Different heating options

[Dolfan]

OK, I'm really not sure on what type of heat makes sense.

The Space: I've got a good size 3 bay garage, about 23'x32' with 11' ceilings, this is an attached garage, exposed on two sides, insulated with three 9' doors.

Use: I work on the cars periodically and in the winter I always need to do more maintenance to get ready for the upcoming SCCA season, but when it is 20-35 degrees outside its very cold to work. I'd just like to raise the temp to work maybe to about 48-54 degrees. Seriously this would only be used maybe 10-15 days per year so I'm not looking to invest a large sum to add the heating equipment.

Heating: this is where I'm real confused, I see radiant tube type heaters like the Mr Heater, and people say they heat the things in front of them but not the air. I'm not sure how that would work if I'm moving between two bays working on two projects at once?

Then there are heaters like the Dayton which is electric with the small fan and will heat the air and circulate that air. For my space I don't know that one of these will raise the temp without being on for hours? I imagine that this would make the entire space more comfortable but maybe some cooler spots farther away from the unit and maybe near windows and doors?

Can experienced users tell me how these two compare? Pro's and Con's for my situation.

 

[z28toz06]

I had no idea it gets that cold in Atlanta. you got one heck of an issue to deal with. I would get one of those mr heater propane salamanders if I was dealing with that scenario. can you insulate the 2 exposed walls?

 

[Dolfan]

Yeah, most people don't realize that Atlanta get pretty cold, many weekends I go out into the garage and the temp is around 35-40 in the garage and it just feels too cold to work comfortably.

The garage is insulated on the entire ceiling, and all walls. The garage doors are insulated with about a 1/2 of foam insulation, this was the original product not something I added.

Not sure what a "salamander" is but if that is one of the propane type heaters that you have to leave a door open due to the gases, I don't think I'm interested in going that route.

I figure radiant heat like the Mr Heater, or the Dayton electric unit are more the ticket.

I just want to be able to move from place to place working on brakes and other things all around the car and not be moving a heating source to be on me all the time. I also want to have a safe environment from any kind of combustable issues.

 

[jvitez]

What are your local costs for NG, propane, electricty, and kerosene? How do they compare? Can you do electrical or NG piping work yourself?

Now, it gets into capital cost vs operating cost issues. Buying a propane or kerosene "torpedo" or "salamander" type heater would be the cheapest and easiest. One purchase, keep the man door cracked about 2 inches, and you can run them all day. Yes, they put moisture in the air and are noisy, plus with open flame you don't to be filling your vehicles with a jerry can . But cheap and easy.

Next easiest is electric unit heaters. Easy to wire if you can do it yourself, cheapest permanently mounted heaters to buy. Buy you need enough service panel space and capacity, plus the cost of an electrician in you can't/don't want to DIY. Electricity operating costs can be high,but for a couple of weeks a year it may not matter.

Cheapest in many parts of the US in operating cost would be permanently mounted NG or tubular radiant heaters. But are you allowed to do the piping yourself? I can't in my province, gas fitters only.

Get some cost numbers, do some calculations, and your decision is much easier.

 

[Dolfan]

I'm not sure of all the costs but I'll bet that NG is a bit cheaper for me than equivalent Electric. If this as going to be run for many days a season I think the operating cost would be a bigger issue.

I've never run gas line and not even sure I'm allowed. As for the electrical I can do that and just me running the 220v 30A circuit for a heater would probably save me $125-200 not paying for that. The way I see it that $200 savings will buy a lot of energy that probably makes the electric a cheaper route through at least 2-3 years of my sporadic use.

I guess the issue is will a Dayton/New Air G37 heat my space reasonably well? I'd like to be able to turn it on and in maybe 45 minutes have it reasonably warm to start working. but like I said it will only see occasional use, I'm not working out there every weekend day during the winter.