Hangar Heating Recommendations

[mooniac58]

Hello fellow Mooniacs!

I recently bought a hanger in Santa Fe.  It has electrical service but no gas.  I would like to keep the hangar at about 40-50 degrees, just so the engine can be safely started in the winter.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a good heater?  It is technically one T-hanger with an adjoining half T-hangar...I am guessing the square footage is around 1000-1200.

The only way I could do gas/propane is to set a tank in the hangar, I don't care for this idea because when the gas runs out I won't have any way to know and I really don't know how long it would run before needing refilling.  So therefore I am leaning towards an electric model.

Any feedback would be appreciated.  Thanks!

[231Pilot]

Heating the hangar electrically could get to be really expensive, especially if the hangar (and hangar door) lacks adequate insulation.  Why not used an electirc engine heater and lace a blanket over the cowl?  Much cheaper and very effective at maintaining reasonable warmth for starting engine.

[carusoam]

Craig,

Endlessly heating a T-Hanger with electricity sounds somewhat expensive, unless it is air tight and insulated. 

Have you considered adding an electric engine heater such as Reif?  I have seen some people use a temperature sensitive plug so it only comes on when it is cold.

Always nice to see you on MooneySpace.  Happy New Year, and thanks again for supporting our community.

Best regards,

-a-

[Jeff_S]

While I don't have a hangar, I do have a Tanis preheater installed and I would agree with the general assessment that installing and using something like this will be much more economical. It doesn't often get frigid here in Atlanta, so on cold mornings I fire up a 1000W generator and can warm up the engine to safe temps usually in about 1.5 to 2 hours. If you have electrical in your T-hangar, there was a whole thread awhile back in the Piper forums about a system that you could set up to respond to a cell-phone call to automatically open a circuit and provide electrical power. That way you could just start it up the night before a flight without going over to the airport. I don't remember the specifics but I'm sure you can Google it.

[carusoam]

Jeff,

I have some experience similar to what you describe.  The family used to use something called "X-10".  There were a whole bunch of computer programmable (but independent) devices that could be used to turn things on and off.  A phone call to the house and the heat could be turned up.  I can imagine something similar for turning on the Tanis.

http://www.x10.com/promotions/home_automation_n.html

Might require a phone line or similar device though....?

Best regards,

-a-

[jezzie]

Has anyone done solar panels? The price on 1.2 kw units are coming down now and may be a viable option for some hangers. May be a cost effective way to keep that hanger at 40-50 degrees, especially in the northern climates. I'm doing some research now that will include the use of electric HWT and fancoils for heat distrubution.

 

Eldon

Energy Efficient Homes Inc.

[OR75]

What about simply a light bulb inside the cowling ? Can help keep the engine  compartment a few degrees above ambiant

[sixsixX]

I have sold many units that turn off/on your heater. They use a pager # and require the cost of the unit $400 and a monthly fee of  $7-8 montly.    You simply call the # and enter a code # to turn on /off  the unit.  Simply plug the unit into the ac outlet and plug in the heater or device you want on/off ,  Heater ,, battery charger or any ac device.  And you can turn it on /off  anytime you want.  A couple of hour before flying turn it on !    Now these units only have enough amperage to run 10-15 amp devices. I have modified them for 20 amp service. I have a heater for the engine and a small heater for inside the cabin connected with no issues.  Warm engine warm cabin at the same time!     Now there is a few units around $200 that use cellular, and must be hardwired to a cord and again 10-15 amps max.  But with metal hangars cell coverage may not be good enough to work correctly or relaible. The pager units work fine and signal goes thru a hanger with better results.  The company is Nighthawk. http://nighthawkcontrol.com/wp-content/themes/Nighthawk/images/pdfs/nighthawk-NH100.pdf   

 

[mooniac58]

Thanks for all the feedback guys.  I thought about the engine heater too - my concern is that in the peak of winter it gets really cold here - we had several days last week where the low was -2F (-19C).  I would like to get in my hangar and have some degree of comfort - not toasty but also not something that freezes your lungs out

I do like the solar panel idea since we get 300+ sunny days here in Santa Fe I think they would work pretty well.

[randypugh]

I recomend radiant tube heater. A propane tank can be set outside the building and your suplier will put you on a re-fill schedule automaticly. Radiant heaters heat the object (you, airplane, ect..) not the air so makes it very easy to show up and turn up the heat and almost instantly be comfortable. I have aprox. 30 heated units at my airport and half have these and are liked the best. Easy to install and cheap to run. Now the whole airplane is kept at a decent temp prolonging the life of all the componets, not just the engine. (think gyros, pumps, fluids, ect..)