Heat

[keith quale]

Almost done building our new garage.
It is 40x60 with 14ft ceiling.
I need suggestions on what would be the best heating system to install.
It will be insulated also , at a later date.

I live in Washington State and we usually don't get colder than in the low 30's thru the winter months. Electric or Gas ? Just want to keep temp around the 50's during the coldest months. Any ideas? Thanks,KQ

 

[djjsr]

That's a big area for electric. Natural gas is probably your best option.

 

[uniballer]

Do you not believe in burning in a wood stove? Cheaper if it is not a must all the time.

 

[mncountrydoc]

Around me in MN you cAnt get imsurANCE if you burn wood I looked at 30 companies

 

[uniballer]

WOW! Here ant company will insure if installed properly. *****!

 

[930dreamer]

I have a gas furnace in my 30x40 full insulation, that and the industrial ceiling fan, life is good.

 

[wliggett]

I looked at several systems, but for the cost decided to go with propane to a ceiling suspended blower with a contained combustion box. Use on demand and is quick to heat the space if well insulated.

 

[BPJOOP93]

Try to find an older NON HE home furnace. got one in my 36x24 and it heats great.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Do you not believe in burning in a wood stove? Cheaper if it is not a must all the time.

Unless the floor is already done, an outdoor boiler with in floor heating is also a possiblity.

 

[68 Bird]

There are several heat calculators on line that will tell you how big of a heater you'll need for your area if you go with NG or propane. Don't forget that if you're at altitude you'll need to derate the output BTUs.

I went with NG, two 75K BTU ceiling hung Sterling GGs with the seperated combustion, R43 insulation in the cieling. I like to work in a T shirt when its 10 degrees outside.

The seperated combustion is nice if you will be working with combustable, fumey materials or alot of sawdust. Keeps the unit alot cleaner.

 

[Herb67SS]

Try to find an older NON HE home furnace. got one in my 36x24 and it heats great.

What's NON HE?

 

[68 Bird]

What's NON HE?

Non High Efficiency??

 

[DPelletier]

As the owner of an HVAC company, I get this question all the time; "what is the best way to heat my garage". The only correct answer is...it depends. It depends on a great many things. Here are a few;

- useage. What do you use your garage for? is it a storage place or do you paint/grind/weld in it? ...or most likely somewhere in between. There is a huge difference in how people use their shops/garages

- size, building type, insulation, number/type/size of windows, man doors and overhead doors. ambient conditions, etc.

- expectations; do you want to heat only when you're working in the shop? how often is that? what do you want the indoor temperature to be? how often are the OH doors going to be opened? how quick a recovery is reasonable to you?

- do you plan on having any specialized systems that have exhaust air requirements? If you do, natural draft gas equipment is bad idea and systems that heat the objects, not the air get an advantage.

- is cooling or dehumidification important?

and last, but certainly not least: cost. how much do you want to spend on the "best" system? is initial cost or energy cost more important? maintenance and longevity?

You will get many responses every time this question is asked, but without the answers to the questions I've posed, those responses have limited usefulness.

Dave

 

[nehog]

Hanging unit heater... Mine, a 150K BTW propane tube heater works wonders, and probably would work well for you. I'll guess you have reasonable insulation, right? BTW, no way you'll get away with a wood stove--building codes probably won't allow it, and insurance won't if it is an unoccupied building/space. (Too much risk that a lingering fire will cause problems after you leave...)

 

[Highbeam]

I also live in WA, Pierce county, and my county will permit a woodstove in the shop. Against fire code but they "do it all the time". My insurance company told me that any wood stove would be a "remove or non-renewal" in other words, I would get cancelled for a shop woodstove in an outbuilding. Bummer.

You say gas or electric. There are two types of gas and the difference is critical, do you have NG or propane?

Cost per btu for propane is higher than cost per btu for electric in most of WA. This means that you should use an electric heater for heat instead of LP gas. If you have NG available then that is the cheapest.

 

[Kevin54]

One thing to remember also is that propane doesn't put out the heat that natural gas or fuel oil puts out.

If possible, I'd go with NG if it is readily available in your area. Electric might really get into the wallet some. Depending on what you do out there and how often you are out in the building, you may WANT to look into a woodburning source. At least with a woodburner, you could use it to get up to temps then use the other style of furnace for maybe overnight warmth or times when you wouldn't be out there to keep thinks from freezing.

2400 square foot floor space with 14' ceilings is fairly good size. Wood won't cost you anything to heat IF you have a place to readily cut it, other than the initial cost of a woodburner and stack. If you are not going to be in there all of the time and not doing work on cars all of the time, then don't look into a waste-oil heater. Most that have those have already contracted with different businesses to get their oil.

Good luck on your choice. The cold weather is just around the corner.

 

[mslisaj]

This burns coal and I have 3600 square feet of "ice box" in the winter time. But with this going and insulated coveralls it's cheap and workable. With the price of energy now even if my shop was totally insulated I couldn't afford any kind of energy to get it to a constant 50 degrees. The ambiance of the fire is nice too. No restrictions with the insurance company as this is a detached building loaded with tools and equipment and they won't insure this kind of contents for more then $10K anyway without a business policy. But it works for me...................

Lisa

 

[BPJOOP93]

Sorry HE is high efficiency. dont use one in your garage UNLESS you will be heating it all the time. the bottom burner lays down horizontally and if not running enough to keep the water that accumulates there from freezing it will freeze and burst the burner. ask me how i found this out.
furnace running for like 3 hours and never got above 48 or so degrees.
thats why i have a non HE in the garage now.

 

[MoparTrucks]

No heater? I'd push that thing over and start new...uh, oh never mind wrong thread.

 

[ODIS]

Keith,

The standalone garage/shop ~2+K sqft is radiant floor heated with a Bradford-White LP tank system for domestic and for floor heat. The building is well insulated. 500 gal LP tank (buried) and rates here, (early fall) were $1.45/gal. Keep the heat in here at about 60. Annual rate of use is about 500gal/season, maybe a little bit more. I'll say too, that just the lights in the standalone garage/shop keep that space nice and warm.

Attached garage, ~1750 sqft is LP forced air and unit is located in attic. Keep this space at about 55-58 or if working in there, what ever I want the temp to be. 500 gal LP tank on this system to, but it also feeds domestic hot water (another Bradford-White tank) and two lazy-man fireplaces. Annual usage is about the same at ~500gal/season.

Have another shop that is ~1+Ksqft and use electric forced air (unit free from my bil, installed new blower motor , about $100--Works perfect). Keep this space at about 55 unless working in it. Seems to me, the cost is about $150/mo when it is cold out but I don't pay this bill (wife does this location). 3 sides of this space are well underground with at least 12 feet of earth on two sides and at least 8 feet on the last. The door wall is insulated but the doors leave little to be desired in terms of insulation.

So, that is my take on garage space heating here in the PacNorWest. Would suggest you answer the HVAC experts questions. He knows best.

Best,

Ody.

 

[kvom]

I have hydronic heat and it works very well. If your slab is already poured it's too late though. I set the thermostat at the controller (in an alcove) to 70, and the shop itself stays at 59-62 all winter.