Advice sought: Precautions with no shop HVAC

cpw

Charles
Corporate Member
We're finally moved into the mobile home (for the most part) and the house is under contract. We're currently culling and moving the shop into a shed with no HVAC. I am not comfortable leaving a space heater running when I am not out there.

I insulated the walls, mostly for noise reduction, and to get it out of the way so I could sheath with OSB and paint them, but the floor and roof are not. The downside is that we don't get much solar gain.

So what problems should we anticipate? Do we need to be concerned about glue and water-based finishes freezing? Other finishes geling or separating?

We'll also have the excess heat problem in the summer, but we may be able to run some portable AC.
 

Henry W

Henry
Corporate Member
Concerned? Yes I would not choose to store larger quantities of finishes or glue in an unheated building (in NC). I do leave a smaller glue bottle out there, but if it ruins, I just replace it from a larger jug stored indoors. Most of these materials have a 'certain tolerance' for this, rated as the number of freeze/thaw cycles. Many latex paints are rated this way at least, although that info may not be readily available at the consumer level (I have never asked). Of course glue needs to be warm enough to use ( >55 F, depends on the glue), as well as having the wood also be warm enough; so actual use of glue (not just storage) during cold months warrants that close attention be paid to temperatures.
 
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Pop Golden

New User
Pop
"Glue and water-based finishes freezing? Other finishes geling or separating?" You bet! Lots of stuff we use does NOT like cold. I have a small gas heater in the shop to supplement the heat from my ducts that feed the upstairs house. These keep the shop warm & cool by just being there.

Pop :cool:
 

RickR

Rick
Senior User
If you don’t want to bring things into the house you can put them in a cooler with a low wattage lamp. I find 15w to be more than enough to maintain above freeze most nights. When the forecast is for warmer just unplug the lamp.
 
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Oka

Casey
Corporate Member
With regard to the heating, if you want to use a salamander or space heater, what my dad did in his shop was to place just outside in what looked like a fire wood box/mini shed attached to the building with a port into the room. He used steel studs for it and sheathed it with Hardiboard. Hardi is non flammable, I know for sure, one of my projects had it lab tested and I observed the test. It does not burn. Then he just had a small induction fan to blow the heat into the room.
 
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ScottM

Scott
Staff member
Corporate Member
As Fred said an old appliance (freezer, refrigerator, dishwasher) with an incandescent bulb will make great storage. It is amazing the heat a 40-60 watt bulb will generate in a closed environment. You could even build a wood box but it would need to be insulated. The only things I would say would be safe from freezing damage would be items like mineral spirits, MEK, DNA, and the thinner and solvents.
 
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Gofor

Mark
Corporate Member
Ditto on what Fred said. An old refrig or freezer works well at miitgating the temp extremes throughout the day (over 100 in summer daytime and below freezing in the winter), so it will keep items better than just on a shelf. A very small light bulb will keep it above freezing during long cold spells. Large glue containers will do best kept in the house. No problem with solvents being damaged, although in the summer be aware of the increased flammability of the fumes.
 
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golfdad

Co-director of Outreach
Dirk
Corporate Member
I use a milkhouse heater in my staining shed. It is hooked to a plug with a built in thermostat. Keeps it between 35-40
 

JimD

Jim
Senior User
My shop is in an extra garage with finished space above it. But I do not often heat those rooms. They stay comfortably above freezing because of heat from the part of the house I do heat. The shop doesn't freeze but I use a little electric heater in it when I am there and it is very cold. I keep finishes in a storage room off my car garage that stays warmer. But I could probably keep them in the shop garage here in SC.

If your shop is fully detached then you may need to do something, particularly in NC which gets colder than SC where I am. The suggestions above seem good to me.
 

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