[rolling money pits]

are there any "decent" electric heaters out there for this?

mine is attached with no living space above, not sure if it has insulation up there, if not, ill put some in.

im having a 100 amp sub panel installed to power it, and a small shop in the basement, that will be for lights, a 20 amp circuit, a 50A for welder, and a dedicated compressor line(s), mybe a 240 volt and a single 20A for a smaller one.

the house has gas, so, i could get one of those "hang from the ceiling" jobs, but i prefer not to.

any thoughts? Ive seen some electric baseboard heaters that are 240 volt, but im afraid they will take too much juice and run the risk of popping breakers when the compressor kicks on.

[johnsma22]

Natural gas radiant heat would work great for your needs. The radiant heat type does not heat the air, it heats the objects in the room. No blowers either.

John

[mikediaz]

Originally Posted by johnsma22

Natural gas radiant heat would work great for your needs. The radiant heat type does not heat the air, it heats the objects in the room. No blowers either.

John

well i think it would still heat the air up, since air is an 'object' if u will, however you are correct otherwise in the sense that 'radiant' heat is not what we're used to (convection or conduction) where heat has to transfer more or less physically by two things touching or a gas touching something.

point of the story: i think the air gets hotter too but that doesn't change your point at all!

p.s. i may be wrong about all this

[Stuart]

How big is the garage? Is it a typical 20x20 or 24x24, something like that? If you want to go electric, a wall or ceiling mount unit heater with a built in fan would be a good bet as they heat up a space pretty quickly. Here are some examples:

http://www.air-n-water.com/electric-utility-heater.htm

The Dayton unit in the upper left corner of the page is typical, it's a 5,000 watt unit that draws around 21 amps at 240 volts (so you would need to have a 240vac 30 amp circuit to run it.)

Depending on where you live, gas is probably cheaper than electric in the long run, but you'd have to work that out based on your utility costs. Radiant heaters work really nice, but if you go that way get one that's designed for a home garage - many commericial radiant heaters need to be mounted at least twelve feet or more off the floor so they don't overheat the objects in the room. The ones designed for home use can be mounted in a room with lower ceilings.

Make sure it's well insulated and you don't have a lot of air leaks around the garage door, etc. Otherwise you're just wasting money, trying to heat the great outdoors.

Stay away from unvented gas or propane heaters, particularly in an attached garage - the danger of carbon monoxide isn't worth the risk in my opinion, plus they pump a lot of moisture into the air which condenses on everything in the garage. The same goes for kerosene torpedo heaters, plus they stink to high heaven.

[johnsma22]

Originally Posted by mikediaz

well i think it would still heat the air up, since air is an 'object' if u will, however you are correct otherwise in the sense that 'radiant' heat is not what we're used to (convection or conduction) where heat has to transfer more or less physically by two things touching or a gas touching something.

point of the story: i think the air gets hotter too but that doesn't change your point at all!

p.s. i may be wrong about all this

Trust me, this is my business, a radiant heat source does not directly heat the air. The objects in the room are heated and in turn heat the air that comes in contact with the objects. Look it up.

When you sit in your cold car on a cold day and the sun shining in on you through the window feels warm on your face, that is radiation. It has not warmed up the air in your car, just your face.

John

[Matt Danger]

Originally Posted by johnsma22

Trust me, this is my business, a radiant heat source does not directly heat the air. The objects in the room are heated and in turn heat the air that comes in contact with the objects. Look it up.

When you sit in your cold car on a cold day and the sun shining in on you through the window feels warm on your face, that is radiation. It has not warmed up the air in your car, just your face.

Yeah, it's true. Humans seem to like it if the temperature of the objects around them is warm and the air is a little cooler. It creates a more comfortable environment than say if the objects were cooler and the air is warmer. One of my professors explained why once but it escapes me at the moment.

[Mantra]

I bought a torpedo heater from home depot a couple of years ago, runs on a grill propane take. I run it for about 15 20 minutes and it's nice and toasty for at least a half hour 45 minutes. My garage is 20x24 with a ten foot ceiling.

No problems, this will be my third winter doing this. Joe

[mwritter]

I just priced a vented gas unit that hangs by the ceiling along with a waste oil heater this week. Gas unit was about $1500 installed by a friend in the business, expect to pay more than that. Waste oil unit was about $1800 his cost, and expensive to maintain, in his opinion. I'm going with an oil-filled radiator-style space heater. It gets a two-car garage hot pretty quick, no open flame, etc. Plus I only need it a few nights a week and on weekends.

[SlowSpitzer]

I have an attached 30X36 insulated garage. My buddy installed a 92% gas forced air, six ducts around garage. Even out in a "A" coil for A.C.
I bought a used outside A.C. unit, I have about $2,000 in the whole deal.

[rolling money pits]

thanks.

the garage is about 22X24 with 9 or 10 foot ceilings.

that dayton job looks money.....

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by rolling money pits

thanks.

the garage is about 22X24 with 9 or 10 foot ceilings.

that dayton job looks money.....

There are a couple others on that page that are less than $200 (one is less than $150) that would probably do the job as well, plus you could probably find them for less from a local supplier. Sometimes, electricians end up with old electric heaters they've pulled out of projects, if you know someone in the trades you may be able to pick up a used one for cheap. Something in the range of 4000-5000 watts should work pretty well in a garage that size if it's insulated.

Here's another idea: I don't know where you live, but many areas have a local Craigslist. It's an online place that offers free ads for selling stuff, and they have local boards all across the country, so you're buying and selling locally. On my local list, there's some guy right now selling used gas furnaces for $75 each. Something like that would be a pretty cheap way to heat a garage. www.craigslist.com

[BVR421]

Having a heater with a flame or electric coil seems like a bad idea in a garage (gas fumes etc) I know its common in larger shops but I worry about a small garage. Mine is attached so Im wondering about an extension from the house heating duct into the garage wall with a barometric vent.
Am I being too paranoid about this open flame deal?

[SlowSpitzer]

I would not think so. That is why I got the 92% furnace. The flame actually heats a chamber. The air from the garage does not come in contact with the air in the garage. It hac PVC lines coming in and out.

[carcrazy]

My son put in a small heat pump system that only required a small vent to the exterior. Purchased it on Ebay for about $500 and installation was easy. He has been happy with it so far. If you live in the North, it may be cost prohibitive during the heating season because the emergency heat strips will stay on. (instead of heat pump heat)

[firebirdcrazy1959]

i just was given a 125,000 btu roof a/c-heating unit.i'm a crane operator,and some times i put big a/c units on tops of stores and such.the a/c guys ask me if i can take the old units to the scrap yard sometimes,and i do.this time they said that the heater worked and the a/c worked on this one unit.its only 3x3x4.small but good.now i just have to switch it to propane,its natural gas now.my garage is 30x40

[Kron]

I have this King Pick-a-Watt electric heater in my garage along with a small propane heater I hook up to a 20lb propane cylinder (only on really cold nights). The output is 19,454 BTU and uses 220V/30A ckt

My garage is 21x25 and this does a pretty good job. What ever you think you need double it. My garage is well insulated, I set the temp for 60 and use a small fan to help circulate the warm air.

Tony

[goatman-68]

I agree with (SlowSpitzer), the 92% sealed combustion furnace works great for a garage. I have been doing alot of body work this past winter and will be this winter with no danger of fumes igniting or the nasty smell of burned solvents (like the torpedos will do). I just kept calling the local heating contractors and finally found this used Bryant +90 120,000 btu furnace for 300.00. It did need alittle work but total investment was 500.00. One thing to keep in mind is, the high efficiency furnaces have a precipitate chamber and will freeze if you dont keep the garage above freezing. These furnaces will only be a good choice if you have a well insulated shop and leave the heat at a minimum of 45*

[Mr_GTO]

[Mase]

I researched the heck out of his a year ago and I settled on the Beacon Morris 75,000 BTU NG power vented unit for my three car garage. This thing is over kill even for a three car as it will keep the entire garage toasty warm in sub zero Chicago weather. A 45,000 BTU would do a two car just fine and maybe a three car in states a little further south. I placed it on a shelf 5ft. x 6ft. and used some cheap 4" duct pipe and dryer vent cap to the outside. I paid $450 for it at Menards. Beacon Morris has AWESOME online instructions you can view before you buy it and they have EXCELLENT schematics for NG pipe, electrical, etc. I bought a cheap thermostat to contol the temps and it plugs into 115V.

Mase

[smallblocker]

You could always put a cheater heater in your garage, Run a 5" pipe off your hot air plenum into the garage with a spring loaded damper. If your garage is insulated, that should be enough to do it.

I think it's illegal though, and you may have insurance probs. if your place burns. Just get some carbon monoxide detectors for your house. Because, allegedly, vehicle exhaust fummes can backtrack into your house and kill you in your sleep.

only cost 50 bucks though, I risk it. works good, and is always warm