one monkey typing

Well I'm nervous about this but I'm installing the mini split heat pump. The part that made me nervous was bending the pipe with ends already on it. I kinked it, so I got that out of the way, cut it and was able to then get a bending spring on it so I can make the short radius bend needed without kinking it. One of these days I should buy a non-shitty flare tool though. Except I only use the thing once every 4 or 5 years.
Tomorrow to cut and flare the other ends, hook it up, pump a vacuum and see if it works.

I've been working for a couple of weeks at modifying the garage to make one bay into a shop. So far the wall between the bays is up, insulation is up in the ceiling, most of the ceiling is covered, and the wiring is done.

I was planning on using natural gas heating but I was somewhat daunted by doing the install, and also I can't find anything in the small (tiny) range I need (3000 to 5000 BTU) that isn't a little vent-free non controlled piece of junk.

So this morning I ran some numbers, determined that as best I can tell, even heating to living temperatures an electric heater will cost about $40/month for the winter months, probably less than half that since I only need to keep the temp up a bit above freezing most of the time.

So I'm going to get an electric heater. They're cheap enough that if after the first year I decide that it's too expensive I can switch and not be out much.

I want to build my own thermostat system that will measure how long the heater is on so I can track energy use. It would be really cool to have it actually calculate dew point and such because the real reason for the heat is to keep moisture from condensing on the machine tools. There must be an algorithm for that.