extremely careful with any type of heaters when working with anything that may produce combustible fumes. When I paint inside and it's cold I heat up garage and turn off all heat, even water heater, which has a closed combustion chamber. Electric heaters, (radiant type) are just as dangerous as gas or oil fired heat. In a small garage probably the safest heater is a sealed oil filled electric heater. But in the presence of fumes even a light switch can be dangerous. That is the main reason I keep gas cans, and most thinners out of the garage. Period............

Out here in California I always go with a thicker T shirt for winter.

210 BTU kerosene salamander in a tall ceiling 30'x50' shop.

I have heard of this winter thing

Actually where I am we get a some morings where it will be 15 degrees or so. Basically when we get a cold spell I don't go out to the shop until noon or so.

And at my house, from Thanksgiving through the remainder of winter, we officially recognize Bailey's as "non-dairy coffee creamer". Puts a bit o' warm in the ol' belly!

I put my tennis shoes away and got my boots out of the closet, guess I'm ready! Planned on being all moved to Texas by now, but bringing our two most precious granddaughters home to live with us in July changed those plans!!! Funny how a guy's priorities can be changed!!!

One question is,how for a shop that isn't heated all the time, keep the water based parts cleaner fluid from freezing and ruining the pump??.I did give a thought about using a magnetic block heater on the tank,but not sure of the risks.

Originally Posted by 1gary

One question is,how for a shop that isn't heated all the time, keep the water based parts cleaner fluid from freezing and ruining the pump??.I did give a thought about using a magnetic block heater on the tank,but not sure of the risks.

Adding some regular anti freeze might work. Try mixing a small ammount of parts cleaner with a little anti freeze and see if still cleans like it did before. And then I'd probably put some in a plastic bottle and put in freezer, to see if the cleaner stays liquid. It doesn't take very much to keep it from freezing. Of course I'm not in Rochester............ Or you might check with some mechanics in your local shops. The water based cleaners are becoming more popular, they might have an anti freeze additive designed to work with those cleaners.

Gary,
You might consider making a small enclosure, like an outhouse size around the parts cleaner and putting one of the small milkhouse heaters in it set to ~40F. I've got water piped into my barn for a small restroom walled off away from outside walls and that's what I use to keep it from freezing.

Ahhh, winter in central Florida is real tough. For those couple of weeks I can't work in the garage in shorts and t-shirt, have to put on the Levis and a sweatshirt. If it gets really cold, I have to close the garage door.

Mike

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Originally Posted by Mike52

Ahhh, winter in central Florida is real tough. For those couple of weeks I can't work in the garage in shorts and t-shirt, have to put on the Levis and a sweatshirt. If it gets really cold, I have to close the garage door.

Mike

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Stirrer...Its supposed to be summer down here,,but we only had a few days so far,and now its raining again..
Mike,at least your humidity would drop to around 60% wouldnt it??