Balmy breezes

With the weather – and my woodshop – turning colder, I came up with a hot idea. OK, overstated a bit in an effort at cleverness, but it really is a good idea.

My shop’s a converted two-car garage of approximately 440 sq. ft. The floor is lower than my house’s floor, giving me a ceiling height of about 10’. I have a gas heater rated for the size of the shop, but it’s still chilly in there on the coldest days.

I’ve noticed whenever I pull down the steps to get into the attic over the shop that it’s way, way warmer up by that high ceiling. Heck, I can even notice that it gets warmer just walking up the three steps from the shop floor into the house.

And there’s the problem with that high ceiling. Versus a shop with a normal 8’ ceiling, I’ve got an additional 880 cu. ft. of ceiling space being heated. Problem is, I don’t work up there. I work on the floor. So I came up with this $14 solution.

Yeah, it’s just a little desk fan. But placed high (the top of that cabinet is about 7’) and angled up toward the center of the shop, it’s just enough air movement to circulate all of that ceiling warmth down to where the action is. That would be me.

The fan’s so small that I can’t even hear it, and the amount of air movement hasn’t proven to be an issue when finishing (if it does, I’ll just shut it off). But at only 14 bucks, the huge difference it’s made in dispersing the heat in my shop has made it the best tool purchase I’ve made in years.

A.J.