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Garage heaters

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You bums cant handle 35 degrees for a couple weeks? Cuz that's all winter is ;)
I’m immune to outdoor weather. -20 to 120+ I’m fine outside. But there is no reason not to control the climate indoors to a perfect temp and humidity.



I also can’t gave my shop temp cycling a lot. The condensation on the metal ruins stuff.
 
Heater? Bah! I just triple layer up in long underwear, wool socks, a fleece, and a jacket. Colorado has a dry cold though, so the winters are probably more bearable than the Great Lakes and East Coast regions. I've borrowed my dad's propane torpedo a few times, but like already mentioned, those fumes get overwhelming after a while. Especially in my one and a half car garage.

It's the summer heat that gets to me; anything above 85° and I'm moody. I installed a swamp cooler on the back window of the garage to keep it cool, and keep a smaller swamp cooler on wheels that I can drag around.
 
Those are some nice heaters.

I have a two car garage and only half of walls have insulation. Been using this little guy for years. It takes about an hour to heat up the garage. Hoodie and working on your car helps too. Lol

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Damn, I really spoiled my garage then. Beacon/Morris heater here. Heats up really good. But floor is still cold. 2.5 car garage 24ft wide and 22 length... 7ft tall walls though. Really short
 

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Damn, I really spoiled my garage then. Beacon/Morris heater here. Heats up really good. But floor is still cold. 2.5 car garage 24ft wide and 22 length... 7ft tall walls though. Really short

That looks like an industrial heater. Lol. Looks like she’ll heats up the place real quick
 
Heater? Bah! I just triple layer up in long underwear, wool socks, a fleece, and a jacket. Colorado has a dry cold though, so the winters are probably more bearable than the Great Lakes and East Coast regions. I've borrowed my dad's propane torpedo a few times, but like already mentioned, those fumes get overwhelming after a while. Especially in my one and a half car garage.

It's the summer heat that gets to me; anything above 85° and I'm moody. I installed a swamp cooler on the back window of the garage to keep it cool, and keep a smaller swamp cooler on wheels that I can drag around.

I used to hate working when it’s hot and humid until I bought a fan. Really makes a huge difference especially working on a hot car
 
Wow. Some great feedback folks. Thanks. I think what's going to wind up happening is getting one of those little BBQ propane tank bullet heaters for now. Then run a propane line from our giant propane tanks for the pool up to the garage to a proper heater. I also need to get a walk through garage door so as to not let all the heat out opening the garage door. The space I have to fill is about a 2 1/2 car or a large two car. 21 deep by 24 wide. Big enough to fit my car, my trailer and a couple work benches. Gonna have to build a storage at some point, but first things first.
 
I've done the torpedo heater, both kero and propane. Works good if you have a very drafty shop. I started getting CO poisoning after some time though if I wasn't careful with it. Propane for the win though, much better on the CO poisoning, and cheaper as well. We had a place across the street that would fill a 20lb for $12. That's less than $3/gal, around here kero is over $4. As my need for heat in the shop got more serious I put in 2 of the 5kw electric heaters. $59/ea at rural king. The kick ass. I had a 1.5 car garage. R11 in the walls, uninsulated doors/windows/roof. On a 20* day, keeping it 60 inside they would run about 7min/hr each. Here we pay just about $0.11/kwh. So that ends up being about $0.27 per hour to keep the garage at 60*. When I wasn't going to be out there I kept it at about 50*. Was so nice not having to deal with fumes, and a shop that's always heated.

Then we moved.

My new place has a 25x25 steel quonset, and an older 40x60 pole bare both uninsulated and drafty. The quonset does have tube in the floor for heat. It's only 1 zone though. It also has 8acres of timber, and a tornader went though a few years back and it wasn't cleaned up. If I said there was 50 cords of wood that was down needing to be cut and split, I'm probably underestimating it. And by the time that's gone there will be another 50 ready to be cut down. It's all black walnut too. Anyway I have a wonderwood stove in the qonset with a big blower added on - needs some tweaking yet. I'm working on building a OWB with some storage to do the floor and hopefully a radiator in the building, and get away from the inside wood burner.

This stuff is all pretty calculable. There are a bunch of websites that show the r value of different wall setups, then with area and a temp difference you can actually calculate the heat flow, and then what the cost is based on the type of fuel.
 
I've done the torpedo heater, both kero and propane. Works good if you have a very drafty shop. I started getting CO poisoning after some time though if I wasn't careful with it. Propane for the win though, much better on the CO poisoning, and cheaper as well. We had a place across the street that would fill a 20lb for $12. That's less than $3/gal, around here kero is over $4. As my need for heat in the shop got more serious I put in 2 of the 5kw electric heaters. $59/ea at rural king. The kick ass. I had a 1.5 car garage. R11 in the walls, uninsulated doors/windows/roof. On a 20* day, keeping it 60 inside they would run about 7min/hr each. Here we pay just about $0.11/kwh. So that ends up being about $0.27 per hour to keep the garage at 60*. When I wasn't going to be out there I kept it at about 50*. Was so nice not having to deal with fumes, and a shop that's always heated.

Then we moved.

My new place has a 25x25 steel quonset, and an older 40x60 pole bare both uninsulated and drafty. The quonset does have tube in the floor for heat. It's only 1 zone though. It also has 8acres of timber, and a tornader went though a few years back and it wasn't cleaned up. If I said there was 50 cords of wood that was down needing to be cut and split, I'm probably underestimating it. And by the time that's gone there will be another 50 ready to be cut down. It's all black walnut too. Anyway I have a wonderwood stove in the qonset with a big blower added on - needs some tweaking yet. I'm working on building a OWB with some storage to do the floor and hopefully a radiator in the building, and get away from the inside wood burner.

This stuff is all pretty calculable. There are a bunch of websites that show the r value of different wall setups, then with area and a temp difference you can actually calculate the heat flow, and then what the cost is based on the type of fuel.


Great information. Thanks!!
 
I no longer own this but I had an 800 sq ft insulated garage with one of these 5 plaque radiant natural gas heaters. Ventless and I didn't have a problem with moisture.
https://www.northerntool.com/shop/t...+natural-gas-heaters+natural-gas-wall-heaters
The garage was very well insulated though so it didn't get freezing even with no heat. Most of the winter I didn't use it. If I went out in the garage for extended periods I would crank it up then turn it way way down or off. 30kBTU was plenty. I could work in a t shirt. In an uninsulated garage I think I would want forced air.
When I was in Denver I was looking at something similar to that. Now that I'm in CA again there's no need most of the time.
 
I live in Iowa and have a 3 car attached garage. It got to -30f last winter and I had no issues. I ran a flexible gas line and installed a Vent Free heater. It works awesome. On the lowest setting it keeps the garage about 55f. It cost me about 300$ all said and done to buy the flexible line and run it. I have been running it for 3 years now without any issues. You can crank it up and it heats up the space to as hot as you need in a short amount of time. I have not really noticed any extra cost for it to be running as it is very efficient.

Mr. Heater 30,000 BTU Vent Free Blue Flame Natural Gas Heater MHVFB30NGT

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https://www.menards.com/main/plumbi...1-2-csst-tubing/pfct-1225/p-1444445271389.htm
 
Hey don't forget - if your garage door is not insulated, you can buy kits at Lowes/Home Depot/wherever that fit to the door panels. I'm getting ready do mine since my guest room is above the garage and that room is a good 10-15 degrees colder at night than the rest of the house.
 
Hey don't forget - if your garage door is not insulated, you can buy kits at Lowes/Home Depot/wherever that fit to the door panels. I'm getting ready do mine since my guest room is above the garage and that room is a good 10-15 degrees colder at night than the rest of the house.


I'm looking to replace the garage door with a walkthrough and hopefully I'll be able to get it insulated.
 
Insulation is a must. If you have no ceiling, no insulation in the walls, or an uninsulated garage door, it will always be drafty and inefficient. Your heater will run constantly and it will never be truly comfortable. I would never consider kerosene for a great solution.

I'm running a Modine on natural gas right now. Very quick and very efficient. Only downside is having it blow around shielding gas while welding. Solved that with a curtain though.

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If you don't have natural gas or propane as an option in the shop/garage, then I'd recommend electric. I used this infrared heater for a year in a previous smaller workspace. In a 300 sq/ft space that was "somewhat" insulated, it did very well. It was also capable of keeping a very well insulated 600 sq/ft space very warm though it can take some time to get the space up to temp. AND if your house furnace ever fails in the dead of winter and you need something to get you by while waiting for a furnace repair, these are easily wired into your drier plug and will keep your home comfortable while you wait. Mine saved me last winter when our wind chill was -50*F and I waited 24 hours for the repair man. Held my entire downstairs at 65*F no problem. Worth every penny of the $110 that they cost.

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Insulation is a must. If you have no ceiling, no insulation in the walls, or an uninsulated garage door, it will always be drafty and inefficient. Your heater will run constantly and it will never be truly comfortable. I would never consider kerosene for a great solution.

I'm running a Modine on natural gas right now. Very quick and very efficient. Only downside is having it blow around shielding gas while welding. Solved that with a curtain though.

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If you don't have natural gas or propane as an option in the shop/garage, then I'd recommend electric. I used this infrared heater for a year in a previous smaller workspace. In a 300 sq/ft space that was "somewhat" insulated, it did very well. It was also capable of keeping a very well insulated 600 sq/ft space very warm though it can take some time to get the space up to temp. AND if your house furnace ever fails in the dead of winter and you need something to get you by while waiting for a furnace repair, these are easily wired into your drier plug and will keep your home comfortable while you wait. Mine saved me last winter when our wind chill was -50*F and I waited 24 hours for the repair man. Held my entire downstairs at 65*F no problem. Worth every penny of the $110 that they cost.

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Great info. Yeah we don't a gas line to the house. There's been a whole bunch of hoopla over gas supply in NYS cause of a bunch of bullshit. So adding gas to the house isn't even on our mind. And I'm worried about the cost of running a 220V heater. The garage is definitely somewhat insulated since the other day it was like 28° out and still like 40° in the garage. But who knows how well that's work after a couple months of cold soak. This thread has definitely given me a ton of great options and I hope it helps others out.
 
Great info. Yeah we don't a gas line to the house. There's been a whole bunch of hoopla over gas supply in NYS cause of a bunch of bullshit. So adding gas to the house isn't even on our mind. And I'm worried about the cost of running a 220V heater. The garage is definitely somewhat insulated since the other day it was like 28° out and still like 40° in the garage. But who knows how well that's work after a couple months of cold soak. This thread has definitely given me a ton of great options and I hope it helps others out.
So you can calculate it. The heater output is known and you can do the math based on whatever you pay for kw/hr to the electric company. It's far more efficient than you'd think actually, but I don't remember what I came up with when I did it years ago.
 
Remember electric is 100% efficient.

At my new house that is a 1200 sqft log cabin we have an older boiler and radiators. The boiler is about 80% efficint, and we pay $1.00-1.20/ gal for propane. Last year we burned about 800/gal, but only lived there half time, and kept it 50* when we were not there. I figured based on electricity cost it would be 2x as much. But if we got back to 2012 $4/gal propane, electric is much cheaper.
 
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