Heating

[bart.staton]

Hey guys, I was scanning the forum here and I was looking for some info on heating.
I've recently moved and what will become my shop is a little two car garage. I think that's it's sealed fairly well. I would like to heat it as efficiently as possible without putting two much strain on the electric bill. Should I go electric? Propane? Anyone had any experience using cheap harbor freight solar panels and running heaters off those? Thanks for looking


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[laser3kw]

Anyone had any experience using cheap harbor freight solar panels and running heaters off those?

Just for perspective, a typical "shop heater" may be around 5000 watts @240 volts, meaning it pulls 20.83 amps (if it is 100% efficient).
The HF solar panels are 15 watts @ 12 volt producing 1.25 amp. If you could run it through a converter to 240 volt you would then have .0625 amp. To get to the 5000 watt the heater needs, you would need 334 panels. That is if everything is 100% efficient. And they are not. The HF panels actually put out closer to 10 watts.
Propane looks pretty good......

 

[p_mori7]

It would be convenient to post your location.

 

[bart.staton]

It would be convenient to post your location.

Panhandle of Texas, hot and windy in the summer and cold and windy in the winter. Weather.com recently rated us as having the worst weather in the country. [emoji38][emoji38]


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[p_mori7]

Cold is relative.

If it were me in your neck of the woods, I would insure it is well insulated (you original post doesn't mention if it is or not), then you could use a 5000W shop heater to bring the temp up to a comfortable level for you, and the insulation would do wonders in keeping it there...so it would not have to run very often.

My garage is well insulated & sealed with vapor barrier. My 5000W heater has no trouble maintaining 70* even when it is -30* outside. I usually keep the garage at 50* and bump it up if I am going to be working in there.

Yours in your area would probably only need to be used when you want to bring temp up instead of maintaining above freezing.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Heating with electric resistance heat is inexpensive to install and is close to 100% efficient, but IT IS USUALLY THE MOST EXPENSIVE WAY TO HEAT AN AREA !

Forget electric solar panels to directly power your heaters. Also the HF panels are some of the crappiest available.

The lowest cost of operation for heating and cooling a garage is a ductless heat pump typically called a "mini-split". Not cheap to install, but low monthly cost. Buyer beware, because low cost mini-split heat pumps will STOP making heat somewhere between 20F-32F. Good ones will make heat down below zero.

If you want to offset the monthly cost, install as many solar panels (not HF) as you can afford to a "grid tie" solar controller. You will be "selling" the electricity back to the power company.



Start doing your research. You have a lot to learn.

 

[rburke65]

Oh ya.....Harbor Frieght is well known for their high efficiency and output solar panels......NOT! I know of no "cheap heat". Electric will depend on your kWh cost in your location.....which is not entered in your profile......you might want to update that in your profile.