Recommendations on heating room in garage

[derekeh]

I have a 36' x 12' section of my garage that I would like to heat and possibly cool. That section has a bathroom in it that is approximately 8' x 12'. Walls are 2x6 with r19 insulation and ceiling is 2x10 joists with r30 insulation. 9' wide insulated garage door on the front and 36" insulated door on the side. I live in southern Kentucky. Winters are fairly mild, but we do have the occasional temps in the single digits or even below zero every winter.
Ive noticed that a lot seem to be fans of ductless mini splits on here with Mr Cool being popular. Im interested in going this route, but i worry about it heating both rooms okay, and how well it will do in low temperatures. I work out of town, so im not always here to add temporary supplemental heat if needed during an extreme low temp period. Any thoughts on this?
I got a few quotes on a heat pump and it was $8k. Id prefer not to spend this much to heat this small of an area if possible. Although this would certianly take care of heating both rooms more equally.
Any ideas or recommendations? Thank you.

 

[jblnut]

Whatever you go with for a primary heat system you can easily put a small oil filled space heater in each room and set it on low so it'll only come on if there are issues with the primary system if you're worried about it.

Here in Central MN I heat a 24x14 room in my shop to 67f pretty easily with an oil filled heater. It's not on all the time and the ambient heat from the shop keeps it around 50f when the heater isn't on. It's on the NW corner so it gets the brunt of the wind though.

The mini split system will give you heat and AC in one system so that's a plus. That seems quite spendy though .....

 

[PoorUB]

Is the bathroom door connected to the area you want to heat?

The bathroom I would put in a electric baseboard. The main area a mini split would be nice if you want AC too. If you go with a mini split make certain you get a hyper heat model, or what ever the manufacturer calls there model. Most mini splits stop heating efficiently around zero degrees outdoor temp. The hyper heats models will produce heat at much lower temps.

If you don't care about AC, perhaps electric baseboard would be the answer. Not as cheap to operate, but the cost to install will offset the utility bill, plus zero problems!

Another choice is there is small wall mount propane or natural gas room heaters. If you heat the main area the bath will stay warm if you leave the door open, or add a baseboard heater.

 

[derekeh]

Whatever you go with for a primary heat system you can easily put a small oil filled space heater in each room and set it on low so it'll only come on if there are issues with the primary system if you're worried about it.

Here in Central MN I heat a 24x14 room in my shop to 67f pretty easily with an oil filled heater. It's not on all the time and the ambient heat from the shop keeps it around 50f when the heater isn't on. It's on the NW corner so it gets the brunt of the wind though.

The mini split system will give you heat and AC in one system so that's a plus. That seems quite spendy though .....

Are you talking about the radiator style heaters? Ill have to look into those. My main concern is heating my bathroom so I can leave it usable during the winter, although the rest of this section of the garage being warm sounds wonderful. I might put one in the bathroom alone and see how well it heats it. Maybe a mini split with a couple of these oil heaters? hmmm.

 

[jblnut]

Are you talking about the radiator style heaters? Ill have to look into those. My main concern is heating my bathroom so I can leave it usable during the winter, although the rest of this section of the garage being warm sounds wonderful. I might put one in the bathroom alone and see how well it heats it. Maybe a mini split with a couple of these oil heaters? hmmm.

Yes. Like this -> https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HG923KN/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Don't be fooled into one or another type of electric heater that sucking 1500w being "more energy efficient" than another. They all **** the same amount of power lol. I have found these oil filled radiator style to provide the most even heat over anything with a fan. They take a while to heat up but are always kicking out a little heat even when they're not drawing power.

It'd be great for a little bathroom but will use lots of power.

That being said ..... I kept my 8x16 pump house at 45f for the past bunch of winters for less than $50/winter so it isn't that bad to run. I used a Killawatt to track the power because I just had to know lol.

 

[derekeh]

Is the bathroom door connected to the area you want to heat?

The bathroom I would put in a electric baseboard. The main area a mini split would be nice if you want AC too. If you go with a mini split make certain you get a hyper heat model, or what ever the manufacturer calls there model. Most mini splits stop heating efficiently around zero degrees outdoor temp. The hyper heats models will produce heat at much lower temps.

If you don't care about AC, perhaps electric baseboard would be the answer. Not as cheap to operate, but the cost to install will offset the utility bill, plus zero problems!

Another choice is there is small wall mount propane or natural gas room heaters. If you heat the main area the bath will stay warm if you leave the door open, or add a baseboard heater.

Yes. The total size of the area I want to heat is 36' x 12'. The bathroom takes up roughly 7' x 12' in the back. Im thinking of a mini split about mid ways on the 36' long wall that is on the exterior part of my garage, and aim half of the fins towards the bathroom. As backup or supplemental heat, i could use the oil heaters as mentioned above, or perhaps the baseboard style heaters as you mentioned. Although something on the wall or ceiling would probably work better for me in the main shop room.

Ive also considered the window style ac units that also heat, but they dont seem to get good reviews on the heat side of things. Any experience with these?

Another option ive thrown around is propane. If one of the smaller propane heaters would heat this section of my garage and be dependable, it would be great. This would be great as well in the event of a power outage as I could still have heat and not worry about my water lines freezing. Where i work away from home, its not always easy to deal with it. For ac, i could do a window unit later or maybe a mini split. This would possibly be helpful for my house (seperate building) as well. I could get a decent size propane tank put back by the garage, and run a line to my house as well to use it as backup or supplemental heat for the house.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Is the bathroom door connected to the area you want to heat?

The bathroom I would put in a electric baseboard. The main area a mini split would be nice if you want AC too. If you go with a mini split make certain you get a hyper heat model, or what ever the manufacturer calls there model. Most mini splits stop heating efficiently around zero degrees outdoor temp. The hyper heats models will produce heat at much lower temps.

If you don't care about AC, perhaps electric baseboard would be the answer. Not as cheap to operate, but the cost to install will offset the utility bill, plus zero problems!

Another choice is there is small wall mount propane or natural gas room heaters. If you heat the main area the bath will stay warm if you leave the door open, or add a baseboard heater.

I'd go with the wall mount LP or NG heater for heat. A small fan blowing on low (not pointed at heater) and allow that to run at all times. It'll slowly circulate the heat around the room.

The small electric baseboards do work nicely in a room like a bathroom to keep it warm.

 

[dshop]

an oil filled radiator heater will easily heat that small a space to a comfortable level. A good advantage is that it is controlled by an internal thermostat, so once you get it where you want it just let it run. Also...no open flame or wires, so no fire hazard.
Highly recommended.

 

[fitter30]

Ptac unit ( motel unit) they come in heatpump with electric strip and can have a small duct off of them for the restroom.