Heat In The Hangar

[Fly Boomer]

What do you cold-country people who don’t have heated hangars do when you want to spend some quality time with your airplane in the hangar?  I only have 15 or 20 amps of electricity available, so the only thing I can think of is a propane heater (or two), or possibly one of the jet types.  I don’t want to gas myself, so hoping for a suggestion that’s not too stinky.

[N201MKTurbo]

Don’t use the jet type with jet A. That really stinks.

[Ragsf15e]

If you can insulate your hangar pretty well (including the door), that goes a long way towards holding in heat from you or from a small heater.  Mine is well insulated but only gets down to about 30 on nights that are about 15-20 in the winter.  I wear several layers and keep the doors closed.  It’s not terrible to work in there unless you’re not moving around much.

[Fly Boomer]

1 minute ago, N201MKTurbo said:

Don’t use the jet type with jet A. That really stinks.

I used to have an old kerosene burner when I was a teen working on cars. It was about six feet tall, and held about 20 gallons of kerosene.  Hard to get going, but once it started generating heat, you couldn’t get near it.  Big stink.

[Fly Boomer]

9 minutes ago, Ragsf15e said:

If you can insulate your hangar pretty well (including the door), that goes a long way towards holding in heat from you or from a small heater.  Mine is well insulated but only gets down to about 30 on nights that are about 15-20 in the winter.  I wear several layers and keep the doors closed.  It’s not terrible to work in there unless you’re not moving around much.

I think the city would have a fit if I glued a bunch of extruded polystyrene to the walls and door.  It’s probably in my rental contract.

[N201MKTurbo]

1 minute ago, Fly Boomer said:

I think the city would have a fit if I glued a bunch of extruded polystyrene to the walls and door.  It’s probably in my rental contract.

The people around here get away with it. There are metal hangars with insulation and Sheetrock.

[Fly Boomer]

1 minute ago, N201MKTurbo said:

The people around here get away with it. There are metal hangars with insulation and Sheetrock.

I’m surprised.  Around here, it’s the norm to have monthly inspections for oxygen or nitrogen tanks.  Also, unauthorized extension cords are not allowed.  Big brother.

[Ragsf15e]

9 minutes ago, Fly Boomer said:

I think the city would have a fit if I glued a bunch of extruded polystyrene to the walls and door.  It’s probably in my rental contract.

Sometimes it’s better to ask forgiveness… how often do they inspect?

Nevermind.  You in Kalifornia or something?

[Fly Boomer]

Just now, Ragsf15e said:

Sometimes it’s better to ask forgiveness… how often do they inspect?

Nevermind.  You in Kalifornia or something?

Monthly.  I could get busy, and work fast, but I doubt if a fait accompli is possible.  I would have to reverse the modifications and look for a new hangar.  Around here, that’s not likely.

[GeeBee]

Propane catalytic heater. Very efficient, no stink, safe for enclosed spaces.

 

[Utah20Gflyer]

A Mr Heater buddy works pretty good without a high risk of asphyxiation.  I use one in a small ice fishing tent on occasion and while on occasion some fresh air is warranted I've never ran into any issues.  They make several different variations, you can use with the 1lb propane bottles or get an adapter hose to go to a grill tank.  You might need more than one.  When working in the cold I find a two prong approach of dressing warm and using a heater generally gets me to a pretty comfortable state.  

[Shadrach]

20 minutes ago, Fly Boomer said:

I think the city would have a fit if I glued a bunch of extruded polystyrene to the walls and door.  It’s probably in my rental contract.

Check the lease.  The best hangars on my field are all tenant updated. The county is fine with it. Many of the concrete floor hangars were poured by tenants. Without insulation, your best option is to use a small space heater in your immediate proximity. With insulation, I would consider a portable pellet stove.

[Pinecone]

If a number of people change their own oil, look at a waste oil heater.  My FBO shop has one.  No cost to dispose of used oil, and heats the hangar.

Whatever you run in your hangar to heat, other than electric, mount a CO alarm to make sure.

[takair]

9 hours ago, Utah20Gflyer said:

A Mr Heater buddy works pretty good without a high risk of asphyxiation.  I use one in a small ice fishing tent on occasion and while on occasion some fresh air is warranted I've never ran into any issues.  They make several different variations, you can use with the 1lb propane bottles or get an adapter hose to go to a grill tank.  You might need more than one.  When working in the cold I find a two prong approach of dressing warm and using a heater generally gets me to a pretty comfortable state.  

I use this in my uninsulated and leaky hangar. On low it gets it warm enough to be tolerable on a 20deg day. 

[M20F]

I have a 100lb tank and a 250K BTU heater, worked well when I was up north.  I enjoy ATL weather much more now though.  

[Hank]

In WV, I  didn't do much in-hangar work Nov-Feb, except oil changes when needed. June through August weren't always fun, either.

Now in AL, I have all the hangar heat I need for 9-10 months, and a big fan helps a lot. The rest of the year, just bundle up.

[Fly Boomer]

2 hours ago, Pinecone said:

Whatever you run in your hangar to heat, other than electric, mount a CO alarm to make sure

Good plan!  I have a sensorcon for the plane — I’ll just hang it near where I’m working.  Thanks!

[Fly Boomer]

1 hour ago, M20F said:

I have a 100lb tank and a 250K BTU heater, worked well when I was up north.  I enjoy ATL weather much more now though.  

Yikes!  That should do the job nicely.

[A64Pilot]

14 hours ago, N201MKTurbo said:

Don’t use the jet type with jet A. That really stinks.

That’s all I’ve used in my heaters for a decade or more, because the fuel was free.  The water clear pure I think it’s called #1 kerosene isn’t much better, the #2 yellowish kerosene is terrible. it’s the first couple of minutes that have odor, after that it’s not so bad, so if I know I’m going to be in there for quite awhile I’ll fire it up outside of the hangar let it run for a few minutes and then roll it in.

But I don’t and never have lived in actual cold country, I don’t know how you guys that do deal with it.

For reference of how much heat we are talking about my larger heater is 215,000 BTU. Average house heat pump is about 3 to 4 tons, 12,000 BTU in a ton

The big heater is 17.9 tons, which is the heat output of about 5 houses which it takes to heat a big hangar down South, for personal heat a radiant heater that attaches to a 20 lb grill tank works really well and makes no noise and little if any stink. Like these guys, but shop around, you can beat these prices.

For me the biggest detractor of the jet looking ones is the noise, they aren’t quiet. But boy do they put out the heat, close to a quarter million BTU’s is a bunch of heat.

https://www.homedepot.com/b/Heating-Venting-Cooling-Heaters-Space-Heaters-Gas-Heaters-Propane-Heaters/Tank-Top/N-5yc1vZc6znZ1z0una3

It takes a BIG propane tank to run a big heater, you can’t do it on a smaller one, as the gas boils off the small tank grows cold, the colder it gets the lower the gas pressure, soon you don’t have enough pressure to run a big heater

[Fly Boomer]

3 hours ago, A64Pilot said:

for personal heat a radiant heater that attaches to a 20 lb grill tank works really well and makes no noise and little if any stink.

I think this is my current thinking.  I like the idea of directing the heat toward the airplane, or whatever I'm working on, and I like the idea of something fairly quiet.  With the crazy restrictions we have around here, guys that have these, transport the heater and the tank back and forth to the hangar because they are not "allowed".  Maybe a couple of these and a couple of tanks.

[N201MKTurbo]

6 hours ago, A64Pilot said:

That’s all I’ve used in my heaters for a decade or more, because the fuel was free.  The water clear pure I think it’s called #1 kerosene isn’t much better, the #2 yellowish kerosene is terrible. it’s the first couple of minutes that have odor, after that it’s not so bad, so if I know I’m going to be in there for quite awhile I’ll fire it up outside of the hangar let it run for a few minutes and then roll it in.

But I don’t and never have lived in actual cold country, I don’t know how you guys that do deal with it.

For reference of how much heat we are talking about my larger heater is 215,000 BTU. Average house heat pump is about 3 to 4 tons, 12,000 BTU in a ton

The big heater is 17.9 tons, which is the heat output of about 5 houses which it takes to heat a big hangar down South, for personal heat a radiant heater that attaches to a 20 lb grill tank works really well and makes no noise and little if any stink. Like these guys, but shop around, you can beat these prices.

For me the biggest detractor of the jet looking ones is the noise, they aren’t quiet. But boy do they put out the heat, close to a quarter million BTU’s is a bunch of heat.

https://www.homedepot.com/b/Heating-Venting-Cooling-Heaters-Space-Heaters-Gas-Heaters-Propane-Heaters/Tank-Top/N-5yc1vZc6znZ1z0una3

It takes a BIG propane tank to run a big heater, you can’t do it on a smaller one, as the gas boils off the small tank grows cold, the colder it gets the lower the gas pressure, soon you don’t have enough pressure to run a big heater

Maybe you just got used to it and didn’t smell it any more.

I had one once and used it a few times. I got it in an auction with a bunch of other stuff. After it ran out of the kerosene that it had when I bought it, I called the jet A truck from the FBO to come over and top it off. They were real excited about such a big sale. Anyway, I remember it had a lot more oder than the kerosene that was in it. 
 

unfortunately, it was stolen during the great New Year’s Eve hangar burglary at KCHD in ‘95. The burglars got almost every hangar, about 120 at the time, by removing screws from the sheetmetal and getting in. After that, they replaced all the corner screws with security screws.

[A64Pilot]

I’m old Army, I love the smell of Jet fuel in the morning  you may think that silly, but JP-4, which hasn’t been used for I’d guess 30 yrs had a sweet, to me pleasant smell.

|If you ain’t Cav, you ain’t shit. I had a hard time with it then, but I miss it now, and no I’m not old enough for Vietnam, but I was Cav for as much as possible for my career. I liked the mission.

I’m going to assume your may have had a dirty injector nozzle, if it’s clean it spray’s  a fine cone shaped spray, if not it sprays “streakers” just like a PT-6 nozzle and burns dirty and stinks, every few years you have to pull the nozzle and clean it, I use the same ultrasonic I use for my airplane nozzles. Nothing is maintenance free.

 

 

 

 

[rbridges]

20 hours ago, Fly Boomer said:

I’m surprised.  Around here, it’s the norm to have monthly inspections for oxygen or nitrogen tanks.  Also, unauthorized extension cords are not allowed.  Big brother.

They just added a clause to our hangar leases. No air conditioners or heaters. Apparently the guy at the end of my hangar row had two units and the airport noticed the electric bill for the hangars had shot up substantially. 

Edited October 16, 2022 by rbridges

[A64Pilot]

8 minutes ago, rbridges said:

They just added a clause to our hangar leases. No air conditioners or heaters. Apparently the guy at the end of my hangar row had two units and the airport noticed the electric bill for the hangars had shot up substantially. 

Guy beside me in Camilla Ga would never turn his lights off, I complained to no avail, why it bothered me was the lights at night brought in bugs, that attracted spiders, and spiders drop tiny black dots of spider crap all over the airplane that are like glue, very hard to wash off.

I even left a note on his hangar door explaining why I was asking him to turn the lights off, didn’t make any difference, people will abuse a privilege and ruin it for the rest. 

I never was there when he was, and I was there often.

[Fly Boomer]

4 minutes ago, A64Pilot said:

Guy beside me in Camilla Ga would never turn his lights off,

Not sure what the history behind this is, but my hangar has a single overhead LED cluster, and it shuts off automatically after a period.