Garage Heater Advice - LotusTalk

dasmoofler · 12-11-2007, 09:12 AM

Not wanting to wash my car in the cold like some, I am seriously considering heating my 2 1/2 car attached garage. I like the ease of installation with an electric heater, but will cost more to run. Gas is cheaper to run but I'll have to run gas and electric to it as well as vent to the outside. I can't decide - any suggestions from those in the know? I'm thinking 20 - 30,000 btu would be plenty. You can see some of the garage here:

MattG · 12-11-2007, 09:45 AM

I've been giving some thought to a passive solar heating system, just enough to take the edge off and bump it up to 50 or so in there. I can't tell from your picture whether the rear wall of your garage is south or north facing, but if it's south-facing it could work. It's a simple approach, use the sun to heat up a large flat air space, have vents going from that space into the garage top and bottom. Hot air rises and goes into the garage, cold air is then sucked in through the bottom vents. Add lightly spring-loaded flaps to close off the vents when there's not enough heat on the outside panels to create convection. Here's a picture of one sample installation:

dasmoofler · 12-11-2007, 10:05 AM

Side of the garage faces north

Front of the house west.
Really leaning towards electric - natural gas around here has sky rocketed the last few years and it's not like I'll use it every day.

codymac · 12-11-2007, 10:41 AM

Have you considered propane or one of the smaller forced air kerosene heaters?

tesprit · 12-11-2007, 10:46 AM

I have been using a ceiling mounted Modine heater for years. It requires a good chimney, natural gas hookup, a thermostat and electricity, but it is never in the way, can heat the entire garage (24 X 27 with 13ft ceiling) from freezing to 70 degrees in a couple of minutes and has never needed any repairs. The only downside is they use a lot of gas so they can be expensive to run if left on all the time, but I only use mine when I am working in the garage and the rest of the time is either off or keeping the garage just above freezing. It sure is nice having somewhere warm to work on or wash your car or just to thaw things out when the outside temp. has dropped down below 0.

dasmoofler · 12-11-2007, 11:01 AM

I have a bullet type propane heater and don't like it. I have to cover up the smoke detector and it makes your eyes burn after a while. Filling the propane tank ain't cheap either. Can't stand kerosene either.

I initially wanted to go the deluxe route like Dan, but after considering all things - initial cost, installation and it won't be used every day I went with a 5,000 watt electric. With electric at .09769/kW HR it will cost about $.48 an hour to run at full blast. It's a Fahrenheat Model FUH5-4. It had a ton of good reviews at NorthernTool.com and it was only $275 shipped.
Thanks guys!

ace10 · 12-11-2007, 11:07 AM

i use a super-sized 155K BTU kero salamander.
lift one of the garage doors about a foot and a half. stick the heater outside and point the business end of it into the garage. don't stand in the bay where it's blowing. takes maybe five minutes to turn the garage tropical. odor is minimal IMO. i usually need to refire it after about thirty minutes, and then maybe every couple of hours after that. i'm not in the great white north and my garage is very, very well insulated. when i build my unattached workshop, it will have propane heaters and will be framed in 2X6's with mondo insulation.

good luck up there.

goelise · 12-11-2007, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tesprit

I have been using a ceiling mounted Modine heater for years. It requires a good chimney, natural gas hookup, a thermostat and electricity, but it is never in the way, can heat the entire garage (24 X 27 with 13ft ceiling) from freezing to 70 degrees in a couple of minutes and has never needed any repairs. The only downside is they use a lot of gas so they can be expensive to run if left on all the time, but I only use mine when I am working in the garage and the rest of the time is either off or keeping the garage just above freezing. It sure is nice having somewhere warm to work on or wash your car or just to thaw things out when the outside temp. has dropped down below 0.

this is what I'm looking into.

Sideoiler · 12-11-2007, 11:09 AM

I've got a forced air overhead furnace in the garage. It's going to get replaced soon with a natural gas radiant unit. Mine will run for 4-5-months a year, not enough sun for solar, propane isn't a option for me and electricity is far too expensive to run all winter.

tesprit · 12-11-2007, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ace10

i use a super-sized 155K BTU kero salamander.
lift one of the garage doors about a foot and a half. stick the heater outside and point the business end of it into the garage. don't stand in the bay where it's blowing. takes maybe five minutes to turn the garage tropical. odor is minimal IMO. i usually need to refire it after about thirty minutes, and then maybe every couple of hours after that. i'm not in the great white north and my garage is very, very well insulated. when i build my unattached workshop, it will have propane heaters and will be framed in 2X6's with mondo insulation.

good luck up there.

I use one of these in my aircraft hangar with kerosene or light diesel fuel, and it is great for fast heat, but the fumes can be overwhelming if you spend a lot of time with it running and they are very noisy. Only use these in a well ventilated space and for short bursts only. We were doing some work on the plane one winter and a quick job turned into an all afternoon affair. By late afternoon we were getting nauseated, light headed and tired. After stepping outside we felt better, but not great--I will never do that again.

dasmoofler · 12-11-2007, 01:19 PM

Whoa! You have a lift in your garage and an aircraft hanger?!

Surferjer · 12-11-2007, 01:40 PM

I just used a space heater. It didn't make it warm in there, but it made it warm enough to wash. Now I have no garage.

tesprit · 12-11-2007, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dasmoofler

Whoa! You have a lift in your garage and an aircraft hanger?!

Actually, I have two garages at home and the aircraft hangar. The Modine and lift are in the 27' X 24' attached garage and the other 24' X 24' detached garage is cold storage. The hangar is 40' wide by 60' long so I have a lot of space behind our airplane to store things and JWA (from this site) is actually renting a spot behind a wing to store his Miata over the winter!

dasmoofler · 01-02-2008, 11:34 AM

Finally got the heater installed! It's quiet and does the job. It was about 20 degrees outside and nice and toasty in the garage. In fact, it was warmer in the garage than my walk in basement! Installation was fairly easy except working with 10 gauge wire is a real bitch. Money well spent.

EburgE · 01-02-2008, 02:48 PM

Which model did you go with? How many cubic feet? How many BTUs?

dasmoofler · 01-02-2008, 02:58 PM

From what I've read it's under powered at 17,000 BTU but it works for me. I suppose a higher BTU unit will heat it up faster but I think I would have to go to gas for that. Nope, this one's just fine for me. It's a Fahrenheat Model FUH54B. 5,000 watts, 17,064 BTU/hr.

I'll have to measure my garage in a bit for cubic feet.

I'm back - it's 4,226 cubic feet.

12-11-2007, 09:12 AM	#1 (permalink)
dasmoofler Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: SE WI Posts: 3,088	Garage Heater Advice Not wanting to wash my car in the cold like some, I am seriously considering heating my 2 1/2 car attached garage. I like the ease of installation with an electric heater, but will cost more to run. Gas is cheaper to run but I'll have to run gas and electric to it as well as vent to the outside. I can't decide - any suggestions from those in the know? I'm thinking 20 - 30,000 btu would be plenty. You can see some of the garage here: Attached Images

12-11-2007, 09:45 AM	#2 (permalink)
MattG insert clever title here Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Living above the clouds in Colorado Posts: 7,676 Images: 11	I've been giving some thought to a passive solar heating system, just enough to take the edge off and bump it up to 50 or so in there. I can't tell from your picture whether the rear wall of your garage is south or north facing, but if it's south-facing it could work. It's a simple approach, use the sun to heat up a large flat air space, have vents going from that space into the garage top and bottom. Hot air rises and goes into the garage, cold air is then sucked in through the bottom vents. Add lightly spring-loaded flaps to close off the vents when there's not enough heat on the outside panels to create convection. Here's a picture of one sample installation: Attached Images __________________ '05 Elise, Magnetic Blue / Biscuit / Hardtop / http://eliseinfo.com Radar detector mounting brackets for sale here

12-11-2007, 10:41 AM	#4 (permalink)
codymac short angry bloke Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: where the east tapers out and the west begins Posts: 9,260 Images: 19	Have you considered propane or one of the smaller forced air kerosene heaters? __________________ torque (tôrk) n. - an excuse for the lack of momentum. - let's bring back CanAm & Group B! - have you hugged your Exige today? I'm currently working on my performance driving merit badge. There's always somebody faster, sometimes it's me.

12-11-2007, 11:07 AM	#7 (permalink)
ace10 -30- Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 4,449 Images: 35	i use a super-sized 155K BTU kero salamander. lift one of the garage doors about a foot and a half. stick the heater outside and point the business end of it into the garage. don't stand in the bay where it's blowing. takes maybe five minutes to turn the garage tropical. odor is minimal IMO. i usually need to refire it after about thirty minutes, and then maybe every couple of hours after that. i'm not in the great white north and my garage is very, very well insulated. when i build my unattached workshop, it will have propane heaters and will be framed in 2X6's with mondo insulation. good luck up there. __________________ 2007 Exige S, Storm Ti. Sport, Track and TC.Plus: Multivex Mirrors, S111 Deltabrace, Sparco 6Pt harnesses (w/Ti Dave's Antisub belt mount), I/O Port video mount, Snorkel delete, Shims out, Rearview Mirror delete, 2Bular 7X18, Pagid RS42's, Saiku Michi catch can and, of course, blingy carpet buttons. 08 M-B ML320 cdi, 08 Toyota Tundra SR5 5.7, 06 M-B E320 cdi, 02 Lexus LX470, 97 Bobcat 751C The Red Pill Ignore Me *Be sure too save your IL before browsing away

12-11-2007, 01:40 PM	#12 (permalink)
Surferjer No more cone damage! Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Exton, PA Posts: 8,885	I just used a space heater. It didn't make it warm in there, but it made it warm enough to wash. Now I have no garage. __________________ Jer-2005 Elise (retired from autox) 1993 MR2 autox car 2002 Ford Excursion DIESEL 4 X 4 1993 Miata (throwout bearing or clutch failure) 1987 Toyota Corolla FX16 Lemons car (needs new head) 1984 Chevy Citation Lemons car (needs a motor)

12-11-2007, 10:05 AM	#3 (permalink)
dasmoofler Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: SE WI Posts: 3,088	Side of the garage faces north Front of the house west. Really leaning towards electric - natural gas around here has sky rocketed the last few years and it's not like I'll use it every day.

12-11-2007, 10:46 AM	#5 (permalink)
tesprit Registered User Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Racine, WI Posts: 1,925	I have been using a ceiling mounted Modine heater for years. It requires a good chimney, natural gas hookup, a thermostat and electricity, but it is never in the way, can heat the entire garage (24 X 27 with 13ft ceiling) from freezing to 70 degrees in a couple of minutes and has never needed any repairs. The only downside is they use a lot of gas so they can be expensive to run if left on all the time, but I only use mine when I am working in the garage and the rest of the time is either off or keeping the garage just above freezing. It sure is nice having somewhere warm to work on or wash your car or just to thaw things out when the outside temp. has dropped down below 0.

12-11-2007, 11:01 AM	#6 (permalink)
dasmoofler Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: SE WI Posts: 3,088	I have a bullet type propane heater and don't like it. I have to cover up the smoke detector and it makes your eyes burn after a while. Filling the propane tank ain't cheap either. Can't stand kerosene either. I initially wanted to go the deluxe route like Dan, but after considering all things - initial cost, installation and it won't be used every day I went with a 5,000 watt electric. With electric at .09769/kW HR it will cost about $.48 an hour to run at full blast. It's a Fahrenheat Model FUH5-4. It had a ton of good reviews at NorthernTool.com and it was only $275 shipped. Thanks guys!

12-11-2007, 11:09 AM	#9 (permalink)
Sideoiler Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Location: Edmonton, Alberta Posts: 525	I've got a forced air overhead furnace in the garage. It's going to get replaced soon with a natural gas radiant unit. Mine will run for 4-5-months a year, not enough sun for solar, propane isn't a option for me and electricity is far too expensive to run all winter.

12-11-2007, 01:19 PM	#11 (permalink)
dasmoofler Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: SE WI Posts: 3,088	Whoa! You have a lift in your garage and an aircraft hanger?!

01-02-2008, 11:34 AM	#14 (permalink)
dasmoofler Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: SE WI Posts: 3,088	Finally got the heater installed! It's quiet and does the job. It was about 20 degrees outside and nice and toasty in the garage. In fact, it was warmer in the garage than my walk in basement! Installation was fairly easy except working with 10 gauge wire is a real bitch. Money well spent.

01-02-2008, 02:48 PM	#15 (permalink)
EburgE Super 7 Owner In Training Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Eldersburg, MD Posts: 2,416	Which model did you go with? How many cubic feet? How many BTUs? __________________ '05 Lotus Elise '07 Caterham Seven www.hals7.com

01-02-2008, 02:58 PM	#16 (permalink)
dasmoofler Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: SE WI Posts: 3,088	From what I've read it's under powered at 17,000 BTU but it works for me. I suppose a higher BTU unit will heat it up faster but I think I would have to go to gas for that. Nope, this one's just fine for me. It's a Fahrenheat Model FUH54B. 5,000 watts, 17,064 BTU/hr. I'll have to measure my garage in a bit for cubic feet. I'm back - it's 4,226 cubic feet. Last edited by dasmoofler : 01-02-2008 at 03:40 PM.

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