Heater placement

[gotta56forme]

I've searched through past threads in this forum (heating & a/c) for wisdom on heater position/placement. Seems like the back wall pointing at the doors is the general idea. Included is a photo of my garage looking towards the back wall. The right side of the garage (window side) will be my work bay, while the left side of the garage will be more for daily driver parking and storage. If it's not obvious, my ceiling is not horizontal but has a mild cathedral effect at the back of the garage. Front of the garage (big door end) has storage rafters the first 12 feet, so it is a horizontal 9' ceiling there. Right now I'm planning on the 45K BTU Mr. Heater Big Maxx (natural gas).

For those of you with heaters in your shop, what has experience taught you regarding placement?

Thanks in advance...

 

[kbs2244]

Heaters are for your comfort.
Put it where ever it will make you warm.

 

[dipper]

I'm placing mine in the back corner, angled towards the center of the garage. A thermostat will be pretty much on the opposite corner. My garage is 20x22, a little smaller than yours probably; and I'm getting the same heater and venting through the side wall.

 

[stitch]

I recommend placing the heater in the back right corner (near the window) and aiming it diagonally across the garage. As Tim said, thermostat in the opposite corner would work well.

You may want to consider insulation - it will definitely pay for itself if you plan to be in the garage / keep the garage warm a lot. To get an idea of how much energy you'll save, run a quick calculation at the link below with and without insulation and compare the heat requirements.
heat load calculator

Kevin

 

[dipper]

fyi: I ordered my 45kbtu mr. heater from northerntool.com this morning for 389. the vent kits are on sale for 74.99 (originally 99.00). A good time to buy if you haven't yet.

 

[trainer]

If it's not going to be heated all the time, then have it blowing over your workbench or near it, so you get the heat where you're working first.

It its going to be heated all the time, then put it in the back corner blowing along a wall towards the front.
The idea is to have airflow going in a circular motion around the perimeter with the main heat blowing toward the door so that less cold air is drawn in when the it's opened.

 

[gotta56forme]

You may want to consider insulation
Kevin

I forgot to mention that I will be insulating and sheetrocking the garage. I ask as I'm ready to rough in the electrical and gas piping for the heater.

So as of right now, it seems my two choices based on the information presented would be to place it on the back wall in either the left corner or right corner. The picture doesn't show it, but there is a man door to the right of the big garage door (straight across the garage from the small window shown. Along the right wall are two more windows the same size. If the common wisdom is to put the thermostat across the room from the heater, then my preference would be to put the thermostat right next to the man door when I enter. This photo should help explain what I mean (photo was taken during construction last year, and also shows the attached garden shed)...

At this point I need to decide on which corner. The gas pipe comes into the building on the wall with the windows. Putting the heater in the corner above the window would make for the shortest electrical and piping run. Since that is the same side of the garage I plan to spend my time working in, when the garage is done, do I want it blowing over my head all the time? Or should I put it in the other corner so that effects of airflow, etc are diminished (even though that would put the heater the farthest away from the windows)?

As for how often I use the heater... I won't be heating the garage fulltime. On nights and weekends when I'm out there, I plan to turn the heat on about an hour before I plan to work in the garage.

 

[JohnZ]

I put mine in the front corner (adjacent to the outside wall for venting), aimed diagonally across the garage; the thermostat is on the outside of my office wall (right side of bottom photo), out of the direct air path. Works very nicely for a 44' x 58' super-insulated garage.