How to heat my garage in winter

[beerguzzler50]

I live in upstate NY and have an insulated 2.5 car garage. I want to heat it with something other than electric ($$).

I am turned off by Kerosene due to the stink...even with the scents added.

I am considering propane...I have seen protable interior propane heatesr my mr. heat and readdy that give about 20 - 30K btu. I've heard they are a little noisy, but my big concern is I read somewhere that they cause lots of moisture...condensation, which would be bad for my tools and such. I only want to use this occasionally when it I have to fix something or work on my car. Anybody have any experiences?

My other option is to get a free old wood stove from a buddy...but that takes up space due to being so far from the wall and then I have to buy the chimney ($$). Thanks in advance.

[Pat]

For fuel, you'll probably do best using whatever heat source you use for your house.

There are plenty of blower units that mount near the ceiling for just this application. Also, radiant systems would work well.

[Lawrence]

I have used propane space heaters before and they are OK. If you only use occasionally the condensation should not be a prob. Yea, they are noisy but you get used to it. The newer ones have an integrated fan which makes them more efficient. They also have a safety feature which shuts the unit down if it is tipped over. The old style heaters are still available and really put out a lot of heat but are less safe. the big advantage of propane is that you can use a bulk tank, which is convenient. Wood stoves make sense only when you have a ready supply of cheap fuel.

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[Tim Fischer]

Personally I use a kero "Reddy Heater" to occasionally heat my garage. We have nat. gas heating in the house, but the piping is not convenient to the garage, and it would be a major install/expense to run a line. For the few times I use it, it just isn't worth it.

You can get propane Reddy Heaters as well. They are a bit noisy, but it doesn't bother me in the garage. I built a little thermostat that cycles it on and off (you can also buy them, but I didn't want to spend $50). I usually keep it about 60 degrees when I'm working out there, which is fine for me. Here in MN we can see temps sub-zero and my 60,000 BTU unit can heat up the garage in about 15-20 min.

-Tim

[nicksanspam]

How about solar heat? Put a layer of glazing over the door and open it when the sun shines, if it faces south, as described on Gary Reysa's web site

Or add a layer of glazing over the south wall to make an air heater, if it's unshaded.

What are the garage dimensions and how much insulation does it have and which way does it face?

Nick

[Goedjn]

Horizontal mount furnace bolted to the ceiling, and vented from there to the outside. Your choice as to fuel, although I'd go with oil.

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, If you want to heat it, heat it real good. otherwise moisture condensation will promote rusting on the car body. Why not overhang NG furnace? That's what we install here in Alberta.

[Al Bundy]

[e-mail] wrote in news:1160404318.646327.169060 @e3g2000cwe.googlegroups.com:

I've had the same exact heater stink like hell as well as virtually oderless. The wick absolutely needs to be kept clean. Burn it off frequently. Also, the PROPER wick MUST be adjusted to the proper height for the particular unit.

Econo kero is another possible source. If the pump doesn't say it's K-1, don't buy it.

Drafts near the unit can make it stink too.

[Phisherman]

[Tater]

*IF* you have a south facing wall and only need to heat it in the afternoons, google "solar thermosiphon wall panel"

propane stinks too, but not as bad as kerosene, in ombination with the solar panel you should get a warm garage cheap (currently working on mine)

[nicksanspam]

With sufficient insulation and thermal mass, a thermosyphon wall panel can provide 100% solar heat in December in northern NY.

Nick

[Chris Lewis]

According to :

If you're only going to use it occasionally, a construction cube heater (4800W 240V fan heater) has none of the drawbacks of wood/gas/propane (moisture, possibilities of CO, venting etc), convenient/safe (eg: leaving it running for a day or two), and its extremely low installation cost will offset operations cost.

In my situation (garage in the great white north is well insulated, and probably about the same size as yours), any other form of heating would have a 20+ year payback compared to the two cube heaters I use because of the installation/equipment costs of other systems.

Electric IR panels are another possibility - they're relatively small (eg: 1000-1200W), but keep _you_ warm while working on a car, and can be plugged into ordinary outlets.

Lee Valley carries one of these panels. $70 I think.

I've found cube heaters for about $40 new, and bought one at an auction for about $15.

[mgkelson]

For my super-insulated, 2-car garage, I use one 240-V fan heater. For my uninsulated 14' x 22' shed, I use two 240-V heaters. Considering that I probably only use them a few times in the winter for a short period of time, electric works out great.

In my situation, where I have natural gas for the house, I would use that if I wanted to do a lot of serious heating even though it would require digging a long, deep trench through my lawn for the pipe. The new, 90% efficient gas furnaces are very small and don't require a regular chimney--just a vent that can be run through a wall to the outside.