Has anyone in southern Ontario installed an electric garage heater and found it helpful and somewhat cost effective ? I think a natural gas heater plus the install price would be greater than an electrician running 240 line and hooking up a $300 mastercraft heater. Or am I way off ?
Thanks for any info.
I ran a 5000W construction heater on occasion one winter about 15 years ago. As I recall, it was borderline, but did the job. Shop is 24x30. Insulation is 6 in walls and 12 in ceiling. I ran it only on milder days - i.e. days of -5 C or warmer. It is only 20,000 BTU/Hr equivalent and the shop was cold each morning. I would not run it on a -20 day.
If you go that route, expect a 5000W heater to run flat out, 8 hours + a couple hours before to get some of the chill off. If weekends only, your electric bill will likely increase by about $100 a month. (With the caveat that I do not know your shop size, insulation levels or how well it is sealed) If you plan on more hours of heat, or more days in the shop each week, expect that increase to raise proportionally.
My wild guess is that with natural gas, for $100/month you could have a warm shop all winter. Install price, again wild guess, $5000.
