I really need to get some better heat for my 20 x 20 garage. I have 2 Kerosene heaters but I'm not real happy with them. I was planning on going to a Modine hot dawg or something similar. I looked on Garagejournal and there are some folks that have been usining 5000w electric heaters. Either from Dayton, Farenheat or Hot-One. Anyway with the expense of the electric (less) compared to the propane one along with the additional cost of the LPG tanks and plumbing. I'm thinking of going with electric. So I guess what I'm asking is if you use an electric heater in your garage: Are you happy with the performance? Did you electric bills go through the roof? What make/model do you have? If you had to do it again would you stick with electric? Thanks as always, Todd
try Grainger, they have some nice 220v ones,we use them at work in seperate rooms that don't have heat.the "2YU68" is a 220v model that is either 220 single phase or 220, 3 ph. Ya have to get a line voltage thermo for it or a thermo kit .Not cheap though, there about $700.( that buys alot of kerosene). alot of guys use "trailer" heaters they work pretty good, but there better if you run them on natural gas, not propane. JimV
I bought my house & shop and the separate shop had an old electric furnace in it. I added an alarm system and at that time, ran an extra wire out to the barn to enable me to turn the furnace on from the house. I can flick it on a half-hour or so before going out there and have it fairly toasty! Are you happy with the performance? Yes. No odor or open flames. Did you electric bills go through the roof? No, that's why you have insulation! Seriously, my electric bills run about $25.00 / month in the summer and about $45.00 a month in the winter - about $450- $500 / year. My shop is 12' high, so it takes a bit more to heat it, although a ceiling fan helps. What make/model do you have? Couldn't tell you without looking and it's too f'ng cold to go look ! I've had it 16 years and it was old when I got it. If you had to do it again would you stick with electric? Probably would go with the radiant ceiling heat or gas powered, although I like the no open flame of the electric unit.
electricity cost differ depending on where you live. it wouldn't be cost efficient to operate them here in the midwest. i hear they're more popular in your area because of lower electric costs. i visited a friend in windsor who used electric baseboard heaters in his garage. it was an even toasty heat, very comfortable. the garage was well insulated and he claims it was the cheapest option.
I have a 30x30 garage and use a electric heater. I HATE kerosene heaters. They stink like shit and aren't really any cheaper to operate. Plus the open fire hazard. I had a cheap EBAY $179 cylinder heater no name that honestly took about 15-20 minutes of preheat to warm the garage up. I am not talking 80 degrees but enough to wear a lite jacket and work comfortable. It was a 220 unit. Then I had the bright idea to replace it with a more expensive Dayton hardwired unit. What a mistake!!! The Dayton has a circuit that below say 50 degrees pulses the heater on and off untill the garage temp heats up. It takes forever to warm up the garage. Nothing like sitting there freezing and hearing the heater shut itself off and waiting a couple minutes for it to come back on. The old cylinder unit is now hung at the front and is used as a preheat or if I am going to be in there a short time on full time. It is 3 years old and run constantly and no problems other than changing the cord. They are available under tons of names. White in color and about 12" round and maybe about the same length. Have coil in front and fan in rear. I will never go back to kerosene. If I could run gas legally I would do it but not in my town.
I've got a 30x45 garage with 10 and 12 foot ceilings. I use a 3-ton, White-Westinghouse high efficiency heat pump with 12 ceiling vents to heat and cool it. I also have two ceiling fans to aid in the air circulation and a programmable thermostat to monitor and adjust the temperature. Like other's have said, I don't like the idea of a gas flame burning in a building where cars full of gasoline are stored, but I'm a bit paranoid about fire! For a 20x20 like you have, I would look into a "mini-split" style of heat pump. They are very cost efficient to operate and do an excellent job of temperature control without the need for additonal ducts. Jim
I have the" hot one" in my 24 by 26 garage that works great and one in my 30 by 30 shop, if its real cold I use small propane with it.
I have one from northern tool, I froget what rating it is but it will heat my 24x30 garage to about 65, in no time had it for 6 years no trouble, but my light bill gets a little hi when I use it for a long time.
another option is regular ole house electric baseboard heaters!! put a 6 footer on each wall & one thermostat.You can get those right at home depot. jimV
Do you know which Dayton model you have? It would suck if it cycled on and off while it warmed up. Todd
Baseboard heaters would be OK if you want to keep the building warm all the time but if it gets cold instde it takes a long time to get it warm again.A small wood stove would be great for a 20x20 shop.
If I build a new garage it will have the Radiant heat tubes in the ceiling works great and insulate your garage well. I did mine on the house and it stays nice and tosty use a couple of the radiator style oil filled heaters. leave them on and keeps it at around 68-70 and hasn't sent my bills sky high. Lots of insulation all the walls and 18" in the ceiling helps a lot and I have 11' ceiling in mine it is 24x14 My buddy uses 3-4 to heat his 24x30 shop with out any problems only when it gets to below 10 degrees he usally kicks on the 4th one to keep things up a little better and here shrotly you will beable to get them on sale. Cheep.
This is a great thread! I have a 22x24 shop with 7' ceilings on one side, and 10' on the other and currently heat with kerosine. That works ok, but i was looking at going electric. I'm anxious to see more replies.
I have a 50'x75' building with 16' eaves. Originally, I used salamanders and kerosene, but even with two of the big boys running, it was damned cold some days, and the stink would make your eyes water and your nose refuse to work for weeks afterwards. About eight years ago, I had an 80k BTU propane heater installed, hanging from the ceiling at one end up in the gable. I have one 1000 gal tank, and two 500 gal tanks for propane outside, and I shit you not, I would burn every bit of that (~1,600 gals) in about four months (the length of time that it's generally cold in MO). At ~$2.20 a gal, that hurts. So, this winter, I bought a commercial air handler and a 25 kW heating coil, and had them installed on the other end of my shop, up on the mezzanine. I haven't used any propane at all this winter, and the electric heater warms the place up in about one third the time that the propane unit used to take. Just a quick and dirty comparison of cost: BTU per Gallon of Propane = 91,600 Heater Rating in BTU per Hour = 80,000 Heater Rating in Gallons per Hour = 0.87 Cost of a Gallon of Propane = $2.19 Duty Cycle or Percent "On" time = Determined through observation to be in excess of 50%, but I will use 50% for the sake of being conservative BTU's Converted to Usable Heat = 85% Cost Per Day to Heat Using Propane = $26.90 BTU per kW = 3,414 Heater Rating in BTU per Hour = 85,350 Heater Rating in kW per Hour = 25 Cost of a kW Hour of Electricity = $0.0696 Duty Cycle or Percent "On" Time = Assumed to be 25% for sake of being conservative, but in reality it is closer to 15% BTU's Converted to Usable Heat = 99% Cost Per Day to Heat Using Electricity = $10.55 So, it costs me less than half as much to heat using electricity versus propane. YMMV obviously, mostly due to commodity price differences from place to place, but you'd have to have hella high electric prices and a very inefficient heater for electric heat to not be at least a little bit better deal than propane. Both heaters ended up costing ~$1,100 installed, so that part is a wash if you're starting from scratch. For me, the capital cost of installing the new heater will pay for itself in less than two winters. Hell, it was worth it to me, just so I wouldn't have to arrange for some dumbass to drive a multi-ton truck across the yard in soggy conditions to bring me gas when I run out.
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