Propane Heat $$$$

[Sarki]

Just finished crunching the numbers and realized I can't afford to heat my 26X32 garage/pole barn with propane. The setup, sealed combustion 60K Reznor/Modine unit plus LP piping into garage and storage tank will set me back more than I can afford, over $3k here in northeast.
I'm starting to think about a Dayton G73 electric heater. I read every post I could find and all seems positive. The unit might be undersized for my building as I have 12' ceiling but I'm only looking to raise temps to 55-60 degrees at most.
Anybody see any negatives with me going this route? G73 unit delivered to my door is $270. I have a free 30 amp circuit available. Not planning on heating it full time, only when working on the cars or carpentry projects evenings/weekends. Occassional fumes from woodworking related projects such as stains/paints but nothing heavy duty. Probably some auto related fumes as well.....typical garage activities!
Any and all thoughts are appreciated.

 

[z28toz06]

Not for anything, but I shopped around for propane and I was amazed at how much cheaper I found it. Look for Co-op's in your area and ask around. I save almost 80 cents per gallon just shopping. I'm in the northeast also Ct.

 

[gtivr4]

I'd look more at your long term costs than the initial investment. Electricity is VERY expensive to heat with. Then again it might take a few years for you to see the savings with propane or another heat source given your initial investment. But definitely check your numbers over the course of say 5 years and see which comes out ahead.

 

[nehog]

... more than I can afford, over $3k here in northeast.
I'm starting to think about a Dayton G73 electric heater. I read every post I could find and all seems positive. ...

My experience is that you'll pay for that gas setup in a year, two at the tops if you try to use electric. At least in NH, the cost of electric erases all savings on equipment very fast.

 

[Kevin54]

Just got my propane today for the garage @ $2.35 a gallon. Had my 120 gallon tank filled. Will last maybe a month and a half to two months keeping it at 50 when not out there and around 72 when I am out there when it is around 30 degrees or less outside.

 

[gtivr4]

Just got my propane today for the garage @ $2.35 a gallon. Had my 120 gallon tank filled. Will last maybe a month and a half to two months keeping it at 50 when not out there and around 72 when I am out there when it is around 30 degrees or less outside.

Do you have an uninsulated garage? That seems very high to me. I used to have an apartment that was about 800 sq ft in an older house (albeit reasonably well insulated), and at worst (Jan/Feb), it was cheaper than that to heat, and thats keeping it decently warm all day, and cold Vermont winters.

 

[csp]

Glad propane is cheaper here than in the midwest. Our home is heated with propane as there isn't a natural gas line where we live. I just bought 800 gallons about a month ago for about $1.35/gallon.

 

[Kevin54]

Do you have an uninsulated garage? That seems very high to me. I used to have an apartment that was about 800 sq ft in an older house (albeit reasonably well insulated), and at worst (Jan/Feb), it was cheaper than that to heat, and thats keeping it decently warm all day, and cold Vermont winters.

Insulated with insulated doors. R13 walls and R32 ceiling. 28' x 36' garage (1008 sq.ft.) but all four sides hanging out in the cold and in the winter we always get wind blowing through.

 

[tdkkart]

Here's a cost comparison I found the other day:
http://erpud.com/comparison.htm

Depending on your electric costs, when you start approacing $2.50/gallon for propane it's usually a wash.

'Course the system and the building make a difference. Looks like Kevin54 is talking about $150/mo of his 1008sf shop on propane, my 1200sf costs me right at $150mo in the coldest months and it's all electric adiant floor heated. My electric for the whole year runs about $450.

 

[nutjob]

Here is a link to an easy to use Excel spreadsheet that you enter in your costs for all types of fuel.

Hope this helps.

http://downloads.cas.psu.edu/energy/ENERGYCOSTS_09.XLS

 

[Skinz]

Sarki,

I also have a 34X27 Three stall. I tried to heat my garage two years ago with propane. Noticing that it was very comfortable at 70 deg. and 10-30 outside I began running it all the time. After crunching numbers myself I began to notice I was spending around $200.00 a month On just propane. I use the garage for the "man cave" working on rides, parking, hanging out with the neighbors and have a "few". And wanted to have all that more affordable. I ran a gas line (natural) to my garage with yellow flex. and powered it by a 30 amp beraker as well. I got a Modine 75,000BTU I found on craigs list for $200.00 NEW IN BOX! I will tell you now, I'm like any average working man, wanted to have the best but, needed that budget to make it work. I will also tell you that I would NOT go anything less than a 60K because the more BTU's you have the LESS it will have to work, the better it is on your bill! Last winter, average outside temp of 20 and my garage ALWAYS stays at 68 deg. my bill was $16.00 for heating my garage. (attached to my home) verses the $200+ I was spending on propane.

HOPE THIS HELPS?

Skinz

 

[Sarki]

Lots of helpful stuff, thanks. Need to take a look at these links and try to get an idea of cost. I know electric is usually more expensive ti heat with in the long run but I will only be needing to heat the garage on a very limited basis. The up front cost of $3-$3.5K+ for propane vs. $250 for a ceiling mounted Dayton G73 electric heater is a strong argument for the electric unit.
If I was planning on heating it on an everyday basis I would say hands down propane but I'm talking a Sat or Sun here and there and a night or 2 at most during the week.
Now if I could pick up a Modine/Reznor sealed combustion 60K propane unit for a song, that might change my mind but I'm looking at roughly $1300 plus running LP lines and getting a tank. All that is looking like $3000+

 

[6768rogues]

My tank belongs to the propane company and is loaned to me as long as I buy their product. It is a little more money than shopping around, but I don't own a tank and I simply email them when I need a refill.

 

[Falcon67]

Lots of helpful stuff, thanks. Need to take a look at these links and try to get an idea of cost. I know electric is usually more expensive ti heat with in the long run but I will only be needing to heat the garage on a very limited basis. The up front cost of $3-$3.5K+ for propane vs. $250 for a ceiling mounted Dayton G73 electric heater is a strong argument for the electric unit.
If I was planning on heating it on an everyday basis I would say hands down propane but I'm talking a Sat or Sun here and there and a night or 2 at most during the week.

That's how I work usually. I spent a lot of time in the shop last winter and set the G73 so that it stayed around mid 50s all the time, with a t-stat bump to mid 60s when I was in there. At .105 cents/kWh it added maybe $70 to the bill in the really cold (for us) months of January and February. I could have probably cut that in half by just turning it on when I went to work out there. The shop never seems to get below 45F unless it gets cloudy and real cold for days, which is rare here.

I set the 12K A/C unit on a timer this summer as a test, turning it on at 5 PM and off at 10 PM. The "cool dial" was set about midway, to put the temp at 80ish in the shop. The cost was right at $5 a week.

 

[moto367]

Where I'm at in Ohio, I paid $1.49 for propane. Man, some people are getting gouged big time!!

 

[csp]

My tank belongs to the propane company and is loaned to me as long as I buy their product. It is a little more money than shopping around, but I don't own a tank and I simply email them when I need a refill.

One of my neighbors does that. He pays almost double what I do for a gallon. With a 1000 gallon tank we buy it once a year when prices are low.

 

[bd8134]

I am also in the northeast. I rent my tank from Eastern Propane, they did the final connection to my Sterling heater. As long as you did not need to run the pipe underground the install is not expensive. I mounted the heater, ran the electric, connected the vent myself. I bought the heater from littlegreenhouse.com along with the very nice vent pipe. I used a sheetrock lifter to hold it while I bolted it in place. You can find other websites selling Modine etc, I just went with Sterling as they are in MA. Then get the heater inspected. It should certainly be come out less than $3k. Using electricity is very expensive but it is your choice.

 

[ishiboo]

Install a used oil furnace. It is cheaper than propane, you can pick up a furnace for $200-300 for a nice one, plus you'll need to buy the pieces for the chimney.

Will require a fuel tank but often they come with the used furnaces, and they are easy to plumb.

 

[nate379]

Really all depends on location.

Around here propane would be crazy to use for heat, last time I checked it was close to $5/gallon. Electric is $0.19 Kw/hr, so that would be expensive as well.

Natural gas and wood are by far the cheapest.

 

[ishiboo]

Really all depends on location.

Around here propane would be crazy to use for heat, last time I checked it was close to $5/gallon. Electric is $0.19 Kw/hr, so that would be expensive as well.

Natural gas and wood are by far the cheapest.

I'm moving into (first time) a place with Propane - right now we're at $1.63/gallon in the midwest. It's more expensive than natural gas and fuel oil, but far cheaper than electric. Wood is the cheapest if you can deal with it - not an option for me until they make a wood furnace that runs just like a pellet stove

 

[Fastback]

Check into a good woodstove if you have the room. Some of those things can burn for 8 hours at a time. I hear the soapstone units are the best.
I have a wood furnace in the house, it rocks but it uses a bunch of wood, but the soapstone units are more of a radiant heat.

 

[oldgoaly]

use the money for the electric heater and seal up your shop! seal the wind out and heat in then insulated. I'm heating almost 5000 sq feet for $600/650 a year. windows 52 of them a vinyl double pane replacement, wall 3/4 lap board 2by4's 3/4 celotex. 2 doors are standard insulated house doors, garage doors are 2 inch insulated. ceiling is 1" foam board 2by6's 3/4" foam board. Trick is dead air spaces and good seals around everything. oh and 25 yrs worth of packing peanuts and styrofoam in trash bags in the attic. heating units 2 100,000 input 93.7/94% efficiency furnaces using outside air. at nite it 50-55 daytime 60-65. cooled with a 18,000 btu split system, was real nice!!!! I was always in the shop! cooler there than in the house...hehehehe.

 

[jvitez]

Just for interest, here is our current cost comparison for Manitoba. Electricity is ~ 6.5 cents/kwh here. NG still wins. Propane:

http://www.hydro.mb.ca/your_home/heating/home_heating_comparisons.pdf

Everything depends on relative costs between fuels, plus capital costs to install the system. Crunch the numbers for your own situation as costs vary enormously throughout North America.

 

[Chetter]

I heated my 24x32 garage with 10ft ceilings using a 45000 btu mr heater garage heater with propane last winter and my total cost was at just over 300.00 for the period from late Nov-March. I set the t-stat for 48* and leave on 24/7 and push it to 60* when I go out to work on the car or other project. My total cost for putting my heater in 3 years ago was not a 1000.00and that includes everything up to and including propane bottles, filled. My garage is insulated and my doors are insulated as well and I have door seals around all doors, no windows. It costs me 32.00 to fill one 40lb bottle and the price has stayed the same from last year since I just filled a bottle to prepare for the winter.