Garage Shop with Extreme Temp Ranges


jowens

Recommended Posts

Howdy,

Apologies if this topic has already been started. I saw some threads on heating/cooling but didn't seem the same...

Jokingly in my "hello" post I mentioned not having great weather to work in the shop. Kidding aside, I'm faced with a wide range of conditions. I used to have a basement shop, but it's now in an uninsulated garage. Summers are in the upper 90's with high humidity, and winters easily hit -20F without windchill. I'm already dealing with rust and corrosion on tools, but what about the extreme cold on things like glue, finishes, paint, shorts, etc? I don't mind putting on a second t-shirt, but I can't run a heater 24/7. Sadly, I've lost more than one case of home brew to freezing, I'd hate to lose a stockpile of shop supplies too. I'm considering investing in sealing and insulating the garage, but not sure how much of a difference it'll make. Suggestions? Thanks!

Jason

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jason, it will make a HUGE difference. Go back and read some of the shop heating and shop build posts. I've given a lot of advice in those. As for your sundry supplies. A good way to go, if you don't want the expense of making your garage a conditioned space at this time, is to build an insulated box with a light bulb in it. A small insulated box shouldn't need more than 40 watt bulb to keep it warm. Stuff with flash points are a different matter. I'm not sure it would be safe to store those with a heat source like a light bulb. I'm sure others will chime in with even better solutions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Vic said it perfectly with the huge difference. I live in Mn. and have drastic temp ranges as well but the shop says decent thanks to insulation and furnace in the winter and the occasional AC in the summer-I think only 3 times this year. Granted it would make a difference if I broke one of the commandments and parked in the garage :P! As for the storage, the box with the bulb is a great age old remedy. As for the combustibles, before I built my new shop years ago I used t keep that stuff in a box and just bring it back in the house when I was done; porch, closet, basement-anything goes.

Nate

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jason -

I third what Vic and Nate say. I went from an uninsulated shop to an insulated one (simple pink fiberglass) and it made a world of difference. If you can manage to heat the shop, something with a thermostat so you can keep it just above what you need for the glue to work. It's important to not only keep the glue warm, but also the material. If you read the glue bottles, they usually say that the materials that you glue need to be at a certain temperature too. That's a mistake I don't want to repeat.

Jonathan

==========================================

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.