The air has a chill these days and it is damp.
The price of fuel is down but how long will that last?
So, what does a guy do to heat a garage? I've been hitting all the garage heater sites that I can google and I'm getting more confused.

I read an article about a year ago about a guy who used a heating unit like they use in hotels/motels and they claimed that it was efficient, but I can't find the article or score on a search for these on the Internet.

What is everyone else doing to heat their shops this time of year?

Have been heating my garage with a 35,000 BTU propane heater and when garage comes up to temp shut it off and just use my electric heater on ceiling;
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_595_595
This heater does a good job keeping it warm but has a hard time getting it up to temp. so the propane heater. Never start any project with propane heater running, you know - open flame(my name is not Tim Taylor).
What I wish I would have went with is this heater;
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200307959_200307959

This is the ideal heater in my humble opinion and I may put one up in the near future.
Good luck in your selection
Ron

pinkiewerewolf wrote:The air has a chill these days and it is damp.
The price of fuel is down but how long will that last?
So, what does a guy do to heat a garage? I've been hitting all the garage heater sites that I can google and I'm getting more confused.

I read an article about a year ago about a guy who used a heating unit like they use in hotels/motels and they claimed that it was efficient, but I can't find the article or score on a search for these on the Internet.

What is everyone else doing to heat their shops this time of year?

Hi Pinkie,
In my old house, I used a small ceramic heater in my 2 car garage. It worked pretty well to keep the chill off. The manufacture claimed that it wood heat for pennies a day. I never compared.

I have looked for some time now and decided on this unit from Northern tool. just have to find time to get it done. A few on another woodworking forum I get on also have said it works very well. Other sizes also available.




http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_595_595

John:

U.P. in the woods I have a 35,000 BTU Reznor propane heater. It's fed by a 250 gal tank just outside the building. When I entered the shop back on November 18, the inside temperature was just above freezing. Outside, it was in the low double digits. After turning on the heat, within 20 -30 minutes, the shop was up to 65 degrees. My well insulated shop is 24' x 28' with 103" ceiling height. This is pretty good performance.

Here in Gainesville, we have had a cold front descend upon us and presently (12/22, 11PM) the temperature is 36. My shop here is in our attached garage. This was a carport originally and we have now completed closing it in and insulating the walls and above the ceiling. I even cut 1" foam panels and glued them to the metal garage door in order to insulate it also. I installed "stop seal" around the garage door to further eliminates gaps and draft. I've been running a 5100 BTU ceramic electric heater on the low setting all day, and the temperature inside the garage is 65 degrees. Before our garage renovations were completed I used a 20,000 BTU kerosene heater but no one liked it because it generates a little bit of smoke and "smell". There is also the danger of an open flame. The electric heater works fine, but it also "gobbles up" one 15 amp circuit.

Not many garages are insulated. If you do this it can make a big difference. It would be best to avoid a non vented type of gas heater. Besides the carbon monoxide consideration, the products of combustion are carbon dioxide and water. Thus non vented heaters increase the humitity in the room which can cause problems with rust.

If you have a forced air heating system in the house it might be possible to run a duct to the garage if it is attached to the house.

If you have a forced air heating system in the house it might be possible to run a duct to the garage if it is attached to the house.

Around here that is a definite code violation. All that would do is provide a conduit for any fumes, dust, noise, etc. directly back into the house. Not a good idea.

Thanks for all the input.
The unit from Northern Tool looks great. I even saw a more powerful version on the site.
I did find some motel heat/air units but they have air conditioners and work as a heat pump. I really don't need the air conditioning feature in our climate.
Here is one site.
http://templates.earthstores.com/1277/list.asp?id=68766163646973747269627574696F6E&cat=293706

Heating a garage is against code here, period. I have a three car garage but a solid wall separates one of the bays. I was told I could only heat it if I put in a door and made the shop a isolated room. Also I was told I could not heat any part of the garage with the house heater, due to several reasons (Lack of garage insulation, gargage doors that leak air, fumes...). I had gone the propane route in the past but the smell and need to vent to the outside make it less than optimal. I think if I do anything I will get a dedicated garage heater like the ones shown here http://www.ultimategarageheater.com/

The first thing to consider is insulation. Ceiling and walls.

Last year there were a few articles picking infra red heaters of ceramic heaters as the most efficient. Most folks agreed it is most important to first warm up solid objects and they will warm the air. Less efficient was to warm the air first.

I open up the garage door and let the morning sun directly into the shop. If there is no morning sun, I don't work in the shop.

In keeping with charlese' input, the first solid object to get warmed up is the Mark V which sets right in the garage door opening to take on that natural heat from the morning sun.