Thursday, October 17, 2024

How to Organize a Small Shack


A YouTube comment from Paul VK3HN sent me back to "The Spirited Man" YouTube channel, and one of the first things I found was this video about how to organize a small space.  This is very relevant to my shacks in Virginia and in the Dominican Republic. 

Lots of good ideas here, but that propane heater kind of scared me.  And it seemed inconsistent with concerns behind the fire-preventing garbage can.  What do you folks think? 

Thanks Paul. 

 

6 comments:

  1. I am more concerned about ventilation for the gas heater than fire. I would install a mini pellet stove with a direct vent to the outside.

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  2. If he hadn't mentioned cracking the window open when he uses the heater there would definitely be cause for concern.
    72/3
    de - G4WIF

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  3. Yea, but he will forget to crack the window...

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  4. Yep opening a window while it’s cold outside is counterintuitive

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  5. This is a very-cool video. I'm fascinated by anyone's workspace, and it doesn't matter what kind of work they do. Someone's sewing room is just as interesting to me as a machinist's shop, a thoughtfully-organized kitchen, or an electronics lab. Maybe it's partly how they all reflect not only the work done in them, but also manifest the mentality of their owners. All of them have this in common: things are placed, organized, arranged, jigged, and facilitated to minimize *gumption traps* that can bring work to a screeching halt. Having to hunt up a tool, or dig through a hell-box of parts, or reproduce some test result I failed to record (because I misplaced my notebook), is sometimes enough to drive me in disgust from the shack. I'm constantly trying to organize and minimize frustration. So far, the blissful state of *mise en place* eludes me.

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  6. Good video. I attempt to "reset" between projects, but often there's never a true "between" with multiple projects overlapping, and many never finishing. I live with the mess, try to work with it, and hate it sometimes.

    About the heater. He's in Southern California, in a tiny shed. It's not airtight, and it probably needs to run only briefly to take the chill out of the morning air. Cracking the window and turning on the heater probably happens all at once in the morning, then it all gets shut down an hour or two later. Another nice option for drafty/cold/uninsulated spaces is radiant "dish" heaters, which focus infrared radiation. They are available in both electric and propane variants, and I've used both. They can be really great.

    Electric heaters can be a challenge in an outbuilding fed by a single 15A or 20A circuit. That little propane heater puts out 9000 BTU/hr, which would require 24A of 110V power.

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