Picking an Electric Garage Heater

[DanZ3]

I only plan on using it occasionally so humidity and cost isn't a concern. By my calculations it will cost about 4x gas but taking into consideration the cost of install and the amount of time I plan on using the heater it would take many years to break even. Someday in the far future when I don't need to have a day job I'll change to gas as I would have more time to use the garage.

 

[DanZ3]

Finally got the heater install finished. Running now to burn off residual manufacturing oils. Seems to run fine and put out adequate heat. Will update longer term.

Not sure how to attach photo.

 

[DanZ3]

Photo of install.

Picture is not vertical but you get the idea.

 

[S4PLAY]

I have a 40x24 with 14 ft ceilings very well insulated. It never drops below 32f even when it is below 0f. I just want to heat it to about 45f all the time. Would a fahrenheat 5000w be enough?

 

[CNGsaves]

Photo of install.

Picture is not vertical but you get the idea.

Can fix pics by just opening in Paint, then rotate, and save as jpg.

Fixed it for you . . . . see below.

 

[mwe3302]

I am going with the fahrenheat 7500 watt one, i have a 24' x 30' 2 1/2 bay that is 720 sq. Ft with 8 ft ceilings. I was going to go with a big max or hotdawg modine 75,000 btu model. They are too much money though. And i think the fahrenheat will be less labor intensive hooking it up, just my $0.02 ....Mike. am going to have to run a 220 amp service. My house is only 110. This is going to be $$

P.S. my garage has 2x4 walls with R-11 kraft faced owen corning, ceilings are 2x8 they have R-42 i believe. Insulated entry door and also insulated 2 9x7 garage bay doors not sure if they used styrofoam under slab. Also took down all interior plywood and installed 6 mill poly over insulation then reinstalled plywood. Had an issue with moisture turning to frost, generating on interior side of the 5/8" primed/sealed T1-11 siding on a few days back in early January this year. So i put up yhe 6 mill poly so there was s vapour barrier between interior sheathing and the wall insulation.

I am seriously thinking about vaulting one side of garage and cutting the floor and dropping in a in floor table lift like others on here have done.

 

[DanZ3]

Just an update to my installation. I installed the Fahrenheat 7500 watt heater and had some time over the winter to use it. My garage has 2 exposed walls and a room above so the exposure to the outside is limited to 1 full wall and the door. I used the heater several times over the winter to do some work on my cars. I didn't record temps but the garage was not comfortable to work in without the heater on. (40F?) I would turn the heater on to just above the low setting and let it run for about 30 minutes and then start working. The heater would cycle about every 15 minutes for about 5 min. The temperature was easily sweatshirt comfortable with outside temps below freezing. I saw no change in my electric bill, at least that I could notice. I would highly recommend this heater to anyone looking for occasional heat.

 

[1jjpop]

I have a dayton 5000 G73 heater [only 2 years old] in my 18' x 22' x 7' walls shop ,very well insulated [ walls & ceiling] new insulated overhead door & walk in steel door. Heater work fine , I only run it during the day when I'm there. I have heard they have had trouble with wiring issues in these heaters. Does a wire need to be re done or what ??? I want it to be safe .I was thinking of leaving it run overnite. ????

 

[70Chevy]

I have a dayton 5000 G73 heater [only 2 years old] in my 18' x 22' x 7' walls shop ,very well insulated [ walls & ceiling] new insulated overhead door & walk in steel door. Heater work fine , I only run it during the day when I'm there. I have heard they have had trouble with wiring issues in these heaters. Does a wire need to be re done or what ??? I want it to be safe .I was thinking of leaving it run overnite. ????

I had a problem with my G73...it would run and not blow cold. A few daysater I realized that it would try to run in the off position. I called the manufacturer and with the serial number and they sent me a new t-stat with heavier wires. Been good ever since.

 

[Scott NJ]

I had a problem with my G73...it would run and not blow cold. A few daysater I realized that it would try to run in the off position. I called the manufacturer and with the serial number and they sent me a new t-stat with heavier wires. Been good ever since.

Interesting info

The wiring to my t stat burned up. I will call Dayton and see if my unit will be covered. Thank you for this info

 

[toofart]

I am going with the fahrenheat 7500 watt one

+1 for the Farenheat 7500w. It's quiet too, so working with the heat running isn't a pain.

 

[stitan06]

Anyone that has the dr infared heater how did u mount it to the ceiling ?

 

[Pantsfall_McFixit]

+1 for the Farenheat 7500w. It's quiet too, so working with the heat running isn't a pain.

Model FUH 724. Just installed this, had electrician run the line and breaker. Blasts out heat on a cool day, and warms my semi-insulated 2-car garage up fast. Will test on a really cold day once they start. They also make a 10k watt model but that would be too big for my purposes, and significantly more money.

 

[justin1795]

I had a Dayton and I was pretty disappointed with it. it never got the top or lower deflectors hot enough you couldn't touch them. I called them and they sent me a new one. same thing. it took the buzz off but you had to stand right in front of it.

 

[Todd.Brock]

I had a 22x24 garage at my old house. It was insulated in the walls and garage door. Ceiling was drywall only. The 5k Fahrenheat model was like a clean burning space heater. I'm not sure it would be up to the task of heating all the contents inside and keeping at a certain degree

 

[mwe3302]

Hi. New to the forum but have lurked for some time.

I have decided to install a Fahrenheat Ceiling-Mount 7500 Watt, 31.3 Amp, 25,600 BTU heater in my 2 stall attached garage. I seriously looked into natural gas but took some time to really track how much time I spend out there in the cold months. Bottom line, for the difference in installation cost even with electric at 4x gas the break even point is years out.

Looking forward to heat this winter.

Hi there Dan, I just ordered this same heater from my local home depot. Can you tell me how much it made hour power bill go up and do you let it run all the time or just when you are in there? Thanks for any info , do you like it tell me a little about it please. Thanks , mike

 

[DP121]

Just an update to my installation. I installed the Fahrenheat 7500 watt heater and had some time over the winter to use it. My garage has 2 exposed walls and a room above so the exposure to the outside is limited to 1 full wall and the door. I used the heater several times over the winter to do some work on my cars. I didn't record temps but the garage was not comfortable to work in without the heater on. (40F?) I would turn the heater on to just above the low setting and let it run for about 30 minutes and then start working. The heater would cycle about every 15 minutes for about 5 min. The temperature was easily sweatshirt comfortable with outside temps below freezing. I saw no change in my electric bill, at least that I could notice. I would highly recommend this heater to anyone looking for occasional heat.

I think this will answer your questions mwe3302.

 

[DanZ3]

Mike,
My experience with this heater has been good. Like my earlier post stated I only use the heater on weekends or when I get time to work in the garage. More than happy with the temperature and I haven't seen a noticeable increase in the electric bill. That said, if I ran it 24/7 I'm sure I would see a significant increase in electricity costs. Bottom line is for occasional use it fits the bill.

 

[bzinsky]

I'd forget about brand of electric heater, and buy by the features you want. All electric heaters are 100% efficient.

that's what I thought, until I learned about heat pumps.

All "resistance" heaters are 100% efficient, but there is another way to produce heat from electric that is far more efficient. It's a heat pump. A mini split heat pump will generally be 2-4 times as efficient than resistance. They lower efficiency when it gets colder outside.

If any of you plan on using it substantially, I highly suggest one if you don't have gas.

If you do have gas

Just throw in something like this
http://www.alpinehomeair.com/viewpr...uWKTopt5WDdZEJidh-OXfA7KkLMa0CRq6ghoCY4Xw_wcB

The duct work can literally just go up, make a 90 degree bend, and then straight across the ceiling and you cut a few vents in it. I have no thermostat, just one of the turn style light timers, I just turn it to 30 minutes before I get in and the garage is like 75 degrees by the time I get in there. No insulation, no nothing. There is no cheaper and easier way to heat a garage.

 

[bzinsky]

Just an update to my installation. I installed the Fahrenheat 7500 watt heater and had some time over the winter to use it. My garage has 2 exposed walls and a room above so the exposure to the outside is limited to 1 full wall and the door. I used the heater several times over the winter to do some work on my cars. I didn't record temps but the garage was not comfortable to work in without the heater on. (40F?) I would turn the heater on to just above the low setting and let it run for about 30 minutes and then start working. The heater would cycle about every 15 minutes for about 5 min. The temperature was easily sweatshirt comfortable with outside temps below freezing. I saw no change in my electric bill, at least that I could notice. I would highly recommend this heater to anyone looking for occasional heat.

just to quantify the cost, where I'm at, electric is about 18 cents per kilowatt, but that's supply and distribution. (the "price to compare" on your electric bill is just the supply, which is usually around 9-13 cents depending on where you live)

So that heater would cost me about $1.35 to run for 1 hour. Not much if it's for seldom use, but spend 8 hours in your garage, and it runs for 4, that's $5.40 every time. That will add up if you're like the people on this forum and probably do that once a week.

Not to mention, It's usually not that easy to supply that much amperage to a specific place.

 

[DanZ3]

I looked at the cost of energy as well as cost of the unit & installation. For my needs, 4-6 hrs on a weekend the electric unit was a no brainer. Not the solution for everyone.

 

[mwe3302]

Mike,
My experience with this heater has been good. Like my earlier post stated I only use the heater on weekends or when I get time to work in the garage. More than happy with the temperature and I haven't seen a noticeable increase in the electric bill. That said, if I ran it 24/7 I'm sure I would see a significant increase in electricity costs. Bottom line is for occasional use it fits the bill.

Thanks Dan for the very fast response, I am going to test mine when my bill cycles. I am going to run it normal at a certain thermostat setting to keep the garage a constant temp for 1 month, My garage is detached but is very well insulated. If it is a lot on the bill I will only run it when we pull in this winter when the cars a wet with snow, and rainy just to dry them off.that is ultimately the reason why I bought this in the first place.

 

[mwe3302]

that's what I thought, until I learned about heat pumps.

All "resistance" heaters are 100% efficient, but there is another way to produce heat from electric that is far more efficient. It's a heat pump. A mini split heat pump will generally be 2-4 times as efficient than resistance. They lower efficiency when it gets colder outside.

If any of you plan on using it substantially, I highly suggest one if you don't have gas.

If you do have gas

Just throw in something like this
http://www.alpinehomeair.com/viewpr...uWKTopt5WDdZEJidh-OXfA7KkLMa0CRq6ghoCY4Xw_wcB

The duct work can literally just go up, make a 90 degree bend, and then straight across the ceiling and you cut a few vents in it. I have no thermostat, just one of the turn style light timers, I just turn it to 30 minutes before I get in and the garage is like 75 degrees by the time I get in there. No insulation, no nothing. There is no cheaper and easier way to heat a garage.

Well its not to late to try this one,but I am going to try the fahrenheat out first and I have 3 100 gallon propane tanks behind my garage too, this would work out great. If i don't like it I will return it to home depot and try this out. Thanks for the heads up. It looks like a sound unit.

 

[mwe3302]

I think this will answer your questions mwe3302.

Yep I saw this after I posted......

 

[Pantsfall_McFixit]

...So that heater would cost me about $1.35 to run for 1 hour. Not much if it's for seldom use, but spend 8 hours in your garage, and it runs for 4, that's $5.40 every time. That will add up if you're like the people on this forum and probably do that once a week.

Not to mention, It's usually not that easy to supply that much amperage to a specific place.

This is a good point, also remember that the heater will be cycling on and off after the initial warmup. As long as it's correctly sized for the application, it will cycle rather than be on all the time. If it runs for a full hour than perhaps it costs a dollar for that first hour, but if it cycles for 5 mins every 15 after that then that's only about 20 mins out of every hour, or 1/3rd the cost after warmup.

If sized properly, then the garage will be warm and it will cycle. If not, then it will run constantly and you'll still be cold. This is also why it's important to size a/c units correctly.

 

[DPelletier]

that's what I thought, until I learned about heat pumps.

All "resistance" heaters are 100% efficient, but there is another way to produce heat from electric that is far more efficient. It's a heat pump. A mini split heat pump will generally be 2-4 times as efficient than resistance. They lower efficiency when it gets colder outside.

If any of you plan on using it substantially, I highly suggest one if you don't have gas.

If you do have gas

Just throw in something like this
http://www.alpinehomeair.com/viewpr...uWKTopt5WDdZEJidh-OXfA7KkLMa0CRq6ghoCY4Xw_wcB

The duct work can literally just go up, make a 90 degree bend, and then straight across the ceiling and you cut a few vents in it. I have no thermostat, just one of the turn style light timers, I just turn it to 30 minutes before I get in and the garage is like 75 degrees by the time I get in there. No insulation, no nothing. There is no cheaper and easier way to heat a garage.

Actually Gary is correct; all electric heaters are 100% efficient. Heatpumps (though they use electric power) are not "electric heaters"...though the term "electric resistance heaters" is more descriptive.

In any event, heatpumps are a great choice for some people who don't have natural gas. They don't do well with high recovery loads and are more suitable for people who keep there garages at a constant temperature.

The hype and marketing around the various electric (resistance) heaters is big business and it really upsets me that they manage to pull the wool over so many people's eyes. A watt is a watt is a watt.

Dave Pelletier, G.S.C.,
President, D&G Mechanical

 

[bzinsky]

Actually Gary is correct; all electric heaters are 100% efficient. Heatpumps (though they use electric power) are not "electric heaters"...though the term "electric resistance heaters" is more descriptive.

In any event, heatpumps are a great choice for some people who don't have natural gas. They don't do well with high recovery loads and are more suitable for people who keep there garages at a constant temperature.

The hype and marketing around the various electric (resistance) heaters is big business and it really upsets me that they manage to pull the wool over so many people's eyes. A watt is a watt is a watt.

Dave Pelletier, G.S.C.,
President, D&G Mechanical

as much as I dislike debating semantics, if something only consumes electricity and produces heat, I'd call that an electric heater.

It is also important for people to know how there are alternatives to providing heat when you only have electric as a power source. I almost installed 100 pieces of electric baseboard because I didn't think there was any better means of heating a place with electricity. I just thought all electric heat output was the same and it wasn't possible to get any better than a $30 strip of resistance baseboard.

 

[DPelletier]

You can call it whatever you like but it's apples and pumpkin pie. ;-) I agree it's good to spread the word about heatpumps to the uninformed; they are a viable heat source in many circumstances.

The reason I brought it up wasn't to debate semantics, it was to point out the vast plethora of misinformation out there on electric resistance heaters.....it's a pet peeve of mine that the manufacturer's use such questionable advertising gimicks in an attempt to convince consumers that one type of electric resistance heater is more efficient than another.
Thousands of people have payed extra for "premium" electric heaters when a $40.00 red metal box with coils would do the exact same job.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[mwe3302]

I am going to start a new thread on this,


okay so I installed my Fahrenheat 7500 watt ceiling mount heater today , and it does not seem to throw off the heat that I want, in the Instructions on page 3 about half way down the page under a WARNING label there is a paragraph that says " Adjusting the Heat Output" it says heat output can be increased or decreased by switching wires at the wattage change terminal board. The heater is factory wired to deliver a heat output of 17,065 BTU per hour,....I have the 7500 watt model and BTU/HR should be 25,598 so I look down to the chart way over to the right it says move jumpers from "C-D TO A-B" and below that it says none, so I am confused its not labeled C-D or A-B anywhere in the heater and not even sure if this is set for 25,598 BTU/HR . anyone else confused about this, or did anyone that has the 7500 watt Fahrenheat model have to change any jumpers inside the heater to reach 25,598 BTU/HR ?

any help in this would be great, thanks . mike

 

[DPelletier]

sorry, I have no experience with that particular heater. 7500 watts = 25,500 BTUH so if it's only putting out 17,000 BTUH then it's wired as a 5400 watt heater.

1 watt = 3.412 BTUH

sounds like you'll need to contact the manufacturer or scour the 'net for a wiring diagram. Pretty cheezy if they are advertising it as a 7500 watt heater and factory wiring it for 5400 watts....

Dave

 

[DanZ3]

The instruction book states that it's wired for 7500 but can be changed to outer outputs by changing the wiring as described.


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