Heat new garage

[brohr]

Hello,

My 30x40x12 detached garage in northern Ohio is now complete and would like your opinions on heating options. I think a portable heater would be best for my needs but am open to other options. I do not have gas ran to it. I have not insulated yet but will soon (r19). I only plan to heat when I am out there working (a few hours a week). As long as I can get it comfortable in there (near 60 degrees is fine with me) in the middle of winter I will be happy. Thanks.

 

[madosta]

I just purchased a 5000watt electric heater from NorthernTool to heat my 20x30 garage. I also have a wood burner, a propane tank top heater, and a propane torpedo heater.

There are a lot of options.
Electric is clean, quiet, but takes a while.
Wood is warm, dirty, and smells good.
Propane is noisy, wet and quick.

Lots of options.

 

[Ray916MN]

I'd don't see how anyone can answer this question without knowing how tall the ceilings are and where the garage is located.

 

[geotek]

I'm in the process of installing an old Kroll waste oil heater (multi-fuel as the literature says). Quite exept for the fan, runs a long time, generally ready supply of fuel.

 

[Rjc799]

I bought a MR Heater (85k btu) from HF for my 22x28 with 11'3" celings. Thing is a MONSTER!
Heats up the garage to 65 in less than 10 minutes. I have 2x6 wall and 2x12 celing joists ...very well insulated.

Best investment ever.

 

[HoosierBuddy]

I'd don't see how anyone can answer this question without knowing how tall the ceilings are and where the garage is located.

I'm kind of agreeing with Ray, here. Where is this garage? Miami? Chicago? Upper Mongolia?

Phil

 

[DPelletier]

lots of options, lots of positives and negatives to each solution. "Best" depends on many things we don't have answers to.

FWIW, I had a 5kw electric heater in my detached 24' x 40' shop with 12.5' ceilings and finished attic storage space. I kept it at 10 deg. C in the winter minimum and would use a radiant 1.5kw electric to give it a boost beside my work area. Worked fine like this for 2 years then I installed a 7kw electric unit heater with a T-stat.

Dave

 

[jonzer12]

I got a 26x36x12 I am just finishing up, going with gas radiant tube heater.
I think they work much better than forced air units, plus little noise and no blowing dust around.

 

[brohr]

Sorry guys. The garage has 12' walls and is in northern Ohio.

 

[DPelletier]

I got a 26x36x12 I am just finishing up, going with gas radiant tube heater.
I think they work much better than forced air units, plus little noise and no blowing dust around.

Depending on useage, Radiant tube heaters are one of my favorite shop heat solutions.

Dave

 

[HoosierBuddy]

If getting gas to it is an option, I'd recommend a natural gas fired unit heater (hanging heater).

Typically these units can be sized to bring up your heat to a comfortable level fairly quickly.

I tried the "temporary" heater approach in my barn for a few winters, and the key there was to get out there and get my portable gas heater and 2 electric heaters going 3 to 4 hours before I wanted to start working. Not ideal.

A vented gas unit heater (say in the 75,000 to 100,000 BTU) would be a good permanent solution.

When you compare the cost to the total cost of your building, it's really not all that expensive, and will make your garage a whole lot more usable in the winter.

Phil

 

[Chetter]

I use a Mr Heater Big Maxx 45000 btu propane heater here in northern Ohio where I am located. Heat it 24/7 at 55* when the weather turns cold. They work great and fairly easy to install if your a halfway decent handyman. I did all mine and it was a first for me after checking codes and such. There are a lot of very knowledgble people on this forum to help you.

 

[lethal-6]

I thought that he said the the shop was a 30x40 with 12 ft ceiling's in northern Ohio am I wrong. From what I can tell the hot dawg heaters seems to be recommended by several people. That's what I'm looking at but I only have a 20x20 attached garage. I have been using kerosene it heats well but when I turn on my exhaust vans the heats gone. Good luck just check the websites of the vendors I'm sure they will answer any questions and concerns that you may have.

 

[jimbbski]

Since it's a new build I would spend a bit more on insulation in the ceiling. An R19 for the walls is OK but try going at least R30 in the ceiling. If you plan on staying there a while it will be money well spent.

 

[1stGrumpy]

I built my detached 24x24 shop a couple of years ago, it is 2x4 wood constuction and has R19 in the walls and R30 in the ceiling. It also has a 10x24 room upstairs. Up until this past week, I cooled it with a window a/c unit and heated it with portable electric heaters. In the summer it stayed hot and in the winter it stayed cold. This past spring I decided to start looking around for a combo unit of some sort. It had to be a fully electric unit as I didn't want any open flames because of paints, gas and other chemicals. Not to mention the two hot rods that are usually parked in there. Well, just yesterday, I completed installation of a used GE Heat/Cool 2000 Series Zoneline PTAC unit that came out of a local motel. This unit was checked out and is in perfect working order. It is twenty years old but parts are still available if needed. Including what I paid for the unit, I have a total of less than $100.00 invested.
So, what's my point? Do some searching around, don't get in a hurry. You don't have to spend a ton of money to get the desired results. My 2 cents...