Upgrading to 3 car garage

[Cheezhead]

Bring on the Heat!

I was waiting for this little guy to go sale during the fall and it finally did just in time.

I was going back and forth between the 45K and 75K but decided on the 75K. My thought was that if it was too big I will move it to the detached 30x40 if that ever gets built.

I had originally planned on putting it up in the corner above the panel. There was a outlet already there and I ran the thermostat wire. It would also make a short gas run.

That was bad planning by me. For one, I had planned on running the exhaust out the sidewall, but a few things through a wrench in that idea. The exhaust is supposed to be 5' long minimum, so that would put the heater way out in the room or exhaust would stick way out the wall outside. Secondly, the exhaust needs to be 8' or so from an outside wall (not sure the term but that is in the crotch of an "L" and was too close to the side wall).

So it was to the outside corner and out the roof.

Got it mounted, thanks Dad for the help and neighbor for the extra ladder.

 

[Cheezhead]

I used standard B-vent for the exhaust. here's a good tip from my brother-in-law who does HVAC for a living. Get a laser and set it on the ground and shoot it up vertically. Cut the ceiling, then mark where the laser is on the bottom of the roofing. Drill a pilot through the underside of the roof, then take the collar on the roof, center it and spray paint the shingles in the hole to get the perfect oblong hole you need cut. Worked pretty slick. Shingles fought me a bit since it was about 45-50F but got it in.

For the attic space I added a brace and the fire stop.

I don't have a pic but I bought some 6" vent, put it over the 4" B-vent and put a bunch of 1" screws through it to give it the 1" clearance to the insulation.


I debated on using Counterstrike flexible tubing for gas or copper. My brother in-law offered to do the black CS, but he lives far away and it was going to mean a big wait so I went with 1/2 copper with 2 psi to the furnace and a 1/2 psi regulator at the furnace so supply is never an issue.

 

[Cheezhead]

Heating Issues

I must say if you live up north, heat in the garage (especially vented exhaust heat) is simply awesome. I didn't have insulation in the attic at first but it was still great...........at first.

After using it for a weekend I began having problems with the blower fan shutting off then it would overheat and trip the limit switch. First I thought it was the board, but it was still getting power. After farting with it for a few weeks it turned out it was the fan over heating. I compared it with a co-workers and his was a good 20F cooler on the magnet.

I put on a new fan and that ran cooler but it was still too warm for comfort. Next was to double check the gas manifold pressure.

Manometer time. I never knew what water column was but I know the spec for the furnace (NG) is 3.5". It is the distance the gas pushes the water up on two parallel columns. So I did some research and made one. This is a pic without the water in it.

Turns out I was running 4.25", which 30% above spec. This was causing too much radiant heat off the unit and overheating the fan. I dropped mine down to about 2. 1.75" is the first stage spec (for NG) on a 2 stage furnace. Flame was still blue so it is fine to run.

I have run it like this for a few months so I'm going to bump it back up to about 2.75-3 this spring when I move the car.

To anyone installing these types of furnaces, I would recommend making one of these. You can test supply pressure/wc, test for leaks in the supply, and check gas valve pressure. I knew nothing about this prior to this install, but was interesting to learn.

 

[Cheezhead]

Heater paid for itself within the first few weeks!

The heater quickly paid for itself. Not long after getting it going, my DD 2001 malibu started steaming. The dreaded 3.1/3.4 chev intake gasket was leaking. Shop wanted $800 for a 5-6 hour job for them. I didn't have much to lose so I watched how to videos and tackled it myself. I don't care to work on new cars much, but it was a pretty straight forward job and I'm glad I did it. Cost me about $100 and about 12 hours and some beer but fixed it when it would have been too cold for me too work on it without a heater.

 

[Cheezhead]

Kids and lack of funds have been keeping garage progress at a crawl. I did get the fourth garage equivalent painted (12x20 shed). I think it turned out nice but took longer, more paint and $$$ than I expected.

Have to fix the ramp later.

Next project is cleaning etching and resealing garage floor. Nothing fancy this time around. Keeping it low cost and simple with penetrating sealer.

 

[Cheezhead]

It’s been awhile since I last updated, well a couple years I guess. Time flies with work and kids but I’ve made progress on the garage. I bought maple cabinets from a place called Builders Materials Outlet, there are a few across the country. I painted them primer grey and coated them with matte clear chalk paint from menards for a nice cleanable finish. I still need to do the upper doors but it is coming along nicely I think. The countertop is basic cheap stock laminate from menards and I added under cabinet LED tape lights from Home Depot. It is nice that it is dimmable, and can change color as well if you want.

I also scored a 40” led tv from Craigslist for a reasonable price, and not shown, a brand new in the box 5.1 surround sound system.

Beer neons are up, as well as some wall art and. The kids love riding their scooters and skating with the heat on when it’s snowing and freezing outside.