I am thinking about heating/cooling my 300 sq. foot shop with a split unit heat pump . I have asked one HVAC tech what he though. His response was that it would probably work, may need to clean the inside air handler filter once a week. I am wondering if anyone has a unit in their shop and how it has worked out for them.
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Any experience with heat pumps in the shop?
- Thread starter John Chalikian
- Start date
I have one, it works great. Woodstove for backup/supplemental heat. You do need to clean the prefilter regularly, get the coils professionally cleaned periodically and control the dust level in the air as well as possible
I had a heat pump installed when I built my shop maybe 9-10 years ago. My shop is about 1400 sq ft so my HVAC guy sized a 1.5 ton system with outside and inside components. I built the walls with 2x6s for extra insulation; the heat pump keeps the building as warm or as cool as I want with ducts to the different rooms. The climate here in TN is a somewhat warmer in the winter that when I lived in PA, if that makes a difference. I keep it fairly warm in the summer and somewhat cool in the winter to save energy costs but it's always comfortable. Since I process green wood into blanks, dry, and store wood I really like that it keeps the humidity fairly constant.
I do have to keep the filters clean but have to for the big heat pump at the house too. I use a central dust collector in the shop so the filters don't get clogged with wood dust floating around.
JKJ
I also have a heat pump. I turn it off when doing something that makes a lot of sawdust to cut down on the frequency of cleaning the filter. Make sure you install a surge protector. I did my own installation and didn’t think about that. Cost me a bundle when we had a brown out!
I was tired of hauling/stacking pellets, so I installed my own a couple years ago. My shop is similar size and a local HVAC guy came out to give me a quote and said it would never work and tried to talk me into a radiant ceiling propane heater instead. He said it would be about $4k. 
I got one on Amazon for about $500 and also ordered a vacuum pump for about $100. It runs on 110v so install was a piece of cake. I installed an outdoor outlet next to it and plugged it in. I extended the porch of my shop with a few pavers and set the outdoor unit on them. It drains a lot in winter, so I had to put some bricks under the feet. I should've hung it on the wall, but didn't because i thought it would be noisy. It's not at all; whisper quiet. I do wish it could be set lower than 60° in winter, but it's really nice to not be messing with ashes and pellets or a cold shop. I also gained enough floor space that I added another lathe.
I got one on Amazon for about $500 and also ordered a vacuum pump for about $100. It runs on 110v so install was a piece of cake. I installed an outdoor outlet next to it and plugged it in. I extended the porch of my shop with a few pavers and set the outdoor unit on them. It drains a lot in winter, so I had to put some bricks under the feet. I should've hung it on the wall, but didn't because i thought it would be noisy. It's not at all; whisper quiet. I do wish it could be set lower than 60° in winter, but it's really nice to not be messing with ashes and pellets or a cold shop. I also gained enough floor space that I added another lathe.