It's getting cold out, how do you heat your garage?

I use a 125,000 btu oil-fired radiant heater (tube type) in my 30x50 with 12' walls. Not much insulation, but you can work in a t-shirt in less than 15 min. in ANY kind of weather. Very efficient. Came out of Canada. Nothing like this available around me.

 

I have an oil filled electric radiator I found in the trash. It's under the front of the workbench in my little 1 car garage and it's quite comfortable standing there. It is also easy to move to where I need it. Had a woodburner in the garage of the place I had when I was single and I miss it.

 

weak. i have a propane torch for that

 

I have a Monitor K1 heater . My garage is only 24 x 28 and well insulated , so the Monitor keeps it toasty warm.

 

Gas fired 45000 btu ceiling hung unit heater in a good insulated 32x32 shop with 9 foot ceiling.Keeps it warm as it needs to be in Western NY winters for reasonable money.
As I always say,from being an electrical contractor.....in a commercial garage all spark producing devices,motors,electrical outlets, heaters,need to be a minimum of 18 inches above the floor.You know,gasoline vapors.Not a code for your residential garage but should be required.There are too many shop fires and anything you can do to provide a margin of safety is smart stuff.
In my opinion,if you heat a shop where cars are stored with a wood stove...Danger!!! And do check your insurance policy to make sure a wood stove isn't a reason for non payment in case of a claim.

 

ive run torpedo heaters for yrs.i hate them . ive got a 40x 60 un-insulated shop and run 2 150,000 btu kerosene heaters those things will kill your hearing and your lungs.but i smoke so that part dont seem to bother me too much. but the noise. last yr. we hung up a big used hired hand propane heater. gut us warm and in out of our coats in a hurry. got a BIG used cenral heat and air unit given to me 2 yrs ago and still havent got it hooked up. gonna have to fiqure out something quick because kerosene and propane are so damn high now i can barely afford parts let alone paying for heat.

 

I only have a 22x30 but it is well insulated and I have central heat and air heat pump, life is cozy! But, I work in my shop almost daily and justify it by my guard dogs living there!

 

Old Dearborn that my sister gave me. She dryed her in front of this back in 52. Runs on propane.

 

Plumber friend got me this ceiling mount gas unit that was being tossed out during renovations only a year old. I can go from freezing to t-shirt temps in about 5 mins.

 

Radiant heat in the floor. I didn't want a flame of any kind in the shop, so I installed a second natural gas water heater in the house, and ran pipe to the shop. I keep it at about 65 all winter, floor temp is about 70, and really nice to lay on. Walls are well insulated 2X6 construction, one wall is concrete and mostly below grade, another wall butts up against basement wall of house, doors are foam core insulated, ceiling has a couple layers of fiberglass roll insulation. I really didn't see much of an increase in my gas bill, probably costs me $20 a month to heat it.

 

I broke down and put in a 90% efficient Nat gas furnace. My buddy is in the business, and he hung it from the ceiling. I have a 30x50 with 10 foot ceilings, and it is currently r-19 walls, r-30 in the ceiling. When I installed the furnace in 2007, my buddy said it had a water trap that catches the condensate, he piped it over to the sump pump I installed as a last minute idea before I poured the concrete. The shop stays 60-65 all winter, and my gas bill dropped when I installed it. Not sure how that happened, but glad it did. I do not turn it down, as I have found the furnace runs for wuite a long time, if I turn it down to 45 or 50 and then turn it up to work. It also has the benefit of keeping the metal warm on the project, so I don't have to wait if I am spreading filler or shooting paint.

 

Modine Hot Dawg is what I have as well. I actually have 2, the one in the main (lower) level of my shop (30x40) is a 125,000 btu and the one upstairs (also 30x40) is a 40,000 btu. I never have to set the thermostat above 60..... Ummm Toasty!

 

My garage is about the same size as yours. I use a small wall mounted propane heater. Works great! I have a tank behind my house. I had a local company come out and install it all the propane. As long as I purchase propane from them once a year, I don't have any tank fees and installation was free.

 

220v NewAir G73 heater

 

30' x 45' with 10' and 12' ceilings. Well insulated walls and garage door. 3 ton heat pump with 12 registers in the ceiling and 2 ceiling fans to help distribute the air. Garage is kept comfortable year round.

Jim

 

x2.

 

if you have a wall that faces south then build some solar panels into the wall and pipe it in. mother earth news had a article on how to build the panels cheap. friend of mine did it several years ago and his garage is 40x40 and stays pretty warm on sunny days. he also installed a used electic furnace he bought for 50.00 bucks out of the paper for back up works great.

 

I'm still waiting for the cold stuff here in La Porte.

 

I'm doing my work in a 10'x20' canopy tent, but since the car is only 52" wide by 12 ' long there's enough room. No insulation, and leaks air at the bottom, but I heat it with a 35,000 btu propane space heater and I can work in a T shirt inside with comfort.
My only complaint with the space heater is no T stat, so I have to shut it down occasionally when it gets too warm!

 

I installed a used oil furnace about 15 yrs ago, when oil was fairly cheap, not so much nowdays. Price was right from a contractor friend. 30X50, partitioned off at 30X30, 20X30. Heat the 'big' side only when working. Had forced air wood/coal prior. Cheaper, but a PITA as I got older. Nice to come home from work, flip the switch, come back a half hour later and be able to work in a t-shirt.

 

ORGRE has the most economical suggestion. I used this set up in a previous garage sized shop. Used Furnace out of the local want ads for less than a $100 and about $50 worth of electrical and plumbing supplies. Less than a good torpedo heater and much quicker to heat and way less expensive. Keep thermostate low unless you are working in the shop.

I have tube heaters in my current shop. 16' ceilings and 56 x 48 floor area. Great system. Keep the thermostat at 45 and move it to 62 when working. Takes about 5-10 minutes to heat.

But, the best investment, as indicated above is good insullation.

 

The results of last night's Taco Bell and a lighter

 

For the basement, a Modine hydronic Hot Dawg unit heater hooked up to a separate zone valve off the boiler should be fine. Just mocked up for now.

 

Woodstove

 

I've got a woodstove that my brother pulled out of his basement. I can have the garage about 55 degrees. Pretty nice when temps are around 10 degrees in the middle of winter

 

I only have a small garage, wide enough for one car, a little room to not quite open the door, 8ft of space in front and a bench a large roll cab of tools at the end. My mates think i'm trying to be cool with all the garage art/tools hanging off the walls and ceiling. Truth is there is no place else to put it. One bonus is that its on the side of the house and have internal access. It's also dry as a bone and now very well insulated and draft free. Be nice if it was a double but we can always dream of these things. For now i'm happy in my small man cave, got most things i need for what i do and its where i hide the bourbon!
From previous experience i found that fires especially gas, caused condensation and parts to rust quicker if left bare or in primer. Also expensive to run. So for the last 5-6 years i've used a cheap electric floor standing heater. From late September onwards the weather goes rather shite and normally when my cars tend to go in for a winter makeover and things in the garage change for 6 months. Have some old blankets for the garage door bottoms to seal up the draft and sort the heater out. I have the heater on it's lowest setting and on a timer so it's actually on 24/7 but for just 5 mins every hour. It costs me about an extra £20 each month to do it this way, so cheap enough for what i'm getting.
No more issues with rusting and condensation and the garage never actually gets to the point of getting too cold. If i'm working for a period of time i'll turn it off as it gets too warm. Also handy when painting stuff as you can really get the place super toasty and paint dries really quick. Biggest problem in the UK is damp. It f**ks everything up and a big reason why cars rust so bad here. It's not the cars, it's the weather!!! Since having the electric heater i reckon it keeps as nice constant temp, easily workable and seems to keep the cars in a decent enviroment for a large amount of time. Just lucky i have always had this garage available, i moan it's a small place to work but at least i have one and it's warm. Kudo's to all outside builders, thats a love and a passion driving you to do that!

Hahaha, sorry about the long post, don't get out much

 

I also have a Modine Hot Dawg, mine is 40,000 BTu and I heat my shop fine 32'x 24' area.
Tom

 

24X24 shop, insulated walls and cieling, it has two five foot long electric base board units wired to a thermostat. I keep it about 50, which is shirt sleeve temp for me. Its all 220volt stuff, was not expensive to put in and has been trouble free since 1998. I tried the kerosene heaters once, all my tools got rusty when they cooled off.

 

I have 6 Politician's in my Shop
which Give's a lot of Heat

Just my 3.5 cents

 

I open the garage door and let the sun in. At night I close the doors. Everyone should live in SoCal.