new with heating questions

[ewertro]

Hello there,

I have been a lurker here for a while, and now I am finally starting the garage project. We have decided to build a 26x 28 two car garage. It is 2x6 construction, 10 ft walls with scissor truss to get the maximum height inside, and 2- 9x8 doors. My question is, what is the best way to heat the garage bang for the buck? I have considered a heated slab with a closed system, radiant heat (natural gas is cheap and the meter will be on the garage). We live in Canada (southern Alberta) and I consider myself handy enough to install most things. Thanks in advance.

 

[aandpdan]

Welcome.

Do you plan to keep the garage warm all the time or just when you use it? Radiant is great for an even heat but it can take hours to raise the temp. If you only want it warm while you're there, hot air might be an option.

 

[Iknfixit]

Where I live in rural BC, I find the good old wood stove as a great source of heat, Once the initial investment is out of the way, if you're savvy you can heat your space for free ( if you have done a sufficent job of insulating). I heat my house for free and my 1500 sqft shop with wood stoves, nothing better than being toasty warm working on your car when it's nasty outside, and for free to boot. Only hard part is prosessing all the wood, but that keeps you warm too, and fit.

 

[ewertro]

I live in town, so a wood stove is not an option, I would like to use half of the garage as my storage/ workshop and the girlfriend would park on the other side. I may put the pipe in the slab for now just so its there for future upgrades and until I figure out how much time I will spend in the garage. At that time, I am considering an on demand heater for the closed system. Anyone in this end of the world tackle putting PEX in the slab? Thanks for all your suggestions, just obsessing, want to make this right the first try....