A little while back, we mentioned we’d be trying out the Mr. Heater Hero, the little cordless/forced-air/propane heater meant for small shop (read: two-car garage) spaces. I read the directions front to back, checked all the gear, and acquired some propane. After reading about tons of bad experiences involving propane-related deaths, I hooked the Hero up to the gas, popped the garage door some, and let it rip. To my surprise, this was a hell of a lot better than I was led to believe.
One hears stories of headaches and silent death, worry over spontaneous combustion of particles, and faulty equipment. But with the Hero what you get is a warm shop that’s quiet enough to hear your music and so easy to work around you forget the damn thing is there.
It’s been employed at the wood shop for about a month and change now, and of the 20 or so times we’ve cranked it up the shop is an average of 20 degrees F warmer with it on than not– so 50 turns to 70,nwhich is perfect, and 30 turns to 50 which is a ton more workable than sub-freezing temperatures.
That’s not to say the Hero is the ultimate solution, either. The draft at the door leaves about the front third of the shop pretty chilly with a good breeze, and the far corners are still about 10 degrees cooler than the middle of the space. But still, it takes the edge off, and what used to be ball-freezing hell is upgraded to mildly uncomfortable at worst and downright toasty in the working space.
For the $180 buy-in, plus gas cost, it’s an extremely versatile and portable way to force the cold retreat while you get some work done.
Mr. Heater Hero [Website]
Hero Heater [Toolmonger]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]