What Temperature is your Garage in the Winter?

[MushCreek]

My shop runs about 10-15 F. higher than the outdoor temperature. Someday I'll get insulation and a mini-split! The only time I get condensation is a sudden warm-up after a cold snap. If I keep the doors shut, it's fine. But open them up on a warm, humid spring day and everything is soaking wet.

 

[jimindm]

I am in my 24x30 well insulated every day. I have it set at 70 during the day and back to 60 at night.

It just seems that being in it everyday and hearing the furnace cycle, it really makes no difference as to how long the furnace runs.

Used to turn it down to 50 at night, but in the morning the furnace ran for a long time, then cycled pretty often for a few hours. Now it runs a little first thing and cycles as needed.

There is many days just the heat of even the lights will keep it from running much. There are times when my hot water parts washer is on that it will get hot enough that you want to crack the overhead door some. Run a car very long and it can get into the high 70s quick.

I think it is just one of those things that if you are in there everyday, there is not a lot of savings by turning the temp up and down

 

[BORING HOP YARD]

I'm currently working in the shop everyday and try to keep it just above the point of needing a sweatshirt at 66 degrees.
Most heating days I'm in shorts and a tee shirt.

 

[D45]

My attached main 2 car garage never drops below 47

My shop is only heated when I am out there working, then I will heat it up to 60 or 65

 

[Bert_]

Usually doesn't dip to far below 30* unless we have many cold days in a row.. Really should get at least the attic insulated. I turn the heat on to 50-55* when I'm working in there, that's pretty comfortable.

No idea how some can stand 65-70* in the winter, I'd have to mostly undress. That's warmer than my house.

 

[kap]

Two car attached garage is unheated; I keep my 16' x 32' shed/barn where I store my convertible around 45 degrees and bump it up to around 60 - 65 if I'll be working out there. I have a Dayton 5kw heater, and the building is very well insulated. Not all that expensive to run it all winter here in MA. When I go out there to work, I supplement the heat with a tank mounted propane heater to help bring up the temp quick - 15 - 20 minutes and it's comfortable. At that point the electric heat keeps the temp comfortable. I run a dehumidifier in the summer, so between the heat in winter and dehumdifier in the summer, I've had no rust issues on the car or my tools/

 

[65ranchero]

Work shop 2nd garage has radiant tube in slab set at 58F all winter runs off the house boiler.
An old insulated hoodie worn seems to be the hot set up for me
1st garage for the DD's is not heated but fully insulated and in the coldest times it will be 15 to 29 degrees warmer than outside

 

[Bigbird]

Our garage is attached with conditioned home space on 1 side and above. it is insulated as well so never drops below the low forties, so I only heat it when I am working. Humidity in the winter is rarely an issue, and not bringing snow in on the vehicles helps. No rust issues yet.

 

[NUTTSGT]

My garage will drop to 50-55° when I'm at work, dependent on the outside temps. I fire up the wood burner everyday I'm not at work and it depends what I'm doing as to how warm I let it get. If I'm working on something, I'll let it stay cooler and other times when I'm just surfing the 'net on garage PC, I want it a bit warmer like 71-72°

The extra heat does soak into the concrete to help keep it warmer when I'm not home. I've stoked up the woodburner at times and it's been 90°. This is generally when it's **** *** cold outside or I'm going to be at work for a shift or two straight.

 

[James-W]

Usually doesn't dip to far below 30* unless we have many cold days in a row.. Really should get at least the attic insulated. I turn the heat on to 50-55* when I'm working in there, that's pretty comfortable.

No idea how some can stand 65-70* in the winter, I'd have to mostly undress. That's warmer than my house.

Not to sound like a jerk, but we keep the house at 72 degrees in the Winter. Why would we not want to have the garage at least close to that temperature when we are doing things out there? I mean, it isn't like we are doing strenuous work out there, we are just working on a project of some sort. The wife and/or daughters might be cutting out little figures with the scroll saw and then painting them. They may be staining a dresser or repainting some project they found at a garage sale. But they are not working up a sweat or doing much of anything to cause them to want to lower the temperature of the garage. They just like the garage to be a comfortable temperature for working on their projects without having to wear heavy Winter clothing.

I know that when I work in the garage I like the temperature to be roughly the same as what the house temperature is. That way I can work in a tee shirt if I want to and a lot of times I want to do just that, especially if I am using the table saw, the drill press, the milling machine or the lathe. Having to work on projects while wearing loose or heavy clothing is not something I enjoy doing and in at least some cases it isn't very safe either.

But what we do is not necessarily what other people like to do, so to each their own. If you like it cooler when working in your garage, then by all means, leave the temperature turned down. We just like it warmer when we work on projects and many times we need it warmer, not necessarily for our comfort, but so the paint or the stain will dry on whatever project we are working on.

 

[John in OH]

Minimum winter set point (and default) is 46F. When I'm going to be working I temporarily bump the set point up to 60-65F. In the summer I use a dehumidifier set to 55% to minimize moisture and condensation.

Worst time of the year in Ohio is spring ... garage cools at night, then next morning when you open the doors warm moist air fills the garage and water condenses on everything.

I guess basing the minimum set point at some differential above dew point would be ideal, but since the dew point temperature constantly changes you would have to have a thermostat that can automatically compensate for humidity. I don't know if such a device exists or not.

 

[niget2002]

65f when I'm out there working. 70f if I'm painting.

I don't have the heater on if I'm not out there. During the big Texas freeze I had it set to 40f so everything didn't freeze. I'm considering setting it to 40f the whole winter this year.

 

[Badgerstate]

Trying to determine the ideal temperature for a heated garage. In my mind there are two temperatures that need to be identified and set.
1. Storage, default temperature for the vehicles to avoid rust, condensation
2. Temperature when working on the vehicles.

For number 1, I've read +10 over dew point... Does that sound correct?
For number 2, Personal preference, I try and keep it at 65 so I can wear something comfortable in the garage.

What does everyone else do? Keep in mind, this garage is used for projects and neither of the cars leave in the snowy winter...

If I had a fully heated garage, I would keep it at 50 when youre not using it and then crank it up to 60 or 70 when you are using it.

 

[Jazz1]

I put a fire on daily even when not working in garage to prevent freezing. So 40F minimum,,60F+ if I’m working. The warmer garage is the more apt I am to ease into a chair.

 

[tjansson]

In the New England heating season the rust will mostly be from condensation, not ambient humidity. Condensation happens when objects are cooler than the dew point of the air, so as long as your cast iron and raw steel near room temperature, your won't get condensation and rust, unless you're at 100% humidity. So it doesn't matter if you pick 36 or 45 or 50 or 60, just avoid huge swings in temperature and humidity. The problems happen when you have an uninsulated garage, or the doors are open, and you have a humid rapid warming from, say, 25 degrees F to 40 with rain. In northern Vermont I haven't had any condensation or rust issues since getting a insulated garage. I don't heat it but the insulation and airsealing temper the temperatures and humidity in the shop so I never have condensing conditions. I don't get condensation from warming it up from below freezing to 50-60 deg F in a few hours with the wood stove - probably because the winter air thats getting drawn in by the stove is very low humidity to begin with.

 

[dcg9381]

My shop runs about 10-15 F. higher than the outdoor temperature. Someday I'll get insulation and a mini-split!

Highly geography dependent. In the great Texas freeze 4 tons of mini-split wouldn't hold the shop at 50 degrees. I didn't buy units that were designed for efficient operation in the cold.. Well, because it was Texas. Got that wrong. We had to supplement the shop with electrical heat. Local utility honored all of us by adding $10/month to everyone's bill for the next 3 years to pay off what they had to import in terms of power.

This year I added the ability to heat both the house and the shop via propane. I've got 30K BTU propane heaters on stand by and just added two propane drops inside the house.

For us, as long as the shop doesn't freeze we're fine... Assuming we're not in it at the time.

 

[rabidsquirrel]

I keep it around 50-55. Just enough to keep the condensation off stuff and that's plenty warm enough to work out there.

 

[old_smokey]

My thermostat bottoms out at 5C (40F). I have an old single-car garage, fully insulated (including a floating floor). It gets down to -40F for a couple weeks at the worst points of winter. Usually the temps are averaging around -25C / -13F for January and February though.

When I'm working inside I'll keep it around 15C / 60F. Given the small space and good insulation, my ceiling heater can keep inside temps at 22C / 72F without running constantly if I want. Adding a little 120V baseboard heater helps as well. I only do that if I'm painting something, otherwise it's just a waste.

My biggest heat losses are a steel man-door (going to line it with rigid foam this year), the overhead door (thickest insulated door available, but still, there are lots of seams in a door), and a 4' old window.

Still, it only costs me $25 a month in electricity, and that's with regular use throughout the week.

 

[John in OH]

My thermostat bottoms out at 5C (40F). I have an old single-car garage, fully insulated (including a floating floor). It gets down to -40F for a couple weeks at the worst points of winter. Usually the temps are averaging around -25C / -13F for January and February though.

When I'm working inside I'll keep it around 15C / 60F. Given the small space and good insulation, my ceiling heater can keep inside temps at 22C / 72F without running constantly if I want. Adding a little 120V baseboard heater helps as well. I only do that if I'm painting something, otherwise it's just a waste.

My biggest heat losses are a steel man-door (going to line it with rigid foam this year), the overhead door (thickest insulated door available, but still, there are lots of seams in a door), and a 4' old window.

Still, it only costs me $25 a month in electricity, and that's with regular use throughout the week.

What fuel is your ceiling heater?

 

[GRivera]

I have a MrCool 36k minisplit that I keep at 62 (lowest setting). My summertime temp is 78...

30x40x12 pole barn with R19 walls and R38 ceiling

 

[Evilunclegrimace]

I have a 26 x 36 detached that is very well insulated. I keep the furnace at 55 degrees all winter and bump it up to 60-65 degrees when I am working in the garage. I have a double layer of vapor barrier under the pad and I do not have any issues with the pad sweating ,or tools rusting.

 

[TurnipTruck]

I heat a 40x60x14 with a 80k btu ducted 95% furnace in Alaska. R60+ in the ceiling and R21 in the walls, and I have a setback thermostat set to 55 7am-7pm then 51 at night. Judging by the amount of water produced, the heater might run twice on a cold night (-20 F).

 

[Ak Jim]

67°. When I use to go to work for 12 days in a row I’d turn it down a few degrees but since I’m done working it stays at 67. In the summer I set it to 60 and the heat never runs. It’s radiant heat and water temp goes from 100 in the spring and fall and up to 120 in the coldest part of the winter.

 

[old_smokey]

What fuel is your ceiling heater?

It is electric, specifically a Stelpro Spider, 4000W fan heater.

SGH

The Spider is the high-performance device you need to keep your garage nice and warm. Once you've installed it, you'll never want to be without it.

www.stelpro.com

 

[PelicanPines]

6" walls... all very insulated with insulated doors too. Attached. I have an oil radiator that is only on when I'm sitting at my workbench. The room stays between 57° and 60° all winter.

 

[ITGuy1998]

65F during the winter.
77F during the summer.

 

[InsanePyro]

Whatever I set my torpedo heater to

 

[jetnow1]

usually forget to turn it down when I leave so mid 60's. If I remember low 60's. Mini split works well but is not fast to bring up temp so not a big change. If it is below mid teens I use a propane heater to help bring it up, then shut the propane heater off and let the mini split maintain. As I have gotten older I find I do not tolerate the cold as much as I used to. My days of changing a transmission in the snow are long over.

 

[jkeyser14]

I keep it set to 55 and bump it up if I am going to be out there working.

 

[kj_mustang]

Radiant floor heat stays set around 58-60F all winter. Work in just long sleeve shirt, very comfortable.

 

[Rod N]

My thermostat only goes down to 54F. I have it scheduled to go to about 65F for 1/2 hour just before I get home on the weekdays and 9am on the weekends just incase I end up going out there then I crank it.
When I'm out there it's usually warmer than inside the house!

 

[nealric]

I don't live in a cold climate (we only get a few cold snaps below freezing in most years), but I leave the heat off most of the winter unless a freeze is forecast (as I store a track car that just uses distilled + watter wetter). If there is a freeze, I will set the minisplit at 50* if I'm not in the garage or 65 if I am. Winter is low humidity here, so I'm not concerned with rust.

 

[Falcon67]

If I'm out there, it'll be in the 68~70 range. Just sitting, if it's "cold" 20s/30s at night (such as that is these days) it'll be in the 48~low 50 range without anything running

 

[andyvh1959]

In Green Bay WI when I built my 24x28 cycle shop, I put 2"rigid foam on top of 6ml vapor barrier, on top of 6" to 8" of packed recycled asphalt on the very sandy soil. Before the concrete was poured I laid out two zones of Pex tubing. On the slab are two runs of 8" block, with 2" rigid foam outside the block up to the sill plate. Walls are 2x6 construction, fully insulated, 7/16" OSB outside and inside, with fiber cement panel siding outside over Tyvek style barrier. Ceiling will be at least R19 once I have the insulation done. After two years/two winters not a single crack has shown on the floor.

So based on 25 btu per square foot, it calculates to 16,800 BTU for a boiler to heat the floor. Menards sells a 18K electric boiler for $1400 and a Hydro Smart 1 temp 2-Zone pump system for $979. I'd like the floor to be in the 50 to 60F range, as I can easily work in a slightly cool shop with a heated floor. So I'm looking to spend around $2500 to get my shop heated. Gas is only an option if I'd run a gas line from the house through the ground and slab to the shop.

 

[killahog]

My garage is usually 5 degrees below the outside temp in the winter.
I have no heat. But it's out of the wind.

I run trains thru Wellington on my way to Cleveland and have often wondered how is the fishing in that big reservoir across from the fairgrounds .

 

[walrus]

My shop stays around 50 which is warm enough to do service on a vehicle. If I'm out there longer I'll fire up woodstove.

 

[Hobby_Man22]

This thread is pointless without saying what your typical outdoor Temps are. I'd have to turn the ac on to get it to 50 degrees in my shop most times in the winter.

 

[slowtwitch73]

This should be a poll......

 

[Hobby_Man22]

I run trains thru Wellington on my way to Cleveland and have often wondered how is the fishing in that big reservoir across from the fairgrounds .

You mean above?

 

[kb0thn]

I have radiant / in floor heat on my home shop. I leave it set at 58 to 60 degrees 24/7. It is slow to respond, so there is no point in trying to dial it up. If I go much warmer than 60 degrees, my feet get too hot when working. Working in my shop is a guaranteed way to warm up and get comfortable when cold from being outside or working elsewhere.

Keeping the temperature constant also helps prevent condensation / rust. The radiant heat is great about this. My shops at work have forced air heat and the temperature varies condensation forms and rust forms.

Minnesota.