If you're looking for a heating solution that will work for a shop, garage, or other large area then you might want to stop and consider a shop heater as an alternative to central heating or some other large heating unit. Most shop heaters will give you the exact amount of heat that you want right where you want it, without having to spend all of the money to heat your entire shop if you don't want to. If you think that you might want to buy a shop heater but aren't sure yet whether one would be right for you, consider the following benefits to help you make up your mind.
Portability
One major advantage that shop heaters have over larger heating units is that they are portable. Regardless of whether the heater uses electricity or propane, in most scenarios you'll be able to bring the heater to where you want it and then either plug it in or light it. This can save you the trouble of having a larger area that's getting cool and having to go over to the main heating unit thermostat to adjust the temperature, after which you'll have to wait for the heat to spread through your entire shop or garage.
Another reason that portability is a great benefit of shop heaters is that propane shop heaters can even be taken outside or on the jobsite. You can use your shop heater to provide extra heat under a canopy or to give people a place to warm up when doing outdoor activities. You shouldn't put a propane heater in a small enclosed area like a tent, but a heater can be used in place of a campfire when out with friends or family if it starts getting cold before you're ready to head to bed.
Heat Where You Want It
In addition to being portable, shop heaters can put heat right where you want it when you need to use them. If you need to heat one specific area or you only need heat blowing in one direction while you're working on something, your shop heater can more than meet your needs. A number of heaters feature fans or larger blowers which can be used to circulate the warm air and you can always choose radiator-style heaters that heat the entire area around them evenly without moving the air.
Along the same lines, you can use shop heaters to keep certain sections of your shop or garage warm while letting others stay cool. This can be very important if you are working with materials that can be damaged or activated by too much heat, or if you simply prefer to keep your work area cool to make up for any heat that you might add while welding or working with various tools.
No Need for Construction
When you want to install a large heating unit you're going to need duct work installed and the heating unit itself mounted or placed on a concrete slab. Even if you're just adding on to an existing home or office ventilation system there's still a lot of work that needs to be done. In some older buildings this can even be a costly procedure as some older insulation used in heating and cooling contains asbestos and as such must be removed and disposed of by professionals. Using a shop heater to meet your heating needs avoids all of this… you simply need to put your heater or heaters where you need them and you'll get the same heat without the need for construction.
Lower Running Costs
Another big advantage of shop heaters is that you'll generally use them only when and where you need them so they don't need to be running all the time in order to maintain heat. Even if you're just turning the heater on or lighting it, heat will be produced within a matter of minutes if not instantly. Larger heating units have a much higher amount of air that they have to heat so it can take significantly longer for them to produce the heat that you want.
Because of this you'll often find that shop heaters are cheaper to run than a heating system simply because they don't have to keep running in order to be effective. With a shop heater the only costs are the electricity that you use while you have the heater on or the propane or other fuel that is used to produce heat. By only using the heater when its needed you can significantly reduce your heating costs, especially given the rising cost of natural gas and other sources of fuel for central heating units.
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