Ventless Garage Heater

[ITGuy11]

I am looking at getting a ventless heater for the garage. The garage is attached to the house. The dimensions of the garage are: 34 x 24 with a 9 foot ceiling. The ceiling is insulated with R-30 cellulose, currently the walls are not insulated. My goal is to keep the garage around 50 degrees throughout the entire Michigan winter so I can work on my project car. The garage contains your basic hand tools and an air compressor.

Here is what I am looking at: http://www.northerntool.com/shop/to...e&cm_ite=177217?ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=177217

Is this convection unit a good choice or is infrared the way to go?

 

[trythis]

That kind of heater pumps moisture into the space. If you have any tools or want to prevent long term mold issues, it might be a good idea to look into something else.
Please tell us what kind of garage, how high the ceiling is, room size, attached, type of equipment you have, etc.

It would also help to know what part of the country, or which country, for that matter. That can tell us how many degrees you need to raise the temp to get 50. Hawaii vs Michigan you know.

 

[willymakeit]

I have a ventless in my shop and will second the moisture issue. It can get bad. I will use a dehumidfier sometimes.

 

[trbomax]

We have one of them in the horse barn feed room. It works fine but as others say,makes a lot of water vapor. We have a low temp dehumidifier in there because the leather on the saddles and harness will mold in the winter w/o it.I would spend a little more and get a wall vented unit, or a small,real 95% furnace. You can buy a nice little 45k/ 95% for around $800.Thats what I got for the machine shop and sewing/stained glass shops in my big building. They total 1200 sq.ft and it works great.

 

[Dragster Racer]

Get something that is vented for continual use. Moisture and combustion vapors are not what you want in your garage.

 

[tcianci]

Moisture from the combustion process can be an issue with non vented heaters. Also, it would seem best to avoid any type of open combustion heater in an area where you may be using solvents, paints or fuel. You may be best served by a vertical furnace that uses outside air for combustion and direct vents the exhaust. They take up little wall space and offer sealed combustion so you are not exhausting air that you already spent money to heat.

 

[oldgoat]

I put a dehumidifer in my garage to take care of the humidity, but as long as you mount the unit up shoulder high like mine called out for you don't have much to worry about unless you really get crazy with the fumes. Many water heaters are out in a garage and I believe they are required to be on like a 12 or 18" riser. Even if the furnace does draw outside air the flame is still going to be inside the garage although it will help keeping the air from getting real dry.

 

[Junkman]

If the walls are uninsulated, no matter what type of heater you use, it is going to cost a fortune to keep it at 50 degrees.. Uninsulated walls are just like having open doors with the heat on. I suggest that you insulate and sheet-rock the building before you spend any money on a heater. The cost of insulation and sheet-rock will be offset by the savings in fuel costs.

 

[Busted_Knuckles]

I installed a vent-less natural gas wall unit in my first garage, I ran it for about 2 days and boxed it back up and returned it. The moisture it provided was unreal. Id open the door to walk outside and a large cloud of vapor would roll out the door ! I ended up with a large 220 V forced fan heater.

 

[Trevis]

I have ventless in my garage also (21-30ft). Pretty good insulation and I can get it to 80 degree's if I want. On those -10 days/nights outside I do notice the humidity does get a little high. Air movement made A big difference for me. I'm looking to change to a electric type heater for just this issue. If your using it on a as need basis you just fine IMO. I keep my garage around 65 during the Nebraska winter with natural gas and I'm guesing my bill increased by $40-$50.

 

[Kevin54]

I had a ventless in my garage for about one season. I hated it. I spent the extra $50 and had a blower put on it. But a ventless puts out a lot of moisture and you can smell it even though they say that they are efficient. When I took it off of the wall, you could see where the wall was yellowed. Any dust or disturbance in the garage (air compressor being used) would cause it to change it's burning habit. If going with Propane or gas, shop around on CL or something similar and look for a mobile home furnace or a used house furnace.
On the other hand....insulate the walls. My wife uses one of the Delonghi oil filled radiators in her 20x20 building, it keeps it at around 65 degrees when it is around 0 degrees out and the electric has not jumped enough to be really noticed. But the main thing is good insulation. Right now I have two of the same heaters in my garage (28x36) and it is keeping it at 70 and we've had a few nights in the 30's

 

[HoosierBuddy]

Ventless gas heaters are great for occaisional use or for backup heat in nice, clean, environments. I have 2 in my home. One, a freestanding unit, provides supplementary and backup heat in the bonus room above my garage. The other unit is a log set in the fireplace in our family room.

As long as you only run them an hour or two a day and have good air flow and no contaminants in the air (solvents, dust, pet hair, room deodorizers, cleaning chemicals, etc.) they do a good job.

None of that applies in a garage. I had one in my barn for a couple of years and it was awful. Only thing that would have been worse would have been hypothermia.

You really need a vented heater for the garage.

Phil