how do you heat your garage?

[megaladon6]

i moved into a new place with an unused garage (that won't last long ) and need to heat it when i work on the car. what fuel and size do you guys use? it's a small, standard, 2 car garge.
thanks!

[rocketrod]

I use a small propane torpedo heater I bought at Lowe's for $100.

[Restomod]

Mine is steel so unless its REALLY cold the sun does a good job.

[megaladon6]

sun? what sun? you're 1200mi south of me, you lucky bas!ard!
how much does the propane smell? i've been around one or two and they REALLY stank! kero never bothered me but the propane would drive me out of the shop even when it was 10*F outside.

[The Stickman]

I use a small propane torpedo heater I bought at Lowe's for $100.

That's exactly what I use. It's clean and heats up well. Sometimes to good.

[Restomod]

Lol!

[NOT A TA]

I owned a portable heating equipment business named The Fuel Saver Store a couple towns over from you in Ansonia for many years. Unfortunatly the guy I sold it to wrecked it and went out of business.

A 22,000 BTU kerosene heater will do the job here unless it goes down to single digits and the wind is howling(I live in Oxford). If you buy good quality kerosene and use the heater properly you won't have any issues other than changing the wick every couple years if its an unvented wick type or getting a tune up on it if it's a wickless model (vented or unvented) every couple years for heaters used occasionally. Heaters used for 24/7 heat whenever it's cold here require a new wick or tune up yearly depending on which type you have.

Torpedos are less effecient, require electricty(can't use for backup house heat if power goes out), loud, and are not recommenended to be used in enclosed areas because of the higher emmisions due to unburnt fuel. They are designed to be used in very well ventilated areas. The torpedos have the ability to warm a place up quickly where as the smaller heaters take some time to warm the garage.While the torpedos can warm the air quickly it takes just as long for the tools and vehicle to warm up.

I found (having worked in a 2 car detached wood garage here) that on most days if I started a 22000 BTU wick type kerosene heater after work then went and ate dinner while the garage warmed up it worked out pretty well. If it was extremly cold I'd start the car and let the engine warm up then shut the car off, close the garage, and then start the heater, eat etc. The extra heat from the engine helps warm the garage quicker.

[Mathius]

I just helped my buddy fill up a 55 gallon drum with diesel. We tapped it with a shutoff valve and he uses it to fill his kerosene heater. He said it was cheaper than kerosene. Gives off a tiny odor, but nothing horrible.

He said the 55 gallon drum will last him a month or so, heating it every day.

I just wouldn't want to have to keep filling the drum and putting it back on the rack. He does have a special cart that lifts the drum and flips it on its side, but he's got so much sh*t in his garage... just getting it back by the heater is a chore.

Mathius

[Bishop73]

Candles.

[shmoov69]

Three different methods.
1. Electric wall unit like is in a hotel room, heat and A/C
2. Propane bullet heater from lowes for about $100
3. Cheapie wood stove that is piped thru the roof with double wall pipe.
Electric is for mildly cool temps
Propane knocks the chill off really quick, but gets too hot without heating "everything else" up, so it cools down quick.
Wood is a bit slower, but will heat everything else up along with it......and is cheaper!

[Jim Nilsen]

A used house forced air furnace fed with narural gas is what works for me. It keeps the rust away and warms up rather quickly and is good clean heat. Propane would be my next choice.

I have used kerosene and while it cna be very portable and works well it does tend to leave a film on everthing if it is not working tip top and it is a pain to get off. If you plan on painting something the film will cause fisheyes,not that anyone here would paint in the winter but you never know?

If you have natural gas it is the way to go.

I do keep looking at a wood burning steam boiler as a back upand supplemental heat since the guy who built my garage put the hose in the floor and never finished it. He couldn't decide on a boiler and the forced air was given to him for free.

[1badchevelle]

I guess living in Southern California I never thought of this as a problem. We had rain over the last couple of days and its been in low to mid 50's at night so its keept me out of the garage. I am sure most of you on the other coast would walk out in shorts. I was thinking of getting a overhead propane heater but just decided to use a patio heater and worked like a charm. No sense on buying something that wont get use out here.

[NOT A TA]

I just helped my buddy fill up a 55 gallon drum with diesel. We tapped it with a shutoff valve and he uses it to fill his kerosene heater. He said it was cheaper than kerosene. Gives off a tiny odor, but nothing horrible.

He said the 55 gallon drum will last him a month or so, heating it every day.

I just wouldn't want to have to keep filling the drum and putting it back on the rack. He does have a special cart that lifts the drum and flips it on its side, but he's got so much sh*t in his garage... just getting it back by the heater is a chore.

Mathius

The oil fired torpedo style heaters can run on either diesel or kerosene. It will run cleaner with less breathable emissions using K1 kerosene. The diesel however will provide slightly more BTU's per gallon.

Diesel should never be used in a wick style kerosene heater or any of the other types of wickless kerosene heaters (excluding torpedos) unless the heater was originally designed to allow the possible use of diesel. The only model I know of which has that ability is the vented Radiant King Dimension 2000 manufactured in the mid 80's. There may be new models out now that came out after I got out of the business.

Using diesel in kerosene heaters not designed for it greatly increases emissions and will wreck the wick in a wick type or clog up the combustion chamber fuel inlet in a wickless type.

The unburnt diesel fumes he smells are much more noticable if you enter the area from clean outside air. You become accustomed to it slowly if you're in the garage as it warms up. If you can smell it at all you are breathing diesel fuel!

To be legal in CT a 55 gallon drum has to be dyked to 2/3rds of the capacity of the drum. Failure to do so is against fire regulations and cause for an ins company to not pay damages should a fire start and the fuel becomes an accelerant. Condensation also becomes a problem with a 55 gallon drum. A stick with lithmus on it should be used to monitor the buildup of water in the drum (which you can't avoid without additives). The water needs to be removed before it gets to the point where it flows out the faucet(water is heavier than fuel, settles on bottom). If water gets in a wick type the wick is ruined, if it gets into a wickless type it will shut off due to water sensors in the fuel system, in a torpedo it will sputter, skip on and off and smell because of incomplete combustion.

2 gallons lasts about 12 hours in a 22,00 BTU wick type, you can gauge your consumption based on that. Kero here is still high at about 4 bucks a gallon but should catch up to the other falling oil product prices and drop to less than 2 dollars shortly. A wickless type kero heater is thermostat controlled so it can use less on warmer days depending on needs. I use a vented wickless 22,000 BTU kero heater to heat a 1200-1300 sq ft two story home. Wickless Kero heaters have a fan built into them which helps them heat a larger area and keeps the temperature more even in the heated area.

[monza]

Overhead natural gas heater. But here it has been -40 with the wind chill for the last few days...damn cold.

In my new garage build I'll be doing in slab floor heating. More environmentally friendly and cheaper in the long run. It'll also be nice crawling around the floor wrenching.

[Sparky67]

Well, in my 28 x 20 garage. I have a Mr. Heater radiant heater. You can get them in natural gas or propane. They are an open flame heater and are not vented. I have it attached to the wall the piping has 3 shut offs required by the local code. I use propane as my fuel source with the small barbecue style propane tanks. The heater comes with a thermostat, and Mr. Heater cost around $300 from Summit. One tank will last about 12 hours. Only negatives about the setup is that it is an open flame unit, so no welding or can't paint in the garage. Also, you need to open the garage door to vent if you are working underneath the car, the fumes accumulate down there. I prefer to have natural gas, so that I don't have to fill the tanks.

I probably upgrade my heater to the Modine tube radiant heater in the future. My friend's dad has a 28 x 40 garage. It heats the objects in the room not the air. You can get them in either propane or Natural gas. Here is the type that is a sealed unit. These units need to have an exhaust. These are low intensity infrared heaters. Good for welding and painting. Other types of heaters are a waist of your time and money. You can get these heaters in the size to fit your needs.
http://www3.modine.com/v2portal/page...ontent_019.htm


Jeff

http://www.kodakgallery.com/67rscamaro

[maldo]

This is going to sound crude but just roll the BBQ in the garage and fire it up load it with ceramic bricks they use for cooking warmer the grill up set on low the ceramic bricks take over great alternative to kersaon and will act like a wood stove and stay warm for hours on a low heat setting with one small propane tank (should last for up to 10 hours and be warm and cozy) ... same thing as the open flame units (no painting welding etc) .....

You might think i was crazy but i did it for years without any problems (note:I did have a vent at the top of the garage so no fumes can build up...) but it worked great and it sure beats any keason system which made me sick a a dog...

[JMarsa]

900 Sq. ft detached garage with 75,000 BTU natural gas furnace with sealed combustion, meaning the burner draws air from outside - not the possibly combustible air from the work area.

--JMarsa

[wendell]

Well, in my 28 x 20 garage. I have a Mr. Heater radiant heater. You can get them in natural gas or propane. They are an open flame heater and are not vented. I have it attached to the wall the piping has 3 shut offs required by the local code. I use propane as my fuel source with the small barbecue style propane tanks. The heater comes with a thermostat, and Mr. Heater cost around $300 from Summit. One tank will last about 12 hours. Only negatives about the setup is that it is an open flame unit, so no welding or can't paint in the garage. Also, you need to open the garage door to vent if you are working underneath the car, the fumes accumulate down there. I prefer to have natural gas, so that I don't have to fill the tanks.

I probably upgrade my heater to the Modine tube radiant heater in the future. My friend's dad has a 28 x 40 garage. It heats the objects in the room not the air. You can get them in either propane or Natural gas. Here is the type that is a sealed unit. These units need to have an exhaust. These are low intensity infrared heaters. Good for welding and painting. Other types of heaters are a waist of your time and money. You can get these heaters in the size to fit your needs.
http://www3.modine.com/v2portal/page...ontent_019.htm


Jeff

http://www.kodakgallery.com/67rscamaro

BINGO! Can't remember the brand but I've got a radiant heat tube heating my 30 X 40' shop. Couldn't be happier with it.

[Steve68]

In FL we welcome the colder weather, humidity sucks, my garage gets so humid you want to stay inside, in the A/C

[wayne70]

I know what you mean Steve. I'm 3hour's south of you and to heat the garage all we do is open the door!