Recommendations for Propane Heater

[heavypaws23]

We are in the process of adding on a 30' by 16' addition to our garage. We would like some type of propane heating unit. Can anyone share a Brand name and their experience with the unit. We live in Central NY, very cold winters. We were thinking of a wall unit with outside tanks. Thanks so much for your time! Heavypaws23

 

[5lima30]

My father-in-law heats their house (about 1100 sq ft) with (2) of the Pro-Com wall mounted units that have the square ceramic plaques (not open flame) and it keeps their home toasty in the winter. They don't use alot of LP according to him. You can check them out at Northern Tool who seems to have the best prices.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Pretty much all natural gas heaters/furnaces can be changed to propane.

 

[dave67fd]

Some of the popular LP FHA heaters on here are the Mr. Heater/Big Maxx, Modine Hot Dawg's, Stearlings and Reznor's. They all have same similar attributes and design. The Typically come in a 40-50k BTU and 70-80k BTU's and above.

Stay away from Un-vented heaters as they will introduce lots of CO and moisture into your space.

If your serious about your heating needs, make sure your area is first fully insulated or you will be throwing your money out the window. Choose a size that's abit above adequate for your sq./ft'g.

I have the 75k BTU (input) BigMaxx LP unit heating my fully insulated, just under 1200 sq/ft shop. Take time to research the different units as well as where you can install it, the vent and gas line. Check all your local codes as well.

 

[heavypaws23]

Thank you so much for the information! Our garage is not going to be insulated because we don't spend much time out there. However, when we work out there, it would be nice to have it at least 55 degrees so we don't have to wear our coats. God bless! Heavypaws

 

[mikester]

Ive got a Modine Hot Dawg. Works great.

 

[dave67fd]

If you don't want to spend the money to insulate then why spend money on an installed unit heater?
You mention your "adding" a 30 x 16 space. What size is it currently?

With your very cold NY winters and assuming the space is a significant size, most wall heaters at ~30k BTU's will probably be running all the time.

Here's some ideas
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/category_heaters-stoves-fireplaces

 

[heavypaws23]

I checked out the links. Great garage. It looks like a labor of love!

The addition is going to be used for storage. That is why we are not going to insulate the room. We buy and sell antiques & collectibles and right now everything is in piles in various rooms of our home. We are going to get our home back and get everything out into the barn.

We want heat to take the chill off for the times when we might spend two or three hours; perhaps once a week.

We were all set to buy a wood stove, but the cost, hassle with clean up and wood didn't make sense. We have pets and grand children and we really don't like the idea of propane space heaters from a safety standpoint.

I would be interested in any additional thoughts you might have. Thanks! Heavypaws23

 

[kmacht]

How about a pellet stove. All the benefits of wood without the hassle. Push a button to turn it on and in about 5 minutes you have heat. When you are done for the day just push another button and it runs until it cools off and then shuts itself off. The only cleanup you have to do is to vacuum out a little bit of ash every few weeks. A 40lb bag of pellets for around $5 will run a pellet stove on medium to high for a full day.

Keith

 

[heavypaws23]

Hi Keith - we thought about a pellet stove as well, but you have to store the pellets. Also, there may be a code problem with an open flame type of set up in a garage because of the fumes. Thanks so much.

 

[AussieDan]

Honestly the cost of adding insulation now will be minimal, you're looking at probably $2-300 for basic r13 fiberglass in the walls. If you're going to drywall the walls do it now, I'm in the middle of replacing 45'x8' of drywall to insulate (and run new electrical) because the previous owner didn't spend the extra few hundred. Attic insulation is more expensive, but that's able to be blown in later easily if it's not in the budget now.

I'm trying to work out the venting arrangement for a 60k propane Modine Hot Dawg right now for my 30x22 attached here in CNY.

 

[vartz04]

R-13 is $8-9 per 32' roll. 8' ceilings get 4 bays per roll at 16" OC. thats $155 at $9 a roll for the walls. 480 SF insulated with R13 for the ceilings (not enough but a huge help over nothing) is $135. so for $190 you can insulate the whole thing in an afternoon and save a ton of $ on heating fuel (propane).

Insulate now, its an investment. The other thing it will do is make it much cooler in the summer in there. Consider framing a small window A/C unit into the wall as well.

 

[SteelHorseHD]

I agree with everyone on the insulation if you are planning on putting any sort of permanent heat source out there. If not, you could just buy a salamander heater that would take the chill off quickly but then you have to worry about getting fresh air into the space.

 

[heavypaws23]

We are in the process of adding on a 30' by 16' addition to our garage. We would like some type of propane heating unit. Can anyone share a Brand name and their experience with the unit. We live in Central NY, very cold winters. We were thinking of a wall unit with outside tanks. Thanks so much for your time! Heavypaws23

We don't like the idea of salamanders or space heaters because of our grandchildren and pets. We thought it would be safer to have something up off the floor and stationary.

Thanks!

 

[dave67fd]

Paws,
Correct, installing a solid fuel heater in a garage is against NFPA codes but maybe acceptable by your local codes.
Running a wood stove doesn't make much sense for your minimal usage.

If you store any valuable antiques, please consider insulating regardless if your out there or not. Insulating will keep the excessive heat down in the summer and will also help in greatly reducing the moisture content. Both of these can ruin your items. If your willing to spend a couple to a few hundred bucks on a heater, use it to insulate first. Trust me as well as others are saying.

 

[heavypaws23]

Dave - Thanks, I am on board with the insulation and we already nixed the wood stove idea. I just need to decide what to do for a heater. I read that 30,000 BTU's should cover 1,000 square feet; I'm thinking more like 45,000. I called around pricing propane delivery yesterday and there is lots of fat in their pricing; I think it would be much more economical to buy and fill our own tanks - probably 2 40 lbs. What are your thoughts? Thanks again. This is a great web site!

By the way, what did you put on your walls over the insulation?

 

[toyotadriver]

If you are gonna transport and fill your own tanks I would use the 100 lb tanks. Usually cheaper per gallon to fill...at least in my area.

Remember that if the heater is rated at 45k BTU you have to subtract the heat losses through the flue. Usually around 81-83%. So, a 45k BTU unit will make something like 37k BTUs.

I currently have a 45k BTU Mr. Heater gas furnace in my shop 30x40 with 10 ft sidewalls and a well insulated ceiling. It seems to do the trick but I haven't been able to run it yet on a super cold winter day. May end up having to upgrade to 75k BTU but for the time being, the 45k seems to be doing the trick.

 

[bmwjerry]

Are those heaters pretty noisy? Seems to me I've been places where the heaters are loud enough to make a telephone conversation difficult.
I know the bullet type heaters that burn kerosene sound like a jet engine.

What about the Williams in the wall furnace-- can these be used with propane?
And do these have advantages / disadvantages vs. the suspended from the ceiling furnace?
Those take up no floor space of course, whereas some of the Williams units take up some wall/floor space.

Also, I think some of these units output the warm air down low, toward the floor-- is this an advantage or do we need some way (ceiling fan? or other solution? ) to get the warm air down around one's feet?

This is a link to some pictures of the Williams units- some of these can be outfitted with blowers too, I think.
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q...IR&pq=williams+wall+furnace&sc=8-21&sp=-1&sk=

 

[heavypaws23]

If you are gonna transport and fill your own tanks I would use the 100 lb tanks. Usually cheaper per gallon to fill...at least in my area.

Remember that if the heater is rated at 45k BTU you have to subtract the heat losses through the flue. Usually around 81-83%. So, a 45k BTU unit will make something like 37k BTUs.

I currently have a 45k BTU Mr. Heater gas furnace in my shop 30x40 with 10 ft sidewalls and a well insulated ceiling. It seems to do the trick but I haven't been able to run it yet on a super cold winter day. May end up having to upgrade to 75k BTU but for the time being, the 45k seems to be doing the trick.

It seems that a 100 Lb tank would be really heavy and awkward to transport?

 

[heavypaws23]

Yes, Williams furnaces can be used with propane.

 

[toyotadriver]

It seems that a 100 Lb tank would be really heavy and awkward to transport?

They are heavy but not really all that bad.

Remember, a propane tank can only handle a certain withdrawal rate for propane. The smaller the tank the quicker the tank will freeze up.

 

[dave67fd]

Dave - Thanks, I am on board with the insulation and we already nixed the wood stove idea. I just need to decide what to do for a heater. I read that 30,000 BTU's should cover 1,000 square feet; I'm thinking more like 45,000. I called around pricing propane delivery yesterday and there is lots of fat in their pricing; I think it would be much more economical to buy and fill our own tanks - probably 2 40 lbs. What are your thoughts? Thanks again. This is a great web site!

By the way, what did you put on your walls over the insulation?

A 100lb tank will be quite heavy when full. Seeing as your not out there much it should last awhile. Of course that will depend on your heating/insulation factors. Nothing wrong with buying your own tank and having it delivered.

The popular FHA hanging heaters ( Mr. Heater, Hot Dwg, Reznors etc..) are pretty quiet. Obviously the bigger the BTU heater the louder. My 75K is pretty quiet IMO.

Will a 30k BTU heater heat 1000 sq. ft ? Yes, so will a 1K BTU heater. The question is what do you want to heat it to and from what temperature and how long do you wan't it to take to get there?
Buying a relatively small heater (~30k BTU Input/~24K BTU output) for your uninsulated space (assume 1000 sq/ft) on a 10 deg. winter night will drain your 100 gal tank pretty quickly. You will need to run the heater quite a while before even going out there.

Abit more than half of my shop and ceiling is plaster, the other half is OSB board.

 

[heavypaws23]

Hi Dave - what is OSB board? We decided today that we are going to insulate. Now we need to figure out what is best for the walls. Do I need to switch my post to a different forum to discuss this issue? Thanks for being so helpful. You know your stuff!!! Paws

 

[dave67fd]

OSB, Oriented Strand Board is an engineered wood product. I bought in 4x8 sheets. About $13 a sheet around here. You can also buy drywall for under $10 a sheet. I choose board on one side so i can screw anything to the walls and you can't really damage it. Their also removable if using drywall screws. The other side, back wall and ceiling is plaster. More for cleanliness, it's decorative, better light reflection and strong as well.

Typical insulation for walls is R19/R20 and R30 for the ceiling. There are several insulation types depending on your type of construction but you can just keep it simple. You can buy in continuous roll (you cut to length and is usually cheaper) or specific length "Batts".
Go to youtube.com, there are tons of video tutorials on the subject. You can also just insulate this year and leave covering for later or not at all.

This is a perfect forum to discuss insulation. Just start a new post.

 

[Jackfre]

Rinnai ES38 would do your space easily. With insulation I'd go with the EX22. Direct vent, sealed combustion, modulating gas valve and blower. cool to the touch, quiet, built in seven day programmable t-stat. Not cheap, but you get what you pay for. Talk to your local propane companies about who makes the best units. You can get cheaper. You can't get better.

Buying and carrying LP is a giant pita. As well, when you buy in those small qtys you get hammered cost wise. If this is to be a long term supply try to buy your own tank in the 250-500 gal range. That way you have some fly wheel effect going into the season. If you can buy/store the whole seasons heating load you can buy in the off season and have significant savings. I think I'd make a deal with the local lp company this season, see what you use and go from there.

 

[heavypaws23]

Thanks, that is really good thinking. I will check out the Rinnai. I really appreciate all the help. Thanks so much and God bless! Heavypaws