tell me how big your woodworking shops are! Heat and AC? why or why not heat / AC

My shop is a metal 3 car garage that is open in the front. I have made no effort to close it off. The two sides and back are closed off but there is some gap in the bottom to help with ventilation. I don't use any heat or ac to say the least. I use a variety of fans for spring through fall along with a 30" exhaust fan sucking everything away from myself and the lathe. That works well in place of a dust collector system. I actually see the dust while sanding getting sucked to the fan and out. I have a heavy duty wood platform built for the lathe and my main turning tools along with the various power outlets. The rest is a dirt and shavings floor. I even have a refrigerator out there to keep water bottles in. I have a band saw, table saw, and other various tools and benches surrounding the walls as well as my drying kiln. All works for me. Someday I do want to have a fully enclosed shop but that day has not arrived. If it was enclosed for summer time AC would be a necessity or you would melt along with your tools.
 
Our shop is an insulated 14x30x8' high room in one bay of a 45x50 barn built in 1915. I regret not taking the whole 50' length at the time we renovated and insulated it 15 years ago. We heat it with one 5000 watt unit heater. There are maybe 2-3 weeks in our climate when I wish for a bit of AC. The central bay of the barn, 14x50x16' high is also a big workspace 8 or 9 months of the year, but it's a constant battle to keep it clear of "stuff". I actually had to set up sawhorses outdoors recently to break down a sheet of plywood!!
 
Regarding the dust collector ----I piped the air back into the shop and into my sock filters. Noise was unacceptable----- so I made a muffler-10" diameter with 2" foam press fit around inside diameter ----muffler 20" long. Made of sheet metal. To my than surprise it works extraordinarily well--has for the last 20+ years. Works for me.
 
Well here's an update! The place is about 25 minute drive from where I live...in a small town. I put a 15k offer on it and she said price is 34,800 (listed price) and will not drop one nickel and I need to get real......So I did a not very nice thing. It has been empty and for sale for 10 years with a roof falling in and rain falling on the electrical boxes I turned the city inspector on her to have it condemned. If by chance she comes back to me and my offer.....I am no longer interested unless she want $5k for it. I just got an estimate for putting a hobby building in my back yard 24x28 wood building. I will do all the finishing on the inside myself and have a electrician friend do the electrical. I wil have all wiring pulled and he can do the final hook up. I will put a A/C thru the wall and have a 45000BTU NG hanging heater.
Without my work the 1st estimate was 21k. Might be a touch on the high side but its Amish built.
 
I suspect you'll be happier (if not just a wee bit more crowded) in the back yard approach anyway. Look forward to the build, I'm going though that right now...while it's enjoyable (doing the finishing work) I'm also getting a little antsy to get things to where I can start using my tools again. Congrats!
 
mike, in your back yard is a good thing and probably made the wife feel better, but there is one thing that might make a difference,, most real estate assessments dont look at the additional structures as adding a 100% value per cost to the property. not everyone wants a building in the back yard.. so you need to look at your wants and hers, then talk with realtor for peace of mind then make your decision.
 
Were not worried about that assessment part.... I tried for 15 years to get her to move a a bigger house but she did not want to leave the starter house. Now the kids are gone and were in the 50's it has become the retirement house!! We can let the kids worry about the hobby shop!. I have managed to get 2 estimates for a 24 x 28 shop. They are about 4-5k different without much difference in how they build! I have been waiting due to the city. They are talking about raising the size of building you can build from 720 sq. ft to 1000 sq. ft.
 
Mike---run, don't stop--get it for the best negotiated cost you can manage. At 50 you have more than 30+ years to enjoy one of the finest 0ld age activities available---I speak with some authority on this matter-at age 83. Hope you can bring your wife along on the journey--support from her is immensely important. By the way worry not about having too much room--never happens.
 
I feel late to the show, but here is my 2 cents worth (perhaps overpriced)

My shop is a 2 car garage, and gradually the cars have been evicted. I have some large equipment, so it is certainly only a one person shop (using some machines block access to others). I have an AC unit that I rarely use (8000 btu heat pump), and find a small electric heater ample to keep the shop warm enough. With lots of cast iron, it takes a long time to get the heat up from freezing, so I often leave the heater on low to keep temperature around 50 or so when the shop is empty (this is Texas, so that isn't a lot of heat)

When I was researching shops, I found that many commercial woodworking shops run about 1,000 sf per employee, and need to sell $100,000 per year per employee. With lots of automation (e.g. cnc) the space tends to be higher, but fewer employees.

If your shop is work, then a remote location isn't that bad - you commute to work 9 to 5 or whatever. If your shop is hobby/retirement (even for pay), then I like being able to wander in and out of the shop many times per day/evening, and a block sounds like a remote location.
 
My shop (hobby) is half of our attached 2-car garage. If I temporarily kick The Wife's car out, I have about 420 ft² of floor space to work with. Heat is provided by a hot water space heater that's connected to the boiler. We have no A/C in the house at all because...well...Alaska. I recently bought a big-honkin' digital wall clock to put in the shop that also displays temperature and humidity. The only trouble is the RH is so low it constantly reads "LL"...at least during this time of year. We'll see what summer brings. The shop has a long way to go before it comes close to my vision for it. I need more lighting, a proper workbench, a full-size drill press, and more.
 
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