Heat source for garage in our new house?

[sjulier]

Greetings. We are renovating a house in Guilford CT with a two car, 26’ x 28’ x 18’ high garage. The garage will be fully insulated: R39 on the walls, close to R60 in the ceiling and insulated garage doors. All seams will be chalked. There will be a ceiling fan above each bay. The floor is concrete.

I am debating between hydronic copper fin radiators powered by a closed loop on demand heater. Or a Beacon Morris 30,000 BTU ceiling gas furnace. I plan to keep the garage at 55 degrees except when I‘m working in it. I am leaning to copper fin radiators, my general contractor feels the Beacon Morris unit is sufficient besides being less expensive. Pictures of the initial close-in.

I am open to any and all suggestions. Many thanks,

Sam

 

[The Cobbler]

gas furnace will have much faster recovery to working temp from 55° than hot water rads will

 

[Longshanx]

Just did the same although my ceiling is lower. Went with the Sterling G-Series. Does a damn fine job.

 

[Dagny]

Reznor

 

[sjulier]

Since the ceiling is 18’ should I consider a low intensity infrared tube?

Sam

 

[engineer2]

A Williams Forsaire Counterflow Top Vent Wall furnace would work. Expensive, but fits between the studs.
Get something that vents outside.

 

[jblnut]

Hot water radiant will likely be slow to heat the space up in a hurry if that’s something you want to do. It will be great at keeping it a temp and doing so quietly.

I’ve had my fair share of heated spaces with hanging forced air heaters and they work great but having installed infloor radiant in the house and shop I’ll never do anything else again unless I have to.

 

[dscheidt]

I love hydronic heat, but there’s no way I would want radiators or baseboard in a garage. Consider a heat pump, whether a mini split or something more conventional. Gets you ac in the summer, too. Otherwise, hang the unit heater. Get one with sealed combustion, using outside air.

 

[finn]

Hot water radiant will likely be slow to heat the space up in a hurry if that’s something you want to do. It will be great at keeping it a temp and doing so quietly.

I’ve had my fair share of heated spaces with hanging forced air heaters and they work great but having installed infloor radiant in the house and shop I’ll never do anything else again unless I have to.

I interpreted the radiator to be a conventional European style heat emitter, not in floor pex style radiant heat. They also still make wall or ceiling hung radiators.

 

[jblnut]

I interpreted the radiator to be a conventional European style heat emitter, not in floor pex style radiant heat. They also still make wall or ceiling hung radiators.

As did I. I have copper fin radiators in the hangout rim above my office/bathroom in my shop and love em but they are slow to raise the heat in the space but are great at keeping it there once it’s at the temp you want it.

Most radiant heat sources are slow to heat up a space but great at keeping it there. A neighbor of mine has ceiling hung radiant heaters in his shop powered by his outdoor wood boiler. They work great but aren’t the quickest thing as the heat source is pumping 180f water vs a hot fire from a gas source through them.

 

[Yankeefarmer]

I love hydronic heat, but consider whether you’d want it in a garage where circumstances might arise where the doors are left open in subfreezing weather and the system is not functioning. Will the fuel source for both choices be the same as you use for your house?

 

[pbon]

The hanging shop heaters have better recovery after porting doors in winter to bring cars in and out. A few ceiling fans will help counter the rising heat under the tall ceilings.

 

[Jazz1]

I will install a 30BTU gas ceiling unit when collecting firewood becomes too much of a task.
i really should dig the trench and install 120’ gas line this year.

 

[sjulier]

Based on the excellent comments I’ll get quotes on a Williams direct fire vented unit and a ceiling unit.

 

[finn]

I have a boiler and pex in the floor for radiant heat, which I use to keep the shop at a base temperature, but I installed a hanging heater to bump the temp for when I’m using the shop. Works for me, and the hanging heaters are relatively inexpensive.

The boiler keeps the concrete comfortably warm in cold weather (if you don’t try to maintain working temp)without making your feet sweat in the shoulder season where there are wild day-night temperature swings.

 

[jblnut]

The hanging shop heaters have better recovery after porting doors in winter to bring cars in and out. A few ceiling fans will help counter the rising heat under the tall ceilings.

I can have the 26x16 door on my farm shop open for 5 minutes and within 10 minutes it's all warm again. A forced air heater will take waaaaaaaay longer than that to heat the 70,000cu/ft of air space back up. I have ceiling fans but don't run them in the winter. The entire 18' of height is very similar temp all winter long.

I have a boiler and pex in the floor for radiant heat, which I use to keep the shop at a base temperature, but I installed a hanging heater to bump the temp for when I’m using the shop. Works for me, and the hanging heaters are relatively inexpensive.

The boiler keeps the concrete comfortably warm in cold weather without making your feet sweat in the shoulder season where there are wild day-night temperature swings.

This is a perfect scenario for having a comfortable work space that can be adjusted quickly. I'm in and out of my shop on a daily basis so I leave it where it is for the most part. We host a few parties in here over winter and it'll bump 10f in a day without issue. The wood stove eats wood like a fat kid going after a DQ ice cream cake but it does it.

 

[Plump]

I would never give up wall or floor space to radiators. Plus they would get SMASHED in my work space! The ceiling heater would be my vote for price and practicality. Good luck!

 

[twinfin]

I’ve had good luck with my Reznor ceiling mounted propane heater. With a sealed combustion chamber, it uses combustion air from the outside and also vents combustion gases to the outside which is important considering all the flammable stuff people keep in their garages.

I don‘t need cooling capability, just heat. It heats up the space quickly. I installed a low temperature thermostat so I can set it to just above freezing in those rare times that we get that kind of weather here in the Pacific Northwest.

Beware of vent-free heaters that vent combustion gases directly into the space as they raise humidity considerably leading to rust and mold issues.

 

[sjulier]

I’ve had good luck with my Reznor ceiling mounted propane heater. With a sealed combustion chamber, it uses combustion air from the outside and also vents combustion gases to the outside which is important considering all the flammable stuff people keep in their garages.

I don‘t need cooling capability, just heat. It heats up the space quickly. I installed a low temperature thermostat so I can set it to just above freezing in those rare times that we get that kind of weather here in the Pacific Northwest.

Beware of vent-free heaters that vent combustion gases directly into the space as they raise humidity considerably leading to rust and mold issues.

Yes, I plan to vent to the outside.

 

[finn]

I can have the 26x16 door on my farm shop open for 5 minutes and within 10 minutes it's all warm again. A forced air heater will take waaaaaaaay longer than that to heat the 70,000cu/ft of air space back up. I have ceiling fans but don't run them in the winter. The entire 18' of height is very similar temp all winter long.


This is a perfect scenario for having a comfortable work space that can be adjusted quickly. I'm in and out of my shop on a daily basis so I leave it where it is for the most part. We host a few parties in here over winter and it'll bump 10f in a day without issue. The wood stove eats wood like a fat kid going after a DQ ice cream cake but it does it.

The garage at the house has pex in the floor, but I never completed the installation. I mostly use the wood dragon if I need heat, although I also installed a hanging 75k propane heater.

I think I spend more time fetching wood to stoke the wood dragon than I spend working. Sure throws nice dry, radiant heat though.

 

[jblnut]

The garage at the house has pex in the floor, but I never completed the installation. I mostly use the wood dragon if I need heat, although I also installed a hanging 75k propane heater.

I think I spend more time fetching wood to stoke the wood dragon than I spend working. Sure throws nice dry, radiant heat though.

I’m one of those weirdos that likes just about everything about burning wood. I’m headed out to buck up some logs into chunks soon and am quite excited that it’s warm enough that I won’t freeze my ninnies off doing it.

So far this heating season I’ve burnt around 12 cord.

 

[Yankeefarmer]

I should have asked what form of heat you have in the attached house. If hydronic, adding a zone for the garage might make sense, since you’ll be likely to know if your heating system goes down.

My shop is heated by a heat pump, and in cold weather I’m just accustomed to minimizing the time the doors are left open. But it’s just me that’s using the building. If you have other family members that’ll be opening and closing the doors, that can be nearly impossible to control.

 

[PoorUB]

With a sealed combustion chamber, it uses combustion air from the outside and also vents combustion gases to the outside which is important considering all the flammable stuff people keep in their garages.

I wish people would stop saying that sealed combustion Reznor heaters are safe when there are flammable fumes present, they are not. Reznor heater burners are not in a air tight compartment and the compartment runs in a negative pressure, so if there are any combustible fumes present they can be drawn into the heater.

Are they safer? Perhaps, but they haven't been tested or approved for this situation and saying they are safe is just a guess.

The only reason they have an air intake is to draw combustion air from the outside so you are not pulling air from the space.

 

[finn]

I wish people would stop saying that sealed combustion Reznor heaters are safe when there are flammable fumes present, they are not. Reznor heater burners are not in a air tight compartment and the compartment runs in a negative pressure, so if there are any combustible fumes present they can be drawn into the heater.

Are they safer? Perhaps, but they haven't been tested or approved for this situation and saying the are safe is just a guess.

The only reason they have an air intake is to draw combustion air from the outside so you are not pulling air from the space.

Correct. If they don draw outside air for combustion, they have to use already conditioned air that then has to be replaced by infiltration..

The outside air draw is more for overall building efficiency rather than “safety”

 

[BobnCO]

The garage at the house has pex in the floor, but I never completed the installation. I mostly use the wood dragon if I need heat, although I also installed a hanging 75k propane heater.

I think I spend more time fetching wood to stoke the wood dragon than I spend working. Sure throws nice dry, radiant heat though.

Conservation of Energy law: “Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed from one form to another”

The wife buys food, we eat it and convert it into energy, where we store that energy by stacking up logs; then release our energy into the shop (or house) burning the logs for heat for the family to enjoy… (I concluded heating exclusively with wood for several years)

 

[gizardlizard]

I’ve got a 1000 square foot garage with 12 foot ceiling, fully insulated. I live in Wisconsin and it gets cold. I’m rocking a forced air 125,000 BTU hanging furnace and love it. I keep the garage at 40 degrees during the winter but when I want to work in there, I set it for 72 and it gets there in less than 15 minutes. I have a 24K ductless mini split for summer cooling too.

 

[PoorUB]

I’ve got a 1000 square foot garage with 12 foot ceiling, fully insulated. I live in Wisconsin and it gets cold. I’m rocking a forced air 125,000 BTU hanging furnace and love it. I keep the garage at 40 degrees during the winter but when I want to work in there, I set it for 72 and it gets there in less than 15 minutes. I have a 24K ductless mini split for summer cooling too.

Over 100 BTU per sqft? It should heat it just fine! One half the size would do fine!

I have never seen a building that wouldn't heat with 30 BTU per sqft, other than a screen porch! here in North Dakota I have put 30,000 BTU heaters in 1,000 sqft garages. With the 12 foot ceiling height I probably would go with a 45,000 BTU.

 

[gizardlizard]

Over 100 BTU per sqft? It should heat it just fine! One half the size would do fine!

I have never seen a building that wouldn't heat with 30 BTU per sqft, other than a screen porch! here in North Dakota I have put 30,000 BTU heaters in 1,000 sqft garages. With the 12 foot ceiling height I probably would go with a 45,000 BTU.

Heater was free. Got four of them from our warehouse at work when we upsized. Not having to wait long for a warm garage is awesome.

 

[Ag 85]

I am a Dearborn or Clow supporter to keep you comfy till the shop warms up. The 3 cell under my roll around tool table is my favorite ( far left). The unvented open flame obviously not suitable for some locations. So far I have had no issues. Also have several roll arounds for moving with the projects or out on driveway. I often get asked why living in Texas I collect and restore heaters. Still working on that answer.

 

[Dagny]

Check the owners manual before you keep your garage less than 50 55 degrees. You are making your hanging heater into a condensing heater. Shutting it off is better than running below it's design temp.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Check the owners manual before you keep your garage less than 50 55 degrees. You are making your hanging heater into a condensing heater. Shutting it off is better than running below it's design temp.

Something else to consider at that temp point is a garage fridge.

 

[Bert_]

I’ve got a 1000 square foot garage with 12 foot ceiling, fully insulated. I live in Wisconsin and it gets cold. I’m rocking a forced air 125,000 BTU hanging furnace and love it. I keep the garage at 40 degrees during the winter but when I want to work in there, I set it for 72 and it gets there in less than 15 minutes. I have a 24K ductless mini split for summer cooling too.

Don't be surprised when the heat exchanger looks like this.

 

[gizardlizard]

I inspect the heat exchangers on all my furnaces at work and at home yearly. I also clean the flame proving electrode every fall at the start of the heating season.