Cold climate. Garage temps.

[jhelrey]

I'm in MN. I'm tired of a cold garage regardless if I'm working out there or not. I'm starting to heat it during the winter months but I don't know what to set it at. If you heat your garage when you are not out there, what are you setting the stat at?

 

[Mmaxed]

40-45. Warms up quick when you want to work, and heater doesn't run near as much. Use less propane than when I set in in mid 30s.

 

[PoorUB]

I keep mine at 55F. The problem with running shop heaters at cooler temps id the heat exchangers will not last as long. Running them cooler and the moisture from combustion condenses and rusts out heat exchangers. Running them hotter helps prevent this. Even running at 55F I replaced the heat exchanger in my furnace a couple years back, but it did have 17 years of use.

 

[Stub]

South western Ontario. 32’X40’ shop with in floor heating set at 14-15 degrees Celsius
all year round. Nice to go into the shop and not having to wait for things to get warn in the dead of winter

 

[tarmy]

I leave the heat at about 57 when I am in them…a sweat shirt and sweat pants makes that work for me. Otherwise…no heat.

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

I have mine dialed in at around 60F. It has R24 insulation, R17 or R18 over head doors, 8” of rigid insulation on a torched on roof. It has been caulked, plenty of acoustical sealant, trust me no holes were spared as I did this myself. I run a hydronic heated floor on a NG boiler. It actually is very cheap to heat. If I’m away I just leave the boiler temperature as is.

 

[jhelrey]

Mind you, I have a hanging NG heater.

 

[GlennSullivan]

Mine has a full HVAC system and running water (bathroom slop sink). In winter months, I program the temp for 50f during the day and 55f at night.

 

[kaymccampbell]

My thermostat is set for 55 in the shop. Cast off heat from running equipment keeps it in the low-mid 60s. If we experience extended periods of sub-freezing, windy days, sometimes the boiler will kick in.

 

[cvairwerks]

Used to keep it above 65 when we had outside animals. Now, I just crank it on when I go out there. If we go below freezing for more than a day or two, then I'll set it at the lowest temp for the heater to work. Garage faces north and if it's too cold in there, it affects the rest of the house.

 

[MushCreek]

No heat in the shop- yet. I still need to insulate and finish the interior, as trying to heat it right now wouldn't help much. I tried a big 240V electric heater, and it didn't make a dent, except for in my wallet! Right now, the shop stays about 10-15 degrees warmer than outside. It was 53 in the shop yesterday, and I was able to get some work done. Despite being in SC, we get down in the teens a few times a winter, and rarely, down into the single digits.

 

[Yankeefarmer]

45 is the lowest temperature the thermostat offers, so that’s where it is when I’m not out there. The heat never actually comes on to maintain that temperazure except from about Christmas to early March. It’s a heat pump, so no products of combustion to worry about.

 

[Rc_Guy]

Central Minnesota. I keep the in-floor heat at 69°.

 

[runwhatyabrung]

First year with a minisplit heat pump in a small 2 car garage. Set up the temp at 16.5 Celsius (61 Freedom degrees)

 

[MNMike]

Central MN, with in floor NG, set at 65 at all times. We hang out there ALOT.

 

[TractorJeff]

The slider on the T-Stat is at 50 which makes 53(?). To work out there, I turn it up in the morning to 58 which makes about 60(?).

 

[jblnut]

Central MN here .... Shop infloor is set at 62F all winter long. Last winter it was 54F and it ate a tremendous amount of LP. Office is set at 65F and the upstairs is set at 68F as the kiddos hang out up there quite a bit.

This year I just throw more wood in the outdoor boiler and have cranked the shop up to 68F a few times when people were coming over.

House garage is set to 68F this winter as well and that is quite nice. The crappy MN winter junk melts off the vehicles quite nicely !!

 

[HPRifleman]

Thermostat is set to 60°F throughout the entire year.

 

[Copymutt]

Should you desire to maintain temps below 45* use a milk barn thermostat.

 

[Garcky]

Minnesota. Two-car attached garage. Unheated. The garage sits underneath the upper-level bedrooms in our townhouse. It stays above freezing, no matter what the outside temperature is. I don't work out there in the winter, so that cool garage keeps the ice and snow off the cars, so I can just get in them and go. That's all I ask.

The building is a two-story fourplex. All four garages are back to back and side by side. They get some heat from the living areas, so they stay above freezing all year.

 

[4 FN 27]

House upper and lower garage: 60°

Car Shop and Machine Shop 62°

Shop office 68°

"Cold" storage area 50°

 

[cannuck]

Middle of relatively cold SK and I leave shop at 45F (about +7C). Work bay is under IR NG tube so seldom turn it up to work. Just dropped ten grand into spray foaming roof (1,000 sq.ft.) so I can leave heat on full time.

 

[35k0]

I'm in MN. I'm tired of a cold garage regardless if I'm working out there or not. I'm starting to heat it during the winter months but I don't know what to set it at. If you heat your garage when you are not out there, what are you setting the stat at?

I am in Northern, MN just south of Duluth a few miles and I keep my electric boiler set to 45. It's a good working temp and melts the snow off the cars.

 

[BillK]

1. Attached or detached garage ?
2 How often do you typically work out there ?

 

[kbeefy]

My attached garage and woodshop stays 50-55.

I winterize my detached shop and don't heat it unless I plan on working out there as it's more or less uninsulated. When I do, I set the Natural gas furnace to it's lowest setting, it warms it up to 45-50. Thats about as warm as I want it usually. It takes a few days for the slab to drop below freezing afterwards.
Maybe this spring I'll get around to insulating it....

 

[slowtwitch73]

50 here. Feels cold sometimes, but as stated if you are moving around, feels warm. I bundle up.

 

[MushCreek]

As I get older, the cold bothers me more, especially when doing machining. No matter how long you run a milling machine, your hands will NOT warm up a 2,000 lb. machine.

 

[Brian.Rheeder]

Wifey parks in the garage, and the kids toys get used year round, so I have the thermostat set to 60°F. I have radiant heat, and a thick slab, so the air temp recovers quickly after opening the door.

 

[Renegade1LI]

I like to keep temperature and humidity comfortable all year, more so for the tools and equipment. I don’t mind it in the 50s but want to keep everything rust free so 55-60 seems like a good temp.

 

[logical]

In SE Michigan, 3.5 car attached garage, we'll insulated with 12.5 ft ceilings. I have a hanging 75k btu NG heater with a commercial thermostat.

I have running water there and all sorts of car cleaning products and other stuff that I don't want to let freeze. I set it around 45 F and it can be raised to 65-70 very quickly when I want to work out there.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Usually it gets down to the 50-55° range when I'm working and don't have a fire going. I fire it up to around 68-72° with a fire going. At times, upper 70's when I have something drying and when I go in for the night.

Get the heat in the 'crete and it'll warm up faster when you get in there to work.

 

[jhelrey]

Thanks for all of the responses!

 

[BruceMc]

64º from 9 am to 9 pm, then setback kicks on to 50º 9 pm to 9 am. I like walking into a warm shop, and the 9 pm setback motivates me to finish up if I'm working on something in the evening.

 

[Ak Jim]

Interior Alaska. Garage addition kept at 67. Old garage with the daily drivers set to 58 although the heat doesn’t really run unless it’s colder than -20 or so. When I use to work out of state I’d be gone for 12 days at a time. Then I’d lower the new garage down to 62. Spend a lot of time in the new garage. It’s really living space I keep the summer cars in.

 

[tom in nh]

Should you desire to maintain temps below 45* use a milk barn thermostat.

I am in southern NH, and also a cheapass, err frugal person. Keep my 24×42 shop at 40-45 degrees F when not in use. Built in the mid 80's, still has the three wooden garage doors that are drafty. Did I mention that I am a cheapass?
I use the old round style Honeywell thermostat. I believe it has a three or four degree temperature swing before boiler kicks on.
Can you educate me on this milk barn thermostat?
Thanks,
Tom

 

[walrus]

Maine, detached, solar radiant floor, keeps it between 40 and 50 all winter long. Woodstove when I'm out there. Smartest thing I've ever done was heavily insulated shop with homemade solar panel built into south wall of shop. Easy to heat it up from 40s with wood. This time of year not much sun but its easy to get panel into the 80s which puts heat into the floor.

 

[mjchamp]

Mini split is set to 50 Degrees 24/7

Then, when i need to work out there i turn the natural gas heater on to 65 degrees.

Best of both worlds

 

[slowtwitch73]

I wish mine was radiant.

 

[tdkkart]

East central Iowa, in floor radiant with slab temp thermostat set at 60*, gives me an air temp of 53-58 depending on the outside temp, which is warm enough for me as long as I'm doing something other than polishing wrenches.

 

[35k0]

Wifey parks in the garage, and the kids toys get used year round, so I have the thermostat set to 60°F. I have radiant heat, and a thick slab, so the air temp recovers quickly after opening the door.

Maine, detached, solar radiant floor, keeps it between 40 and 50 all winter long. Woodstove when I'm out there. Smartest thing I've ever done was heavily insulated shop with homemade solar panel built into south wall of shop. Easy to heat it up from 40s with wood. This time of year not much sun but its easy to get panel into the 80s which puts heat into the floor.

@walrus Did you document this solar setup? How many kw is your boiler? Mine is a 10kw and I would love to power it by solar.