Garage heater opinions

[bob944]

I'm new to this great forum, and I've been reading many previous garage heater threads. I wanted to get your opinions on various options for heating my 2 car, insulated, drywalled garage this winter. It's about 22'x22' with 10' ceilings, and it holds heat pretty well. Although winter in the Washington D.C. area rarely goes below 20-30deg, I hate the cold and like to work in a 60+deg shop. I've used a borrowed 150K-BTU forced air kerosene torpedo heater in the past, and although it heats very fast the smell gets really bad and it needs a lot of clear space. I usually just leave the door cracked for ventilation, but the odor is still tough to take.

I don't want to do anything "too" permanent or expensive because I may be in another house with a larger garage in a year or two. I will definitely consider in-floor-radiant, infrared tube, or a Hot-Dawg style ceiling mount blower at that time, but they are all too pricey for a temporary setup. I'm trying to keep current NG prices in mind, and don't want a gas bill (or electric) that is going to make the wife flip. I'm considering the wall mount infrared NG unit, or a simple portable propane convection heater, or possibly even a cheap tank topper infrared unit. I also have two ceiling fans going in that should help me to circulate heat. None of these are an ideal solution, but they should help me get thru the winter relatively cheap and warm.

Convection Style
Infrared Wall Mount
Tank Topper

Will the wall mount and/or tank topper models provide enough heat throughout the garage, or will I have heat concentrated in one location? Is the convection style a good idea if I locate it centrally and use the ceiling fans to distribute heat? I'm open to any other suggestions or experiences that anyone might have.

Thanks in advance!
Andy

 

[MolokaiBill]

My opinion: Unvented = Asking for trouble

In my last garage I installed a used hanging forced air unit. It cost $75 and took a weekend to install. The only downside is having to cut a hole in the roof for a stack.

It heated up the garage very quickly and cycled only occasionally (But then again, I'm in California) I'm sure it was much more efficient than anything running on electricity.

But whatever you do, if you're using combustion use a vent.

 

[kartracer55]

I havea 2 car garage and i use a small portable propane unit. Let it run for about 15 minutes and it starts to warm the place up. I didnt intend to use it in the garage when it was bought, but it does the job. Go with propane heaters... there are so many options available.

 

[Elroy]

I use an forced air LP heater too. Works great and does not smell at all unlike a kerosene. Variable output too, 50,000 to 85,000 BTU / Hr. A 20 pound LP tank lasts all day! The only bad thing is the noise.

 

[krooser]

Buy one of these and take it with you to you next shop...One hole in the wall for intake/exhaust. www.superiorradiant.com this is the RE series heater..30K to 45k btus.

 

[mtcone]

I'm new to this great forum, and I've been reading many previous garage heater threads. I wanted to get your opinions on various options for heating my 2 car, insulated, drywalled garage this winter. It's about 22'x22' with 10' ceilings, and it holds heat pretty well. Although winter in the Washington D.C. area rarely goes below 20-30deg, I hate the cold and like to work in a 60+deg shop. I've used a borrowed 150K-BTU forced air kerosene torpedo heater in the past, and although it heats very fast the smell gets really bad and it needs a lot of clear space. I usually just leave the door cracked for ventilation, but the odor is still tough to take.

I don't want to do anything "too" permanent or expensive because I may be in another house with a larger garage in a year or two. I will definitely consider in-floor-radiant, infrared tube, or a Hot-Dawg style ceiling mount blower at that time, but they are all too pricey for a temporary setup. I'm trying to keep current NG prices in mind, and don't want a gas bill (or electric) that is going to make the wife flip. I'm considering the wall mount infrared NG unit, or a simple portable propane convection heater, or possibly even a cheap tank topper infrared unit. I also have two ceiling fans going in that should help me to circulate heat. None of these are an ideal solution, but they should help me get thru the winter relatively cheap and warm.

Convection Style
Infrared Wall Mount
Tank Topper

Will the wall mount and/or tank topper models provide enough heat throughout the garage, or will I have heat concentrated in one location? Is the convection style a good idea if I locate it centrally and use the ceiling fans to distribute heat? I'm open to any other suggestions or experiences that anyone might have.

Thanks in advance!
Andy

It sounds like you may want to use a Garage Heater Calculator, all you have to do is put in a few details about your garage and it will tell you what the perfect heater would be. It takes a lot of the guess work out of it.



I hope this helps.

 

[timgr]

How expensive is electricity in your area? The simplest solution would be a hanging electric unit heater. Cheap, no vent needed, and you can take it with you. That's what I used in my garage. Here's an example http://www.heater-home.com/product/G73.aspx - I have two of these, but I could have gotten by with one in my 21x17 garage.

 

[HoosierBuddy]

The gas heaters you are leaning towards are all unvented. That is a problem if you want to leave some heat on all the time or if you plan on doing any painting or using any solvents in your garage. I've also seen a lot of problems with pet hair and just dust in general with unvented appliances. They tend to collect in the pilot assembly and will futz up the oxygen depletion sensor. Not too hard to fix, if you know where to blow with a soda straw, but still...I just couldn't recommend an unvented gas appliance for a garage unless you are just going to use it occaisionally when you work out there.

These heaters are also an ignition source...so don't be working on your car's fuel system with one of them running.

Honestly I can't think of any temporary heating solution that I could recommend for your situation. IIWY I'd do it right with a hanging gas unit heater (vented) or a furnace and some minimal duct work and have something that you can be proud of. Even if you sell, it may bring some payback at that point (50 cents on the dollar?) or help you sell your house faster.

Another choice might be one of those 2-part heat pump units that Mitsubishi (and others) sell. That would give you AC too. We put one in to cool our computer room at work and it's been very reliable. They also heat (although we never use ours that way)

Phil