Garage Heaters

40 Chev Coupe · January 05, 2013, 07:20:42 PM

Well my insurance company is making me do away with my wood heater, and I checked into other insurance companys and they are going the same route.
My work area is 30x36 so I'm looking for the best heat source and what make and price. Any ideas?

tom36 · January 05, 2013, 07:40:01 PM

Around here, (Maine), forced hot air seems to be the heat source of choice for garages. Some have those hang off the ceiling gas fired heaters, but most of the "hobbiest" garages use mobil home hot air furnaces. They are small in size (meant to fit in a closet} and blow warm air off the bottom. Heat rises so that makes good sense to me. Nice thing about a warm air set up is you can turn it on and have heat in about 3 minutes. We use fuel oil and yesterday it was $3.49 a gallon. Don't know how well insulated your garage is but at the price of energy sources I would say it's a must. Tom...

34ford · January 05, 2013, 09:03:57 PM

I have one of the ceiling mount (usually called a warehouse heater) that I bought used from my heating guy. It was a take out to install a bigger one in a warehouse. Nice thing is there is no ducting involved except for the flue. It has a pilot light so it's nice that the open flame is up in the ceiling area instead of low on the floor where gas and other chemicals seem to gather. My garage is 24x48 and it can heat it up in a short period of time. It is usually set on 50 and I turn it up to 65 when I'm out there working. Maybe call around and see if any of the hvac guys have any setting around. Did see a couple on craigslist last month. Hope this gives you some help.

Just looked on craigs and this was locally listed to give you an Ideal-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Great shop or garage heater... 175,000 btu...
I m selling cuz I bought a bigger unit..
Has been checked out by heater tech... In good shape n ready for natural gas.
Can burn propane if u change orfice...
110 power... Newer fan motor... U can hook power to it n here it run n everything kick on... $350

There are a bunch listed on the wisconsin craigslist area also.

Beck · January 05, 2013, 09:10:00 PM

I have a standard home style natural gas furnace. It is an updraft. I built an angle iron frame to sit it about a foot off the floor, so it draws from the bottom. When I installed it I was happy. Then my garage space became "used up". It still works great after over 20 years but I am considering replacing it with a ceiling mount unit to gain a little space. I am happy with the natural gas. My unit is intentionally oversized. Within minutes the garage is warm even on the coldest days. I use the same size furnace filters as used in my home. My wife changes the home filter monthly. I used the removed home filter in the garage. When doing body work, painting, grinding, or blasting in the garage with the furnace on the filter gets filthy.
I'm sure the wood burner was economical, but you will love the convenience of another fuel. No cleanup, starting the fire, hot surface and you get forced air.

river1 · January 05, 2013, 09:15:28 PM

I just put long pants

Have you thought of solar?

http://www.mobilehomerepair.com/article17b.php

If you were closer I'd donate a dual pane arcadia door to the project, but then if you were closer you would need heat

Later jim

Charlie Chops 1940 · January 05, 2013, 10:22:10 PM

I got my hanging natural gas furnace at Graingers about 14-15 years ago. Not crazy expensive. I heat a well insulated 30x22 area with another connected 8x18 storage room. Thermostat keeps it at 50 and I turn it up to 68 when I go out there. I have no idea what it costs since the house and garage is on the same bill. Actually I don't care what it costs. It's my hobby, it's what I do and I can afford it. I don't go out there to be cold. When I can't afford it anymore I'll change hobbies...that's my attitude and I'm sticking with it.

I'll look in the morning and add the BTU rating.

Charlie

Arnold · January 05, 2013, 11:57:19 PM

Wood stoves in shops are finished around here too(S. Ontario)
Propane is popular(furnaces). My buddy converts house furnaces to it.
Old oil house furnaces are used too.
The odd furnace that burns old oil.
Our electricity is 7-12 cents/kw/hr.

There is not much difference in cost to heat with oil,propane, or wood around here. Even not far from me where there is natural gas..not that much cheaper.I know many people that have tried it all.

Build a new house/shop and put geo thermal in it seems to be the way to go.Even then the hydro bill is wallopping.
Converting an old house..about..$30G's AND up!

Around here a few people have outside wood furnaces that take good size logs! And use a boiler system. They use them for house and shop. Very,very efficient..and expensive.

Geothermal is getting popular too..very,very expensive.

Another idea that is taking hold is a modified type of geothermal that has pipes about 6' down that run for hundreds of feet usually in a square.

Arnold · January 06, 2013, 12:09:49 AM

Quote from: "Arnold"Wood stoves in shops are finished around here too(S. Ontario)
Propane is popular(furnaces). My buddy converts house furnaces to it.
Old oil house furnaces are used too.
The odd furnace that burns old oil.
Our electricity is 7-12 cents/kw/hr.

There is not much difference in cost to heat with oil,propane, or wood around here. Even not far from me where there is natural gas..not that much cheaper.I know many people that have tried it all.

Build a new house/shop and put geo thermal in it seems to be the way to go.Even then the hydro bill is wallopping.
Converting an old house..about..$30G's AND up!

Around here a few people have outside wood furnaces that take good size logs! And use a boiler system. They use them for house and shop. Very,very efficient..and expensive.

Geothermal is getting popular too..very,very expensive.

Another idea that is taking hold is a modified type of geothermal that has pipes about 6' down that run for hundreds of feet usually in a square.

*! They have pret near indoctrinated me too!
NOONE! around Ontario can understand their hydro bill..it is a combined political thing with so much to pay off the previous governments debts,plus delivery,plus the hydro and all these prices at different times.
The 7-12 cents I quoted is what THEY TELL YOU.

Hydro in Ontario is .25 cents Kw/hr. When you get your bill in the spring and fall with no heat..200kw is $50. Month. Winter 600kw is $150.

Glad I corrected that

ragdol · January 06, 2013, 12:17:32 AM

My vote would be for radiant heat. I have this in my shop & love it. It heats objects not the air. Your project is warmed up in 15-20 minutes. I have two 30' in my 40' x 40' shop. They run about a thousand each for the 30' ones.

348tripower · January 06, 2013, 06:22:46 AM

I am in the process of putting in a home style multi position 100000 BTU 95% unit in my 26x36 shop. I am hanging it down 4 foot from the trusses. I have 12 foot ceilings. I am going to run some duct work. It has to be run so to stay away from my two hoists. I have a 1980s 150000 BTU Modine hanging in the shop now. I am looking for savings and I really would like to filter the air. This should take place next week.

taxpyer · January 06, 2013, 06:46:38 AM

Garage heating,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, a tough one. :?
I built an 1800 sq ft or 30x60 shop 2x6 construction and very well insulated with a 10ft ceiling. I first used a pelt stove which cost me about 150/mo for the pellets and $20 for power and it really didn't work all that well. It kept the shop at 40-50 degrees. It was messy with the ash and forever getting pelts and filling the stove.

I asked all my friends and of course they use wood but the insurance thing reared it's ugly head. :evil:
So I bought two of those oil filled heaters from Costco.($70 ea I think) I put one at each end of the building. They have a three position setting. I set them on #2(700W ea) and walked out..........

This was last winter.

The shop stays at about 50-55 degrees just right for working etc, and it costs me about $80/mo for the heaters and about $20/mo for the lights etc. so I heat 1800 sq ft for$100/mo. give or take a couple of bucks.
As I sit here posting this my shop is at 52 degrees. I am wired for forced air electric but I'm not too sure I need it. Except for it taking a while to heat up the place initially these little heaters seem to fill the bill. They are on 24/7. When I bring a car in or something through the big doors they seem to keep up just fine. My wife and I both spend time out there and we both find it quite comfortable. Of course we have the option of turning them up but never found the need to these past two winters.
Anyways that's what I'm doing for heat. Hope it helps someone.

kb426 · January 06, 2013, 08:02:04 AM

Mine has a real old house furnace. 100,000 btu. I only heat the garage when I'm out there. Don, I'm curious to see what you have in results a year from now. In theory, you should see a 15% savings. I put 14 of them in 600 sq. ft. apartments a year ago and can't see that we saved anything. I have a 20 year consumption history to compare to also. I was ready to replace mine until I checked the consumption figures. I'm now waiting for awhile to see if there is something better.

tomslik · January 06, 2013, 09:45:59 AM

i use the biggest one of these...

http://www.modinehvac.com/v2portal/page/portal/hvac/hvacResidentialDefault/hvac_com/residential_hot_dawg/level_2_content2_035.htm

my shop is 30X48 w/12ft walls...

348tripower · January 06, 2013, 10:05:28 AM

Quote from: "kb426"Mine has a real old house furnace. 100,000 btu. I only heat the garage when I'm out there. Don, I'm curious to see what you have in results a year from now. In theory, you should see a 15% savings. I put 14 of them in 600 sq. ft. apartments a year ago and can't see that we saved anything. I have a 20 year consumption history to compare to also. I was ready to replace mine until I checked the consumption figures. I'm now waiting for awhile to see if there is something better.

I really hope this works well. It is a $1000.00 investment. I can go back in my history and check my consumption to compare. My brother in law is in heating and cooling and we talked a lot about this. He says it will save. :? :?

taxpyer · January 06, 2013, 03:02:01 PM

Just a cost update:
I went over the power bills for last year and for the coldest two months of last winter , Jan & Feb the power consumption was 1354kW.h @$0.06670/kW.h for Jan and 1621kW.h @$0.09620/kW.h for Feb. 2011. With misc. taxes etc the bill for two months was $274.69.
My shop is on a separate meter. So it averaged out to $132.69/mo for those two months which were the coldest. Of course that includes all the power consumned by the shop. We don't have natural gas here.
Now, when I built my shop it has R20 walls and R40 ceiling. The two roll-up doors are R16 made by steelcraft. I put tyvek wrap on the outside and 6mil vapour barrier inside. 1/2" sheathing inside and out with Hardie plank siding. The roof was sheathed with 5/8" sheathing and metal roofing on that with full soffit ventilation.
I live in a mountainous area in the interior of BC.
Anyways the effort put into making the shop as well insulated as I could is paying off. The two heaters I mentioned are the oil filled radiator type you see around.
I don't spend as much time in the shop as I'd like to but it is always at a comfortable temp when I do get out in it. If I do any cutting or welding it is soon almost too warm.
If I was to do anything with a furnace I'd bite the bullet and put in a heatpump system, I believe it would pay in the long run as I will have this hobby for the rest of my days.

Just a note on what I do. No stories just the way it is.