Need help on heating ideas please!

[MustangTyler]

Hello,

I just bought a new home in central Indiana with a detached 28x32 garage with 8ft ceilings. The garage is already insulated and sheetrocked with electricity but no heat. My problem is the home is all electric. Heat pump ac/furnace unit etc. The house has no gas lines run as far as i can tell. My question is what type of heat should i do in the garage. My goal would be $100 a month max in operational cost. I would be willing to either run the heat unit only when i'm in the garage working, or all the time depending on cost to operate. I know electric heater is easiest to install, but least efficiant. Would love to go natural gas, but seeing how the house has no gas line to tap into, not sure what to do. The house is in a neighborhood however with other homes using natural gas i presume. Any suggestions??

Thanks!!

Tyler

 

[39portlander]

Your Garage dimention's are close to mine, I'm using a Rinnai 1000F/propane. I keep it on the lowest setting and when I'm working just bump it up.

Your best bet would be a heat pump. The newer 410A unit's would be perfect for your garage application. Thinking Indiana has somewhat mild winter conditions. Good luck.

Who ever installed the house unit's will be able to set you up in the garage and I would say It would easily be under your $100/month goal.

 

[Motofixxer]

Whats your budget like? How long do you plan on living there and how much time do you plan on spending in the garage? All factors on what you want to put into it. I would check with the local gas company\plumber and see what it would take to run a gas line. Many times the most expensive part is the trench. But it's not really that big of a deal. Rent a trencher after the utilities are all located, then pay the plumber by the hour to hook it all up. Gas is almost always the cheapest option. I would personally prefer to spend the money and get the gas line installed. Then from there you have many more options.

Or you can look into the smaller electric 240v heaters. Hopefully you have an insulated ceiling too. Then just heat the space when your in there.

There are also Mini-splits (think hotel room) that are becoming very popular. Will function as heat and A\C, and they only need 240v to run.

 

[brihvac]

Propane or heatpump.
My buddy just dug my wells for my existing garage and addition. I am going geothermal since I have a bunch of new 5 ton geothermal heatpumps at work left over from a job. They are as small as a single locker and way cheap to run.

 

[Jackfre]

Your Garage dimention's are close to mine, I'm using a Rinnai 1000F/propane. I keep it on the lowest setting and when I'm working just bump it up.

Your best bet would be a heat pump. The newer 410A unit's would be perfect for your garage application. Thinking Indiana has somewhat mild winter conditions. Good luck.

Who ever installed the house unit's will be able to set you up in the garage and I would say It would easily be under your $100/month goal.

Is yours a 1001 or 1004? The 01 is 2-stage heat, 12kbtu on low and 38kbtu on hi. The 04 is fully modulating from 10.5-38kbtu. The 04 also has the modulating blower. On my garage 01, given the atmosphere in which it worked (wood and automotive as well as household), I'd remove the cover annually and blow it out with a can of compressed air and vac at the same time. Every couple years I'd inspect the twin blowers for accumulated dirt /dust. Cleaning the blowers can increase performance significantly if in fact they require it. Totally dependent upon the environment. Does the Rinnai heat the space well? If you have any technical questions on it I can answer them...well, most times anyway

 

[mitymouse]

Propane, pick up a couple l.p. cylinders from menards, fill them in the summer when rates are down, 2 should carry your space for the winter if your runnin it here and there and keep it above frezzing the rest of the time. Heat pump wont keep up in cold temps when your trying to heat the space up rapidly with colder ambient air temps