Garage heater advice

[Pepe Ray]

Unless the floor was constructed with interior heating in mind, The concrete will be your biggest problem.
What are you near?
Pepe Ray

[Bad Water Bill]

When the village of Park Forest Il was begun right after the war "1946" ALL of the houses had radiant heat.

Yes it was nice to lay on a heated floor for a change.

Unfortunately over time the ground shifts just a bit and splits the tubing buried in your floor,water leaks and total loss of heat result.

A furnace has to be installed and ALL duct work goes thru the attic.

Now hot air vents are installed at the ceiling level.

Not sure what the life of a garage floor would be but I think it would be far shorter than a house.

We weigh far less than our cars.

[Revolver]

When I change the R values to R-30 in the walls and R-38 in the ceiling... ...and the inside design temp to 50 I get the heating loss is 13,841 BTU. The estimated heating cost is $556.17 (the lowest inside temp allows to be used for this is 68)...

Thank you very much. So does this mean the estimated cost is based on 68 degrees?

...I would not go lower than a heating system with 30,000 BTU output (not input). And unless you are confident with the R values and air tightness of the door I would possible go to the 45,000 BTU.

Again, thank you. I am going with the 45k BTU unit for sure. It's not much more than the 30k anyhow.

My question is what type of use is the garage? A true garage to park a vehicle in or is it more of a shop?

It's a shop... and a garage. I have an un-insulated garage that we park in daily, then this insulated garage is attached on the end of it. I mostly use it as a workshop but in the winter I also store my more "modern" car in it and drive my beater instead.

[shaune509]

As this is going to be a "closed" shop stay away from any vent-less unit. I think code calls for a foot above floor for open flame. Ceiling forsed air heaters in the 30-45,000btu aren't that bad in price, the B-vent can add up though. Use an air to air heat exchanger to bring the air into the shop for you first and the unit second as if you tighted up the shop alot the O2 levels can get to low. Just my 2 cents.
Shaune509

[mold maker]

I have a 28X32' garage with drive through double 9'X8'6" doors, 2 windows, and a walk through door. It has a 14' celing and cinder block/brick const on the bottom 4', and conventual framing above.
We do use it for parking as a handicap access with a ramp to the main floor. We also use it for parties and getherings year round.
I installed a MR heater (75000 BTU) hung on the celing. It quickly reheats the garage after the doors are used. It will maintain the temp within a few degrees, and doesn't run the gas bill up appreciably. we keep it about 60 degrees to make wheel chair/car access as comfortable as possible.
A side benifit is that my 03 crewcab still has the original battery and it's always warm and ready.
We are a large, close family and have some kind of get together at least every other week, in the garage.
The heater wasn't hard for me to install, at 69, and the (nat) gas hook up was simple.

[Adk Mike]

I've been in the propane gas business for 28 years. My personal shop is 20 by 25, 500 square feet 9 and 1/2 ceilings. If you want the best for your needs buy a Modine Hot Dawg model HD30 or HD45.
If you google it it will come right up. Out of the way takes no floor space my shop is 70 all winter. I do not work in the cold. Buy one you'll love it. Mike

[turmech]

"So does this mean the estimated cost is based on 68 degrees?"

Yes, in theory it should be quite a bit less to maintain 50 degrees.

[gbrown]

Here's something that might help you.

http://www.modine.com

My neighbor, now deceased, had one for a greenhouse and the blower/fan went out. I was able to locate a parts house and order what they needed. The one down here in TX was very helpful and gave me detailed instructions on replacement and wiring. The Modine is a ceiling mounted one which would take away the danger of low hanging vapors.

[dbosman]

Buy a smart thermostat with a remote control option.
Keep the shop at about 50 degrees when not in use and raise the temp when you anticipate needing it warmer, or with the remote as you get your coffee ready.

[rondog]

I've been in the propane gas business for 28 years. My personal shop is 20 by 25, 500 square feet 9 and 1/2 ceilings. If you want the best for your needs buy a Modine Hot Dawg model HD30 or HD45.
If you google it it will come right up. Out of the way takes no floor space my shop is 70 all winter. I do not work in the cold. Buy one you'll love it. Mike

I have a Hot Dawg in my 18x18 garage, nat gas. It works great, but I don't know the model #. I wish it were bigger, but that would have required extensive gas line changes. I'm hoping better insulation and draft plugging will help keep it warmer in there.

[MT Gianni]

Unvented gas heaters put out about 1 gallon of liquids per 100,000 btu's.

[metalbender]

Unvented heaters are a pain with machinery, had a very rusty mill and lathe a few years ago due to this. Kerosene heat in a 8x24 workshop. Currently have a Big Maxx 45k on nat gas in my 28x28 insulated garage/shop. Keep it just above freezing until I want to do some work. It gets to 30 below here so I put a tarp on a wire to divide the garage, just keeps the work area more constant in temp. Never a concern about the vehicle or gas cans and snowblower. Any vapours would long disperse before they reached the height of the heater. The cost on my gas bill is minimal compared to my previous attempt with a 75k propane unit heater. Couldn't afford to run that one for more than a couple of hrs a day. If possible " heat yor a$$ with natural gas"

[Adk Mike]

The average work shop in my climate (upstate NY) has a stand alone 100 propane tank on it.They are also called a 420. They use about 150 gallons a year. Very rare they use more than that. The reason, people leave the heat off during the work week up until it freezes hard. Usually around Thanksgiving. Same thing at the end of winter they shut it off unless they are out there in mid March.
Low volume propane is in the 3.50 price range here also. But I figure a shop is a luxury. I leave heat off during the week unless I'm drying paint or stain. I cast out there on Saturday's in the winter so I turn the heat on on Friday nights and shut it off mid day on Sunday. It beats burning wood at least for me. Mike

[Adk Mike]

On other thought when I install a Hot Dawg in a shop with a 10 foot ceiling. I build a shelve at 8 feet on the gable end and mount the heater under it. It's still over my head and off the floor. It just seems like it works better at 8 feet plus it's not so high if you need to work on it. Mike

[Riverpigusmc]

When I raced short track Late Models, we were going through the car in the off season. Shop had a gas wall heater at the far end. I had my arm elbow deep in the fuel cell pulling out the foam when the fumes from the few gallons of Unocal ignited due to the gas heater. Spent some time in the hospital pumped full of demerol. Something to think about

[jeepyj]

Just a thought . In several of our apartment complexes we have installed mini split heat pumps. 46 of them so far and the results are fantastic. We are also in Maine and most so far are on the coast. Just another idea to kick around. We paid around 1,800 installed. The claim is that they will use an average of three hundred dollars per year in electricity for heating and cooling. It will heat, cool,dehumidify and has a fan option
Jeepyj

[remy3424]

I tried and replaced an unvented propane heater with a hanging 220 electric heater, the byproduct of burning propane is water. I have a 30x42 insulalted garage, 3 overhead doors and couldn't tell the difference in my electric bill. It keeps the temp above freezing to 42 degrees on the low setting, turning it higher for an hour gets the temp into the 50s easily. They sell these in farm supply stores for around $300. Can be wired for 110 also.

[Revolver]

I've been in the propane gas business for 28 years. My personal shop is 20 by 25, 500 square feet 9 and 1/2 ceilings. If you want the best for your needs buy a Modine Hot Dawg model HD30 or HD45.
If you google it it will come right up. Out of the way takes no floor space my shop is 70 all winter. I do not work in the cold. Buy one you'll love it. Mike

I ordered the Sterling GG45 and the vent kit for separate combustion, arrives tomorrow. I think it will work well. I like the idea of the separate combustion configuration.

http://www.littlegreenhouse.com/acce...heaters4.shtml