Halogen Lamp to Heat Garage? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

gmercoleza · #1 01-06-2010, 05:58 PM

Here in DFW they are predicting single digits Friday overnight. I have expensive carpet cleaning chemicals, detailing compounds, auto paints, etc. sitting on a shelf and don't want them to freeze (some of the bottles expressly say "do not allow to freeze"). Will a 250 watt halogen light placed on the floor a few feet away from them keep them from freezing overnight? I'm not looking for balmy temps in the garage, just enough to keep from freezing. I will of course run both cars before parking them in there for the night; the residual heat will likely help.

We have 4 of those oil-filled heaters in the house, but 2 of them will be strategically placed near corners of the wall that have outside spigots (to prevent freezing), and the other 2 will be in use in bedrooms.

PaulC · #2 01-06-2010, 07:31 PM

Why not just box those items and bring them into the house until the cold snap is over?

MTI · #3 01-06-2010, 07:47 PM

cheap styrofoam coolers, maybe with a hot water bottle sitting inside, should keep out the cold. The hot water bottle could literally be a plastic water bottle with hot water in it.

Nate · #4 01-06-2010, 07:58 PM

Why cant you bring said chemicals inside? Or, build a pinkboard box around the shelf and set the lights in that... Without making it a melting fire hazzard...

The lights may work, but, why risk it?
Shut OFF the water to the spigots, drain them, and shut them.

~Nate

Billybob · #5 01-06-2010, 08:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gmercoleza

We have 4 of those oil-filled heaters in the house, but 2 of them will be strategically placed near corners of the wall that have outside spigots (to prevent freezing), and the other 2 will be in use in bedrooms.

If you adjust the spigots to drip or dribble a tiny amount it will allow the continous flow of above freezing water to keep the spigot and attached pipe from freezing!

Nate · #6 01-06-2010, 08:31 PM

It's tricky to get the flow to the minimum amount of water wasted without allowing it to freeze over.
Shutting off the water, draining the pipe, and then shutting the valve is what we do up here, I dont know how the home is plumbed but there should be valves in the system to do that.

~Nate

gmercoleza · #7 01-07-2010, 12:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nate

It's tricky to get the flow to the minimum amount of water wasted without allowing it to freeze over.
Shutting off the water, draining the pipe, and then shutting the valve is what we do up here, I dont know how the home is plumbed but there should be valves in the system to do that.

~Nate

I'm originally from Chicago, so I understand what you're saying - BUT - the spigots don't work that way down here. To shut them off I have to turn off the whole house.

gmercoleza · #8 01-07-2010, 12:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PaulC

Why not just box those items and bring them into the house until the cold snap is over?

There are LOTS of them!

gmercoleza · #9 01-07-2010, 01:01 AM

I've seen things like these in use at mechanics' shops: Halogen Heater

Fundamentally it seems pretty similar to my halogen work lamp, which is sort of like two of these:

I would just turn on one of the bulbs; I think they are just 300 watts individually.

Nate · #10 01-07-2010, 04:06 AM

If all the stuff is contained to one shelving unit, a sheet or two of 1" pinkboard, and a small space heater (500watt) would do the trick...
The stuff cuts easy, and can be "screwed" together if your gentle. It's cheap too, I think $10 a for a 1" 4x8 sheet (unless prices have gone up in a year or two's time), and a sub $20 space heater would provide enough power to take care of the freezing problem for the night...

~Nate

gmercoleza · #11 01-07-2010, 08:07 AM

I forgot about that pinkboard, that's a good idea. The only problem is that the shelves are screwed to the *uninsulated* walls, so I'm not sure how I can use it to contain heat.

I think I will indeed try the halogen lamps and see how it goes. If it doesn't work out I can just swap in one of the oil-filled heaters. I've experienced broken pipes in Chicago and just have no idea how well-insulated these DFW houses are.

Some of the chemicals are about $50 a gallon, and I have LOTS of them. I just want to protect my investment.

Nate · #12 01-08-2010, 03:59 PM

Well, either dont worry about the uninsulated side, or put a piece over the warm spot in the wall. Dimentions of the shelf? 1500 BTUs per hour is alot of heat, I think it would do ok without being compleatly insulated, provided it's not a 8'x6'x2' shelving unit... What is the wall made of? I think the BTU output of a cheap heater in that small of a space. Shouldnt be too hard, I'd get working on it ASAP with the way the weather's working.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=12338793
1500 BTU's per hour for $16 bux...
~Nate

gmercoleza · #13 01-09-2010, 08:51 AM

Well, the day before yesterday I put a heater in the garage, and it was like peeing in the ocean. A couple hours after turning it on, the temp had dropped from 45 to 38. So I moved everything into the house. It took a while, but now it's all safe. I'll have to explain to friends what's hidden under the big blanketed mound...

I have been leaving 2 upstairs faucets trickling overnight to avoid a broken main. My main is made of PVC and is only about a foot down in the ground. It broke once on a Sunday, on the city side of the meter. I had to have the on-call engineer paged to turn my water off. The bill was a few hundred bucks, and the city only gives you one freebie where they meet you halfway on the bill. I think we paid $350 or something like that on a $700 bill. I want to avoid that at all costs.