Garage Heat. Lets Talk non-Permenant Setups

[george graves]

Yea for a 2 car garage, it might not work too well. I just have been using mine to take the chill off(single head propane, in a one car garage). If I'm at the workbench it's nice to have your backside warmed up. Otherwise I don't try to get my one car garage "warm" - if I'm moving around, I can stay warm in 50-60F. And I'm usually out there only for an hour or so.

I had a two car garage that had a wood burning stove in it - THAT WAS FREAKING awesome. I parted a e30 out down to a bare shell while there was snow on the ground, and was nice and toasty the whole time.

Based on that chart George

There's also some caculators on the internet that might be helpful.

There is also a rule of thumb

Room width * height * ceiling height = ______

Then you times that by how well the room is insulted

2 for a well insulated room
3 for a insulated room
4 for poor insulated room

Or something like that.

The tank top heaters give off a nice radiant heat if you're working at a small space, and they have a column of hot air that comes off the surface and goes straight up - so sometimes it's works best to have a fan moving the air around a bit or you get warm radiant heat where you are working....but in other parts the air is warm up high and cold down low, so a fan helps even that out.

[rturbo 930]

Glad you made this thread man. Our garage is completely unheated, so I've been thinking about getting a heater for my Dad for his birthday which is coming up.

Go 75K at least. Trust me. I use mine all the time in winter, and it heats up my 2car to about 65 after about 3 hours.

How cold does your garage get? You're probably dealing with much colder temps than we are, so we can probably get by with less.

[TurboJake]

To get it to 65-70, it's between 20 and 30 outside. If it's between 0 and 20, it'll get to about 50. Below zero. I'm staying inside and waiting until it gets warmer. I'm sure it can handle it no prob. But I'm a pansy when it comes to cold. My hands are my money makers, and if I cut them and don't feel it. That can be veerrrryyy bad.

It should be noted. My garage door is not insulated. Super thin sheet metal.

[flyboyx]

matt lives in dallas so i don't think he will have to worry about the temp getting any colder than the mid to high 20's.

i grew up in michigan and my dad had a kerosene salamander style heater. it did a good job of keeping the garage warm but it has some serious negatives too. for one, the smell. after that thing has been running for an hour or so, the garage smells like your are sucking a jet engine's ass. kerosene heaters need to be vented and most garages don't have a good way to purge the fumes. after an afternoon of working in an enclosed garage you will be blowing black shit out of your nose for the rest of the night. i seriously recommend a type of heat that is cleaner. you need to vent propane too, but it isn't as bad.

[10Toes]

I have tried propane but have to crack the door so I don't start feeling sick, then all the heat goes outside. Now I have 4 of these 500w lights, I get great light and they put out a lot of heat. I buy them at Lowes, the bulbs are a little higher quality then the Harbor Fright bulbs.

[IronFreak]

I have tried propane but have to crack the door so I don't start feeling sick, then all the heat goes outside. Now I have 4 of these 500w lights, I get great light and they put out a lot of heat. I buy them at Lowes, the bulbs are a little higher quality then the Harbor Fright bulbs.

My new shop has heat so it's not an issue. but at the house I run 2 of these. Also.....I did all the lighting at my wedding reception, I needed to brighten areas in the corners of the building. so I went to Menards and bought those large cheap industrial can lights that have the clamps on the back, they hold a 150watt bulb. you can get them for about $15.....I have 4 of them in the garage now. between what 10toes posted and the 4 cans, it got around 50degs.....and it came with a complimentary tan as well in sub zero temps.

(disclaimer, it's a single stall garage.)

[AndrewBird]

I use one of these guys in my 2-car garage.



Set it and forget it. Costs $20-30 a month in electricity keeping the garage at 60-65º, even in below freezing temps. Makes no noise, doesn't get hot enough to burn and won't ignite fumes or splashes of fluids.

[z31maniac]

OP, you're in Texas. Get a cheap electric heater that runs off a normal outlet and turn it on an hour or two before you go out. That's what I do.

I also set it by the tools to warm them up, and put cardboard down on the floor so the concrete isn't sucking the heat out of you.

[Vtec?lol]

matt lives in dallas so i don't think he will have to worry about the temp getting any colder than the mid to high 20's.

kerosene heaters need to be vented...

Exactly what I thought. Next week is all mostly below 20F. It's terrible.


That's my fear about the sal-style heaters. They push heat and pollutants through the front so there's no easy way to vent it without loosing the heat that comes with it. I might have to suck it up and buy a wood stove for both garages. We have one in our 1800sqft ranch house and in 30F it'll heat the whole house easily..

[ST1G]

Exactly what I thought. Next week is all mostly below 20F. It's terrible.


That's my fear about the sal-style heaters. They push heat and pollutants through the front so there's no easy way to vent it without loosing the heat that comes with it. I might have to suck it up and buy a wood stove for both garages. We have one in our 1800 ranch house and in 30F it'll heat the whole house easily..

Wood pellet stoves are epic. They do such a great job of heating and its like $200 for a ton of pellets.

[Vtec?lol]

I use one of these guys in my 2-car garage.



Set it and forget it. Costs $20-30 a month in electricity keeping the garage at 60-65º, even in below freezing temps. Makes no noise, doesn't get hot enough to burn and won't ignite fumes or splashes of fluids.

I don't believe you. I've had one and it couldn't keep my 19x20x10H room warm at all. Maybe it was broken.

[AndrewBird]

I keep mine on low and it heats the entire garage. Maybe your garage wasn't insulated?

[JBedo]

This is what I use Matt. It's only 35k but on a cold night I'm comfortable in a t shirt working in the shop. Youve seen shop. Its 20 x 24 and isn't insulated.
Now it is fairly noisy. And if you need to run it all day it will eat up a tank of propane. I'd say get the largest one you don't have a problem paying for.

[Jand3rson]

I use one of these guys in my 2-car garage.



Set it and forget it. Costs $20-30 a month in electricity keeping the garage at 60-65º, even in below freezing temps. Makes no noise, doesn't get hot enough to burn and won't ignite fumes or splashes of fluids.

Exact same thing I have. Bought it a few years ago while at my last house, and that garage wasn't as well insulated, but it worked well enough. In my current house, my garage is much bigger, but better insulated, and it stays nice and warm in there.

[Coupelx]

the multifuel heaters are the way to go this way you can burn #1 and #2 diesel which ironically smell less than kerosene and put out more heat. makes propane look worthless. you can also put them on a thermostat.

just dont run the tank dry. it will smoke you out. not cool.