Shop In Floor Heating Shutoff Question

[2Legit2Quit]

So I have a decent sized shop 32'x56' that has in floor heating, old ass boiler that's inefficient running water through the lines not glycol.

I do not use the shop for anything other than storage, I didn't want the shop but obviously it came with the property and is what it is, but for the sake of I will never use the shop I also don't want to pay for heating it, with it getting cold cold the past week the boiler pretty much runs non stop and I'm just lighting money on fire.

Talking to a plumber he said I have 3 options:

1 - Keep it heated and eat the gas costs

2 - Cut the water to the shop, cut the lines for the in floor heating and pump glycol into the lines and never use the heating again while not worrying about the glycol freezing. Looking at $800+ he guessed for glycol depending on the spacing of the lines in the slab, he wasn't sure how much it would cost until he actually did the task, so I would guess realistically $1k+

3 - Cut the water to the shop, cut the lines for the in floor heating and leave it be, let the water expand naturally and more or less hope that they don't burst in slab. Cheapest option but roll of the dice if any bursting or heaving occurs?

Anyone on here have any experience or input as to what to do in such a situation?

[killramos]

The glycol itself is the cost? Crazy.

Any chance you can blow it out with air or nitrogen instead if you have no intention of ever using it?

Similar to an irrigation system? At the very least you would get enough out that it wouldn’t matter much for expansion?

[pheoxs]

The cost of gas is fairly cheap tbh and unless the shop has 0 insulation it shouldn’t take much to keep it from freezing. I’d just drop the thermostat to 7 degrees or so and let it run there. Really can’t see it taking much heat to keep the shop at that temp unless the shop wasn’t really build well in the first place.

Of the latter two options though I’d do #2 as you don’t want it cracking your pad and who knows maybe down the road you or someone does want a heated shop and wants to upgrade the boilers.

Or there’s always option 4: That’s a huge shop, find someone to rent one or two parking spaces from you and that’ll cover the cost of gas all winter.

[2Legit2Quit]

This is the first cold snap so we'll have to see what our gas bill is like, might wait to see how things look but even then we're basically just paying for heated storage.

I have the temp set to 10 degrees as that's as low as the thermostat will go, could install a digital one I suppose but not too much difference in temp I would figure.

As far as blowing it out the plumber said no harm in trying but wouldn't get all the water for the size of the tubing in the slab, would blow out the top layer of water and then the air would just blow over what remains, but yes better than nothing as far as giving it more room for expansion.

He gave me the ice tray analogy as far as leaving water in the lines, the plastic will expand so much but still some risk.

[ExtraSlow]

He's wrong, you can blow them out very effectively if you a) have a good way to connect the air and b) have the big air compressor trailers not some dinky home unit.
Trailer rental ~500/day?
Yeah cost of gycol is a huge part of these systems. Can be thousands in some cases.

[ThePenIsMightier]

Leave it running on minimum minimum and deal with this in the spring. The water can be kept at 10° for virtually $0

$800 glycol?!? Didn't know Versace made glycol. I thought these ran on Prestone & water. Something seems wrong there.

Edit - oops my post is late.

[schurchill39]

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He's wrong, you can blow them out very effectively if you a) have a good way to connect the air and b) have the big air compressor trailers not some dinky home unit.
Trailer rental ~500/day?
Yeah cost of gycol is a huge part of these systems. Can be thousands in some cases.

I wonder if you could pig the lines with a piece of balled up plastic bag or foam? Then just blow a few gallons of RV antifreeze through it so if it does drop in temperature any remaining moisture will be mixed with that and prevent freezing.

Personally I'd either switch it glycol or leave the system running. I can't see the cost of natural gas to heat it being a difference maker on your bill at all.

[killramos]

Much bigger lines than whatever is beneath the slab have definitely been blown out.

‘Berta

[ExtraSlow]

Putzmiester makes foam balls for this purpose, but the risk of course is that it gets stuck in a kinked line and your system is fucked forever.
I'd use air alone if it was me.
https://www.putzmeister.com/shop/Del...60/p/000212005

[ThePenIsMightier]

OmG do not put foreign objects in your hose hole!!!
Completely dry air (like from a scuba tank) will successfully purge as well as provide some drying. I believe nitrogen has an affinity for water as well.

[brucebanner]

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He's wrong, you can blow them out very effectively if you a) have a good way to connect the air and b) have the big air compressor trailers not some dinky home unit.
Trailer rental ~500/day?
Yeah cost of gycol is a huge part of these systems. Can be thousands in some cases.

I'd also say you should be able to successfully blow it out with air.

As others said, worth checking the actual cost of heating it is on a low setting.

[eblend]

get a fitting made to connect to the manifold. Disconnect the return lines, and just blow air into that mothafuka. Even if you don't get everything, if water has a place to go, it will go there and won't burst the lines. Don't need to get everything out absolutely.

[2Legit2Quit]

Spoke to a few more people and think I'll wait and see what my gas bills are like to decide.

Good input in here which is appreciated, would probably just look to shut off and blow out otherwise.

[legendboy]

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He's wrong, you can blow them out very effectively if you a) have a good way to connect the air and b) have the big air compressor trailers not some dinky home unit.
Trailer rental ~500/day?
Yeah cost of gycol is a huge part of these systems. Can be thousands in some cases.

I would do this his your situation. Contract out the purge, leave both ends open over winter, get the shop heating system up on the cheap next summer.

[90_Shelby]

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This is the first cold snap so we'll have to see what our gas bill is like, might wait to see how things look but even then we're basically just paying for heated storage.

I have the temp set to 10 degrees as that's as low as the thermostat will go, could install a digital one I suppose but not too much difference in temp I would figure.

As far as blowing it out the plumber said no harm in trying but wouldn't get all the water for the size of the tubing in the slab, would blow out the top layer of water and then the air would just blow over what remains, but yes better than nothing as far as giving it more room for expansion.

He gave me the ice tray analogy as far as leaving water in the lines, the plastic will expand so much but still some risk.

If it’s an old mechanical thermostat with a mercury switch, you can also lower the temp below 10 degrees by removing one of the screws that mounts the thermostat and physically tilt the thermostat so that it triggers at a lower temp.

I should have posted this in the “I’m cheap thread”, as I do this with the thermostat where I have heated storage so I can keep the garage just above freezing around 5C.

[darthVWader]

Could you fit a car or 2 in there? Rent it out as heated storage

[mr2mike]

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Could you fit a car or 2 in there? Rent it out as heated storage

You beat me to it. I was going to say, monetize it and offset your heating or profit even.
Not sure where it is or anything but I bet people would want to store a car or two. Just make it know if you're allowing working on them or not, etc.
People need space. I might even be able to pass a name off to you.

[eblend]

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You beat me to it. I was going to say, monetize it and offset your heating or profit even.
Not sure where it is or anything but I bet people would want to store a car or two. Just make it know if you're allowing working on them or not, etc.
People need space. I might even be able to pass a name off to you.

As I may be in a similar situation in the future, I always wonder how this works. What if the shop catches fire and takes out the vehicles inside. Do you have to let your insurance company know...or a clause on contract saying basically no coverage?

[mr2mike]

I guess easier for me as part of my house is rented too and insurance knows this.
In the garage contract it's written that contents are not covered under my insurance, only the structure. Their responsibility to keep insurance. I recommend fire and theft at minimum.
Also state that they're not allowed to keep flammable containers in garage.

[brucebanner]

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I guess easier for me as part of my house is rented too and insurance knows this.
In the garage contract it's written that contents are not covered under my insurance, only the structure. Their responsibility to keep insurance. I recommend fire and theft at minimum.
Also state that they're not allowed to keep flammable containers in garage.

This holds true for rental storage units as well, or at least used to.

Years ago I had a rental unit where the roof ended up with a leak and ruined a bunch of my stuff. I had no rental insurance and the rental company wasn't liable for any of my possessions. Was a shitty time for a life lesson.