Gas Heater for garage

40_Tudor · November 06, 2006, 10:29:27 AM

Anyone have any recommendations on a gas heater for my 2 car garage? It gets pretty cold in Ohio in the winter.
My air tools keep freezing up.
I was looking on the web at infrared heaters but I guess it needs to be vented in order to keep the moisture down.
Any preferences?

GPster · November 06, 2006, 11:22:37 AM

If your garage is one that you bring 2 cars into every night that you have driven on snow covered streets all day than there might be a moisture problem when the ice melts. If you're just heating up the air so you can be more comfortable in a shop and your air tools will work then an infared heater will be nice. I have one in my 16' x 32' garage/shop and I'm in a high humidity part of Ohio and it's just fine for me. Just keep your air tools in a tool chest with wheels on it so they will be up off the floor and keep them away from outside walls because those areas won't be as warm. GPster

Dave · November 06, 2006, 11:53:49 AM

Quote from: "40_Tudor"Anyone have any recommendations on a gas heater for my 2 car garage? It gets pretty cold in Ohio in the winter.
My air tools keep freezing up.
I was looking on the web at infrared heaters but I guess it needs to be vented in order to keep the moisture down.
Any preferences?

I took the old one from my house and put in the garage.. heats er up in about 15 minutes

I keep it about 55 when im not usung it to work.
Dave

GPster · November 06, 2006, 01:28:58 PM

Quote from: "jusjunk"I took the old one from my house and put in the garage.. heats er up in about 15 minutes I keep it about 55 when im not usung it to work.Dave

Just a little bit of precaution about a situation like this. Gasoline vapors from a gas tank or elsewhere will collect on the floor so it's a good idea to keep the open flames of any furnace about 3' off the floor. Because of the "draw" of the flue if it's any closer to the floor than that it might draw any combustables into the flame. This is part of the reason for hanging heaters in garages. When you have a heater with a flue you are also dealing with the efficiency of the heat exchanger where you might only get 60% of the available heat of the gas you are burning because the rest is going up the flue. Also the air going up the flue draws a vaccum on the garage which is going to cause outside air to come in through every crack in the walls and under the doors. I'm certainly a fan of using what you have but if you're going to buy something I'd look at the Infared heaters. If you like the idea of a house furnace then a high efficiency counter-flo furnace would take cumbustion air from outside so it wouldn't put the heated area in a vacuum. It would vent under pressure to the outside so you wouldn't need a big over-head flue to draw, would not only seal the flames from the garage area but would also put the blower motor above combustable gas vapor and it would blow warm air accross the floors to make them warm (and kick dirt and dust into anything you're doing). Everyone has a different set of needs and values. Get the information and decide what yours are. GPster

phat46 · November 06, 2006, 04:37:33 PM

I too have an old house furnace in the shop. flip the switch and your warm in minutes, but it does tend to add to the ol' fuel bill!!! Last year I avoided doing too much in the shop in the Winter for that reason. This Winter the natural gas prices are supposed to be down...

I put mine up so the flame is about 40" off the floor for safety reasons. I took it all apart this fall and inspected it for cracks in the heat exchanger and cleaned it so it's ready for another season. Mine is an upflow model and I just left the old plenum on it with a duct takeoff aiming down onw bay of the shop and a short 6" pipe coming off the side of the plenum that blows into the other bay.

58 Yeoman · November 06, 2006, 04:44:34 PM

I've got a blue flame propane heater mounted on the wall in my garage, the correct height from the floor, whatever that distance was supposed to be. I do get some condensation when everything is cold after starting it up, but haven't had any problems with rust, other than the chrome wheels on the Chevy. I use a propane 'salamander' heater to heat the shop up to temp, then use the wall mount to keep it warm.

Dave · November 06, 2006, 06:21:36 PM

Quote from: "phat46"I too have an old house furnace in the shop. flip the switch and your warm in minutes, but it does tend to add to the ol' fuel bill!!! Last year I avoided doing too much in the shop in the Winter for that reason. This Winter the natural gas prices are supposed to be down... I put mine up so the flame is about 40" off the floor for safety reasons. I took it all apart this fall and inspected it for cracks in the heat exchanger and cleaned it so it's ready for another season. Mine is an upflow model and I just left the old plenum on it with a duct takeoff aiming down onw bay of the shop and a short 6" pipe coming off the side of the plenum that blows into the other bay.

I had a relative that did heating and cooling. He told me this.. When using an upflow in a garage make a plenium for the top but put as many holes as you can get in it and point em where you want em. You should see mine..

Dave

phat46 · November 06, 2006, 08:43:40 PM

Quote from: "jusjunk"
Quote from: "phat46"I too have an old house furnace in the shop. flip the switch and your warm in minutes, but it does tend to add to the ol' fuel bill!!! Last year I avoided doing too much in the shop in the Winter for that reason. This Winter the natural gas prices are supposed to be down... I put mine up so the flame is about 40" off the floor for safety reasons. I took it all apart this fall and inspected it for cracks in the heat exchanger and cleaned it so it's ready for another season. Mine is an upflow model and I just left the old plenum on it with a duct takeoff aiming down onw bay of the shop and a short 6" pipe coming off the side of the plenum that blows into the other bay.

I had a relative that did heating and cooling. He told me this.. When using an upflow in a garage make a plenium for the top but put as many holes as you can get in it and point em where you want em. You should see mine..
Dave

My first "real" job, after the fast food stuff, was as an installer/repairman for a heating/cooling place. Really dirty job, at least for the kid at the bottom of the totem pole...

I know I could heat a lot better by running some duct the length of the shop and split off runs every few feet and running them to the outer walls and putting difusers on the end of the pipes. All my heat gets blown to the front of the shop and has to work it's way back; it's pretty uneven. We ran ductwork at my brothers shop and it went from a constantly running furnace to nice even heat that cycled. It's also nice to have heat over the benches where you might be working. I have an extra hood suspended upside down from the ceiling in one bay and the top of my frame table hanging from the ceiling in the other bay so i can't run any ductwork in mine. I'm still envious of the guys with the in floor heat, I can never get the floor really warm in my place.