garage heat

[Jhoff310]

What are you guys using for heat in your detached garage? I'm using a salamander/ torpedo heater, but the price or kero is making me want to to look at other options.
I have considered running gas to the garage and installing a furnace, but havent got that far. I'm looking for options.

 

[58Yeoman]

If I had had NG, I would've used it in my shop, but I'm in the country with propane. I bought a Big Maxx and hung it on the ceiling, and found a farmer that was selling his 120 gallon pig propane tank for cheap. It even came with 30% propane in it. I would've gone larger, but I'm not out there much, and the propane supplier is local and wouldn't be a problem to fill it more often than my house tank.

I had a propane salamander in my last garage, and it was noisy. I actually bought it when I lived in an old mobile home, and the pipes under the trailer froze. When I moved, I used it to quickly heat the 24x24, then used the wall mounted non-vented propane heater. Both put a lot of moisture in the air, which isn't good for tools and cars.

When I bought this house, there was a salamander in the shed, which I quickly sold. I don't like the smell of diesel or kerosene burners.

 

[SgtHawkUSMC]

What are you guys using for heat in your detached garage? I'm using a salamander/ torpedo heater, but the price or kero is making me want to to look at other options.
I have considered running gas to the garage and installing a furnace, but havent got that far. I'm looking for options.

I switched to running diesel in my salamander. I found it stunk less and was a heck of a lot cheaper. No mod was necessary.
I just bought a Mr. Heater if you haven't seen the thread. I haven't installed it yet, but it will be so much nicer than screwing around with my salamander.

 

[ratdoggy]

In the process of putting in a NG Mr Heater in mine..Torpedo heater is loud and stinky

 

[ryan20021982]

Mine is connected but I also installed one of these at my dads which is detached and ran a gas line from the house, we have both had them for about 5 years and no problems at all, uses a thermostat and vents out the wall or roof.

https://www.menards.com/main/heating-cooling/gas-kerosene-heaters/vented-shop-heaters/beacon-morris-45-000-btu-natural-gas-garage-heater/p-1444424894441-c-6865.htm?tid=6011923164990501825&ipos=19

 

[T_R]

Mine is 576 sq feet. I've been using a 35k propane torpedo heater. It works good but it is loud and I use it enough to have to fill a 100 lb tank every few weeks.

I just bought 2 5k watt hanging electric heaters from northern tool. They are only $80 each. They are arriving next week. I'm going to keep it about 40-45 when I'm not in there and 50-55 when I am.

I'm insulating the whole thing too. It's helping, I'm about halfway done and it noticeably warmer today as I work on it.

 

[dbabicky]

I have a 175,000 BTU torpedo heater that I run #1 offroad diesel in. With the #1 offroad, I don't get the smell and I don't have to put up with the price of kerosene. The offroad portion on the fuel just means you don't pay the road tax on the fuel. Yes it is dyed pink.

 

[henrysgarage]

Please forgive me for butting in here but how long does one tank last in the torpedo heater? I will be keeping at around 45* and around 55* most working days. I had a propane furnace in my 24X50 shop that worked well and am also looking for ideas for my new 20X30 with loft.
Happy New Year.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Wood heat in mine. It may not be fore everybody but I love mine.

 

[dbabicky]

I'm pretty sure mine, (175,000 BTU), will run 8-10 hrs on 12-13 gallons. I could be wrong.

 

[machine_punk]

If you have 240-volt service, you can get the larger electric heaters (either portable or ceiling mounted) for relatively cheap. That is the route I plan to go, since I have an extra 240-volt outlet.

Kev

 

[Garagetime]

I use a forced hot air oil mobile home furnace. Works awesome no problems heats shop quick. I run either off road diesel fuel or #2 fuel oil in it. I mostly use the off road diesel. I can buy whatever I need on the way home from work.

 

[31shifter]

I use a sunstar 50k propane ceramic radiant heater in my 3 car insulated garage. It’s thermostat controlled, and heats up fast. What I like most is that the concrete is warm, my workbench is warm, and my tool box and tools are warmed by it.

I used to have a Modine Hot Dawg forced air heater that I didn’t care for due to the change in temp during cycling, and air blowing on me all the time. Air was warm, but all my stuff was cold.

Radiant is the opposite - I found it much more comfortable and substantially quieter.


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[zmotorsports]

Natural Gas 75k btu overhead Modine Hot Dawg in my last shop (34x34x14) and a Reznor UDAP150 NG overhead heater in my new shop (50x60x16).

If you have NG available I wouldn't even mess with anything else.

 

[Jeff Ivers]

I heat my 1200 sq ft shop with a hanging Modine natural gas heater I picked up used. I absolutely love it.

 

[C2tuck]

I had gas lines run in when I built it. Use a bigger Dearborn heater. It knocks the chill off but doesn’t get it hot in there. May add a pellet stove next year.


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[Loose Ctrl]

When it gets down into the 40's, I don't work in the shop. I stay inside and make annoying posts like this for you guys to read. You're all welcome.

 

[cyberpunk]

I'm following this as well as I'm in the same boat. 25x30 detached garage about 12 feet from my house. Just far enough to make running the NG there a pain. I have a contractor coming out next week to give me a price for getting NG to the garage. Buying a DynaGlo kerosene heater for the meantime.

 

[C2tuck]

Look into pellet stoves. They aren’t cheap but the pellets are.

Father in law has one and it heats his entire home for next to nothing. That’s why I’ll be looking at them.


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[swaterbenny]

Everybody with combustible heat( wood, pellets, corn), who is your insurance provider? My insurance (American Family), and a friend's ( State Farm), said no combustible heat in a detached garage.

Thanks, Ben

 

[C2tuck]

Well I’d rather have that than the kerosene heater that burned my last garage to the ground. I’m sure my insurance would rather have it too as they wrote a hell of a check to me for it.


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[2level]

I use thru-the-wall heat pumps. I'll probably use a wood stove in the future; when I'm able to start spending more winter-time in the shop.

 

[Crazyjake8493]

I use a wood stove 90% of the time and a kerosene convection heater on occasion. Kerosene is $3.30/gal here so only use that when necessary.

When I start running low on firewood I may look at switching to either a pellet stove, or running natural gas to the garage and putting in a hanging heater. The wood is nice, but it can be inconvenient at times.

 

[Crazyjake8493]

If you have 240-volt service, you can get the larger electric heaters (either portable or ceiling mounted) for relatively cheap. That is the route I plan to go, since I have an extra 240-volt outlet.

Kev

Electric heat is going to be expensive unless the garage is very well air sealed and insulated. The heaters are cheaper, but you'll pay more in the long run with running costs.

 

[u3b3rg33k]

Electric heat is going to be expensive unless the garage is very well air sealed and insulated. The heaters are cheaper, but you'll pay more in the long run with running costs.

I like the idea of through-wall heat pumps/ptacs for warmer parts of the USA. most of them don't have defrost logic so when it hits 40F (just when you want heat), they switch to electric mode.

mini-splits probably have pretty solid ROI for this sort of thing?

 

[Loose Ctrl]

I use a wood stove 90% of the time and a kerosene convection heater on occasion. Kerosene is $3.30/gal here so only use that when necessary.

When I start running low on firewood I may look at switching to either a pellet stove, or running natural gas to the garage and putting in a hanging heater. The wood is nice, but it can be inconvenient at times.

We get gouged on K1 here at a price of $4.99/gal for clear. I have a friend in the heating oil business tho and get it for $3.69/gal for red dyed K1. Red *****. I have to change wicks every season. It causes my heaters to stink like h#!! when they're first lit and on shut down.

 

[Crazyjake8493]

We get gouged on K1 here at a price of $4.99/gal for clear. I have a friend in the heating oil business tho and get it for $3.69/gal for red dyed K1. Red *****. I have to change wicks every season. It causes my heaters to stink like h#!! when they're first lit and on shut down.

Damn that *****. I've only used clear in mine but depending on how much use it gets I usually change the wick each year. The year I bought it was to keep the house warm when our 30+ yr old oil furnace died. I think kerosene was only $2.75 a gallon then. After that it became a backup heat source for the house or garage. Family or friends borrowed it occasionally when they had heating problems.

They make an additive that's supposed to help with the start up and shut down smell. Never needed it with clear kero, not sure if it might help with red. When I had to use mine in the house I would do the shut down and start up out on the porch.

 

[cpttuna]

20x20 garage with 60,000btu mobile home furnace. garage borders alley and the main gas line so only had to run about 8 feet to get to the garage.

 

[Squirlz]

I use a Re-Verber-Ray infrared tube heater. Really nice!

 

[NUTTSGT]

Everybody with combustible heat( wood, pellets, corn), who is your insurance provider? My insurance (American Family), and a friend's ( State Farm), said no combustible heat in a detached garage.

Thanks, Ben

Grange.