Technical Small garages and how you heat them?

Mine is 26x36 all concrete block walls with steel roof and ceiling, 6" fiberglass insulation in ceiling. Best I could afford 35 tears ago. Barrel stove with a manhole cover for a door. (Big bastard) Impossible to heat when below 10 degrees, block walls suck the heat out as fast as the wood burns, floor sucks the heat out of my legs 'till they start to throb. Winter sucks!

 

I've got a wall unit that is similar that I plumbed into my LPG tank, so it is cheap to operate in my 24X30 insulated garage and it will heat it very easily.

 

I use a hot dawg heater by modine.propane fuel.very efficient and puts out tons of heat.has thermostat and other safety features

 

Heat? I have two open sides on my carport/shop I'd have to close in before I could even think about using any heat. I have used a daisy head on a 25lb propane bottle a time or two when I just had to work out there in cold weather. Heated the area close to me enough I didn't freeze. Insulated coveralls helped a bunch, too.

If it ain't 55 degrees or warmer, I don't usually get much done....

 

I'm looking for a way to use propane or wood for fuel without having the flame in the shop. Wood boilers are the answer but they break the bank.

 

Search for "direct vent propane wall heaters"
They draw outside air into the combustion chamber, use a blower and heat exchanging setup, and the exhaust also exits to the outside.

 

I have a couple of things to add. First, if you are using a unit that uses an open flame (any of the propane, kerosene, or wood-fueled devices), I would suggest getting a Carbon monoxide/Gas detector. I have one that plugs into a wall outlet with battery backup, that will wake the dead when it goes off. This is mandatory if you are using a "temporary" setup. Secondly, if contemplating any kind of large electric heater, keep in mind the amount of electricity it draws. Someone mentioned a 7500 watt electric heater. Do the math; a 240 volt 30 amp circuit supplies only 7200 watts. Something this large requires a heavy-duty professionally installed circuit; you just can't plug it into a socket under the bench. Unless your power company has special rates for electric heating, the first time you open your electric bill, you will get a large, unpleasant surprise.

This is coming from a guy located 20 miles north of Brainerd, MN where we are currently looking at daytime highs in the -10 degree range for the next 7-10 days. Some of you guys further south can get by with something that just takes the chill off, but up here, we need to get serious.

 

Outdoor wood boilers are expensive but here in Pa you can find a lot of used ones for a fair price , I picked one up a few years ago for $600 . I had to put new smoke tubes in and weld a panel in the back but it works fine and it heats my house (2 story , 4 bedroom) and 2 bays of garage . Its a big one it holds about 500 gallons of water. Its 12 degrees outside and its 73 in the house and near 70 in the garage and I can make it warmer if I need , I have the water at about 150 degrees now but if it gets colder I'll crank it up so the water is 180 .

 

Exactly why I love my outdoor burner. All fire, dirt, smoke is outside. I usually burn about 4 full cords of wood and depending on how cold 6 to 15 tons of coal. With all of the Oil and Gas activity around here and pipeline clearing wood is easily obtainable for free. Just have to cut it and split it. Buy a good chain saw and wood splitter and it will last for years. I just split them small enough for me to pick up and load into the 2' X 2' door. usually haul it in a 10' dump trailer, same one as I haul the coal in. I get the coal from my oldest son's mine at cost, this year $48 a Ton. Still a lot cheaper than heating everything with Propane. Yea, I live in the nations biggest natural gas supply areas and can't get natural gas to heat with, too wet from the Marcellus Shale depths. I love the aspect of all fire outside of any buildings and burn anything I can get my hands on, even pine which would creosote your chimney and burn your house down. That and straight coal will shoot fire out the stack when the blower kicks on. Keeps the house in the mid 70's for the wife and my shop at 55.

 

I recently installed a NG overhead radiant tube and it's fantastic. I found it used, had to purchase a few parts to orient it the way I wanted it, but man does it ever heat my shop - 32 X 40, 11' ceiling and insulated. I don't leave it running, but can raise the temp from 30f to 60f in less than an hour.

 

2 car garage. Ordinarily the answer is "live in the South", but we just got cold. I have a few portable lights that when plugged in function as space heaters, and that's what I use

 

Big ass oil boiler with radiant tubes in the floor keeps the 32x75’ shop with 16’ ceilings in the mid 40s, then crank up the 75k hanging propane heater when i’m There to bring it up to working temp.

Planning on replacing the old, inefficient, and oversized oil boiler with a 95% efficient wall hung 125k btu wall hung propane boiler next month.

Bonus is that I get back the floor space taken by the 275 gallon oil tank to make room for a sandblast cabinet and can turn the boiler room into a tool crib.

 

a pot belly wood stove takes up too much room and is not efficient. Small propane furnace properly installed unless electricity is cheap in your area. I have a air tight wood stove by choice with proper chimney and blessed by insurance co. I also paint in garage,,shot my boat xmas eve. Sometimes not a lot of work gets done when ass hits chair and a glass is poured. Getting fresh this am

 

Insulation, good windows, doors, seal up air leaks. my heated garage is 24X44, use the Hot Dawg heater post #33 with a 500# propane tank outside. The cost, $50/year tank rental, put in approx 400# every other year, propane varies .79/1.29, always buy in summer as winter prices jump up. Here in the Wisconsin North woods it's -17 this AM, keep garage at 50 deg 24/7 turn up to 64/6 degree when working out there. I do not go out there every day anymore, but do spend 20/30 hours per week putzin on something, probably would be 2X cost for 8 hour days 5 days a week. Some of the heaters that have been pictured are not safe, read instructions with heating device, designed to be used in a vented area, if your garage is pretty airtight, you are going to kill yourself from the fumes, to these guys, headache is a sign of carbon monoxide poisoning. At previous home, 30 years, 20X22 garage had a small wood burner, worked great for years, but home owners insurance sent letter, NO coverage for a wood burner, went to a vented propane type, suggest anyone using wood burner, check with your insurance co. Hope everyone's Christmas was good, Happy New Year. !

 

Over 35 years you could be buying 2" thick 4' x 8' styrofoam insulation, and fir out the block wall then
drywall over that. even if you did one section at a time you would save yourself a lot of cold legs.
Just to keep honest I do have to practice what I preach.

Pat

 

I always thought those headaches were from the jobs I took in.

 

Right now I heat my 28x48 shop with an airtight wood stove (black box), and passive solar. The doors are service station glass overheads, facing south at the gable end. I'd like to change to a propane furnace or pellet stove, maybe next year. Works great for now as is.

 

several of my friends and myself have the Hot Dawg unit , really works great !

 

Wood stove, light her up, go in for breakfast, come out to work on shit 1 1/2 hours later to a warm shop. Maintain your stove and chimney, it's totally safe. I don't however, paint in my shop. Invest in insulation.

 

Big Maxx 75k on propane. We don't have NG here, and have a 120 gallon pig outside. I don't go out there much when it's cold, but it does a great job when I do. 24x40 metal with only about 3" styrofoam in the walls covered with osb, about 6" fiberglass in the 10' ceilings. Insulated doors.

 

2&1/2 car-insulated..Barrel stove..built on a section of (3/8"+) thick wall pipe.. 3 layers of sheet metal between it & the wall + a stack of cinderblocks...a box fan behind it on a thermo switch...and 2 ceiling fans helps a bunch too..'27 inside this a.m. ...2hrs later & an armload of fir & hemlock '65 degrees

 

Safety Issue

Ask me how I know
Torpedo Heaters, Propane heaters, Kerosene Heaters all of which are not vented NO CHIMNEY even with the doors and windows cracked open will make you very sick or kill you... Gene

 

I also have a HOT DAWG right now 62 inside and 0 outside.

 

1536 sq.ft. insulated and 96% natural gas used furnace out of rich persons house ; cost is about $50-60 a month just for the garage in the cold months and nearly the same for a/c in the summer.

 

1000 sq ft well insulated shop attached to my house. I’m using a 30ft radiant tube fed by natural gas I leave it set at 50 degrees Fahrenheit all winter and bump it up when I’m in there. I’m guessing, but I think it’s less than $100 a month to run. Tube heaters available from around 10 feet long and up. My garage also gets used to just hang out so we light the wood stove and pull up some chairs for beer and bullshit.

 

My first year in my garage/shop, natural gas, ceiling mounted, Reznor, very efficient and quiet, I keep it at 50 degrees when I'm not working and it kicks up to 65 quickly when needed, recommended.
My natural gas bill, 2 months ago (very cold month) for both the house and my shop was $99.00, happy with that!

 

I bought one of these 220v heaters and its surprisingly powerful. Wired the plug the same as my welder. Takes the chill off in a fully insulated garage. Theyre around $100.

Ive used space heaters, wood burners, kerosene heaters in the past. My shop has downdraft nat gas furnace. Just depends on whats available and how much time and $ you want to spend getting set up.

 

This is great advice, except in my case there is no return on investment. Winter inconvenience is only about 20 days for me and if my health holds, in a few years I'll head sought for the coldest part of the winter, and if my health doesn't hold up, I guess it won't mater...

 

32' X '36' w/14' extension & a couple of car ports , insulated walls & floor - never did get to the attic. If it's too cold (like today). I stay in the house!!

 

I have a 28'x38' shop that is insulated and drywalled. The ceiling is 13'7" so I installed a pair of ceiling fans and a 1500 watt base board heater. If the heater doesn't keep up I can turn on the ceiling fans. The 40 ballasts for my fluorescent lights create heat which I push down. The hydro bill is a little higher than I would like but I can sleep easy.