detached garage heat options

[greenskeeper]

I have a 22x25 detached garage, 1st story is R19 fiberglass and R6 foam board, stairs going up to the 2nd story are closed off with a removable insulated panel.

I currently have a wood burning stove that has been okay'd by the insurance company when I first bought the property.

I would like to add another source of heat and have been going back and forth between electric and and oil burner.

The oil burner I can probably source for close to "free" since so many people around here are converting to gas.

I have also thought of simply wiring in a forced air electric heater for when I don't feel like monkeying with the wood stove, and to be able to keep the minimum temp at a certain setpoint. Thinking a 5kw heater would be a start.

Thoughts ?

 

[turbowoodworker]

Minisplits in my detached. Work great. Lots of threads on topic.

 

[greenskeeper]

Minisplits in my detached. Work great. Lots of threads on topic.

Yes that would be down the road a bit, not right now.

 

[Adk Mike]

Modine Hotdawg. HD45 and never look back.

 

[greenskeeper]

Modine Hotdawg. HD45 and never look back.

Unfortunately no gas lines around here, propane is a fortune.

 

[Showkey]

Unfortunately no gas lines around here, propane is a fortune.

So is heating oil and electric............in most areas oil and propane are priced the same, electric is almost always the most expensive.

 

[finn]

Propane is about the same price as oil, per btu, here, and you don’t have to deal with oil.

Go with a hanging propane heater and don’t look back.

 

[Boilerhouse]

Depending on your electric rates, the 5 kw heater might be both the quickest and cheapest option. You would only need to run a circuit if you don't already have one in place. It is the heat equivalent of roughly 18,000 BTU/hr, so it will keep the chill off, and possibly warm the shop eventually if it's not too cold out.

The biggest advantage to oil is that it can blast out the heat, and could easily keep the shop warm by itself. My area is the same in that these things are being sold cheap or given away as everyone is switching to gas, and most of the units are 75,000 BTU/hr or bigger. An oil unit will take up more floor space, and you would have to consider the tank outside.

I did a very quick back of the envelope calc, and for my area with furnace oil at 1.09 per liter and electric at 20 cents per kwh, oil is half the cost per BTU compared to electricity. Factoring in the efficiencies of each unit, oil still has the win, but not by much.

 

[greenskeeper]

All good ideas, trying to keep cost to a minimum as I don't intend to heat when not in the garage, aside from keeping the minimum temperature above freezing.

Until the house is paid off (throwing any extra money at the principal every month) the garage is an afterthought in my budget.

 

[Peter Hightower]

I have a 3 car garage, new insulated doors, r16 walls, vapour barrier with uninsulated cathedral ceiling. Had a 240 volt line run from breaker in basement to garage. Have a Canadian Tire 7500 watt heater with remote. Run it for hour or so aimed towards one side of garage and it takes the chill off for sure. Gets it to 52 no issues. A light jacket and I’m good to go. Not sure on cost to run but it’s only money. And way cheaper than running a gas line, vent kit, gas heater, etc,etc.

 

[shaggyant]

You live in PA and already have a chimney. Why not a coal stoker furnace? I imagine rice coal has to be under two hundred bucks a ton over there on the east coast.

 

[greenskeeper]

ended up getting a kerosene heater to supplement the woodstove, $60 @ lowes and 24k btu, 1 gallon last 6 hours. Been running pump diesel (ULSD) since kerosene isn't available at the pump around here. Have CO monitor and it hasn't move off of zero yet.

 

[PassnThru]

We used to run jet A in the hanger in torpedo heaters. Had a tank to store it when it was drained from planes because you couldn't put it back in the plane.
Always wondered what the specific difference was between kerosene and jet fuel - didn't know that diesel was close enough to kerosene to use also.