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Winter Workshops - what is your setup?

 
pollinator
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Location: Canadian Prairies - Zone 3b
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I'm interested in how all of you set up your winter workshops -- lighting, heating, etc. -- and stay active and productive during this season.

Our winters are ridiculously long (5-6 months) with a lot of darkness. Our long, long summer days turn into long, long dark nights. And the energy to do things, I find, drains away. It's too easy to hunker down and hibernate, surrendering to mindless screen time, accomplishing little, and settling into a dark funk.

Not this year, I decided. Life is too short to waste this time. I'm working on turning a corner of my garage into a hot shop, with bright lights in daylight frequencies, music, multiple heating options (I only need +5C so I can work with light gloves), an old laptop that reaches my router, and maybe a kettle/microwave for tea. I might be able to arrange a crude stove in a closely adjacent (but not attached! - insurance) and tend a fire just outside to warm the hot shop and boost my morale.

I also want to create a portable workshop that I can drag to any corner of the property where there is work to do, with some of the same critical elements, mostly shelter and heat and light.

What does your winter setup look like?
 
Posts: 39
Location: SW, VA
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I will spend all my time in my pottery building up inventory for a late spring firing.  Heat is from our Garn wood boiler so I'll be making the trip twice a day to load up for a batch firing.  I have a mix of daylight LED lighting, but I like the lighting hitting me from the sides.  I do have a TV that will play lots of documentaries and lots of music.
 
master steward
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I have a good sized metal building.  Maybe 40 x 80 ft…..I haven’t measured it.   I have come to the conclusion that all systems are wrong. Either the space I designate is too large to heat or too small to do the work I want to do.  This year I am trying yet another option.  I have designated a corner of the building ….about 12 x 16.   I have put in a wood ceiling with tarps for the remaining 2 walls.   The tarps are hung like curtains and can slide out of the way if I need more space.   I have led lights that seem to flood the area well.

Heat is an interesting problem.  Weather is generally around freezing, 32f, in the winter with some variation of course.  Temps commonly range from +60 f to -10.   I normally don’t work in the shop area for long periods. I need to heat the area quickly so I can get the job done and then be able to get out without worrying about the heater.  So, I am talking about a 1 to 2 hour period. Heat currently is provided by a portable lp space heater.  If this arrangement works out this winter, I may decide to install a small wood burner so I have heat for longer periods.  But, I am still working on a safe way to do that.
 
gardener
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I have problems looking far enough ahead to get my winter workshops ready for winter.
Instead of finishing the greenhouse or fixing up the basement shop, I am harvesting, planting, composting, etc.
Now that I really want a warm,dry, well lit place to work on propagating cuttings or carving  tool handles, I don't have one.

 
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Location: Fennville MI
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I built a 24’ diameter roundhouse with reciprocal roof. I covered it with billboard tarps for walls and ceiling, which hasn’t worked out all that well. I then put greenhouse plastic over the roof, which has provided better waterproofing.
I ran two long strands of LED lights for illumination and have a half baked rocket stove for heat. I am working on earthbag walls. It gets some significant solar heat gain as well.
 
I agree. Here's the link: http://stoves2.com
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