Recommended heater for attached single gargage/art room?

[Matti]

I converted my attached single garage (12x22) to an art room as I built myself a big detached double. Gotta keep the wife and daughter happy
I can't tie the house ducting into the garage so was wondering what is available for heating. I'm thinking the typical garage unit type heater will be too loud and intrusive. I do have natural gas into the garage. The radiant tube garage heaters are probably not right for this kind of room either. I'm thinking electric baseboard heaters might not be too economical but maybe I'm wrong here. The old garage had a 1950 floor mounted natural gas fired radiator which was ok but I threw out that dinosaur. Any ideas?

ps It gets cold here

 

[porschedude996TT]

I just installed an electric point of service that has no water storage tank. It heats the water as you need it. My unit is 220V/20amp. It only put out 1/2 gal of hot water, but it works well.

 

[NUTTSGT]

If you have natural gas in the garage, I'd recommend a ventless gas heater.

 

[vartz04]

I just installed an electric point of service that has no water storage tank. It heats the water as you need it. My unit is 220V/20amp. It only put out 1/2 gal of hot water, but it works well.

he is talking about a heater for the air, not a water heater.

 

[trainer]

I did something very similar to what you did.

I built a new garage for myself and converted my old shop to a studio/ Noise room for the kids.

My new shop (28x28) has an empire direct vent heater. Very safe, quiet and nice even heat. Here's a link with photos. I bought mine from the local heating contractor
http://empire-comfort-systems.amroy...direct-vent-wall-furnace-for-natural-gas.html

In the studio (14x22 detached building) I installed a dimplex 2000 watt wall heater. I thought it may have been a bit undersized, but it seemed to perform ok after one winter. The building is well insulated and sealed with new windows and doors.
At ~$150 It was quite a bit cheaper to install than running a gas line. http://wesellit.ca/product/display/dimplex_wallheater/ I bought mine at Home Hardware.

 

[Andamo]

Re: Recommended heater for attached single garage/art room?

Just a word about the vent less gas heaters. I put 2 of them in my 2 story 24x36 garage. They are 30,000 BTU units with fan and thermostat. For the uninsulated downstairs part where the cars were, the 30K were undersized and would take a while to get the area comfortable to work in here in Western PA. Plus, because of the burning process, there is a fair amount of moisture created plus there is a smell associated with the burning too. I made sure I had a CO monitor and it never warned of a problem. But I did notice if I went into the house, or outside and came back into the garage, there was a smell that just didn't seem right. The reason used the vent less was because the garage was new and I didn't want to poke a hole in the wall to vent the exhaust. Now that the garage is older, I installed a vented Reznor gas heater.
I can't say this for sure, but last winter I had a project that kept me in the garage for about a week and a half off and on. All this time I had to use the vent less heater. After the project was done, I became sick with flu like symptoms which went away after a week. But I never did make a 100% recovery and then after a month went to the doctor. It seems I had bronchitis in both lungs. Whether the heater had something to do with it, or it was merely circumstances.........I don't know.

 

[Matti]

I have a vent through the roof already but the Reznor style heater is kind of intrusive for an art room. I do have a 1500W portable oil filled heater which I could use to see if it's enough btu but I think I need something thermostatically controlled.

 

[Andamo]

A small wall mounted vented gas heater will be your best bet. That 1500 w electric heater isn't going to be near enough especially since you're in Canada.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Re: Recommended heater for attached single garage/art room?

Just a word about the vent less gas heaters. I put 2 of them in my 2 story 24x36 garage. They are 30,000 BTU units with fan and thermostat. For the uninsulated downstairs part where the cars were, the 30K were undersized and would take a while to get the area comfortable to work in here in Western PA.

I don't think the 30s were under sized, it was your uninsulated garage. What it would have cost to insulate it, you probably would have saved in fuel in the first year or two.

 

[Andamo]

Re: Recommended heater for attached single garage/art room?

Eric,
I should have expanded on what I started to say, and then dropped. I only used 1 on the heaters downstairs in the garage area and the other is being used upstairs in a smaller fully insulated work area. And yes, you're probably right I could have insulated the downstairs for less money, and I gave that some thought. But what was bothering more about the entire deal was the smell being created from the heater. From talking some folks, they said maybe it's the odorant that is added to natural gas, methyl mercapitan that was being burned off. I know it's only added in PPM amounts and maybe that's what it was.

 

[HoosierBuddy]

If you have natural gas in the garage, I'd recommend a ventless gas heater.

That's just wrong. I mean...there could be no possible WORSE application for a ventless gas heater than an art room.

Any and all solvents in any paints or finishes will get sucked right into the heater, burned and the byproducts blown back out at you.

I'm a gas guy. You cut me and I don't bleed...I just leak methane. BUT...If I were you I would seriously consider a heat pump for this application IF you want a/c as well as heat. If you want heat only, consider a gas furnace.

Phil

 

[HoosierBuddy]

Re: Recommended heater for attached single garage/art room?

Eric,
I should have expanded on what I started to say, and then dropped. I only used 1 on the heaters downstairs in the garage area and the other is being used upstairs in a smaller fully insulated work area. And yes, you're probably right I could have insulated the downstairs for less money, and I gave that some thought. But what was bothering more about the entire deal was the smell being created from the heater. From talking some folks, they said maybe it's the odorant that is added to natural gas, methyl mercapitan that was being burned off. I know it's only added in PPM amounts and maybe that's what it was.

The odor IS NOT mercapitan.

Anything that can get sucked into the combustion air (which is all the air in the room) get's sucked in and burned with the gas. Any combustion byproduct NOW BECOMES THE AIR IN THE ROOM. Process recycles and continues.

When you first burn a ventless heater they stink to high heaven for about a day.

Then...they only stink if you have any sort of solvents or polutants that get sucked into them. Paint thinner is awful. The residue will get on the heating elements and cause a stink for days. It's almost WORSE if the heater is off and only the pilot is on, as even more of the residue will end up on the heating elements. Even plug in air fresheners or common cleaning products around a ventless heater will cause a terrible stink.

In other words...it's everything BUT the mercapitan!

I've got 2-ventless heaters in my house. They are great for occaisonal or backup heat as they are 99% efficient and require no power to operate. They are terrible for about anything else ESPECIALLY if you are using them as your only source of heat in a 24 X 7 X Winter situation. They just aren't designed for that. They aren't recommended for that.

Also...I learned a long time ago that if I'm painting anywhere in the house or even in the attached garage...I have to shut off the heaters completely (including the pilots) and leave them off until the paint is completely dry. That at least minimizes the stink when I turn them back on.

Phil