Heating the garage.

A few years ago, I cleared out the garage in the late December early January time frame to do some major work on a car (drop the rear subframe and suspension to replace bushings). I heated the garage with little ceramic heater, and I didn't notice much of a dent in the utility bill, but I live in Florida. A low in the mid to upper 20's at worst.

 

almost December here in Kamloops we've had one minor snow fall so far , its been beautiful and spring like sunny out with some frosty mornings gets a little chilly at about 05:00 PM when the sun goes down now no need to heat the garage yet

 

Having worked in unheated garages and on unheated construction sites over the years, I've used salamanders and forced air propane heaters forever. If I am going to create a bunch of sawdust, or spray some paint, I will try to warm the space a little warmer than I want, do my work and try to get it done before I get too cold again.

forced air propane heater link

These are good temp solutions and if you're only planning on heading out to work in the cold a few times during the cold months, that's the way I would go.

 

I have a 2 car detached uninsulated garage. I ran 100 amp service to it so I have a small 220v electric with fan thing I cobbled together.

I use the man door whenever possible and mainly have the heater aimed at me rather than trying to heat the whole space.

Did the same with a small 120v ceramic too.

I pick my days, wear layers of sweatshirts / wool hat / gloves with the fingers cut off etc.

 

I put an HVAC heating cooling unit in my back wall of my 26 by 30 two car garage. The biggest one they had. Of course it is 220.

 

Do you heat it all winter or just when you use the shop?

 

2 car garage, fully insulated, wall (gas) heater. One side we had as a family room, complete with small kitchen, tv, fridge, etc. But as the years went by we used it less & less and now it's filled with a couple thousand books of mine, and my amp & gear, & assorted other crap..

 

Just when I use it. It is like the units you find in a hotel or motel. When I had my garage built I had them put a whole in the back wall the same size as those units. Because my garage is so big I use the biggest one they make. They are all the same size in the wall. The unit heats it pretty quick. In Alabama it takes a little longer to cool it in the summer time. It would probably not be hard to make the hole in the wall. Unless I am moving a car or my boat out of the garage I use the regular door on the side which leads to the back door of my house.

 

I have a 3 car attached. I used a kerosene torpedo heater to heat it when I needed to but after a while the noise gets to you. After I insulated the ceiling it didn't run as long and heated much quicker. If you use good kerosene the smell is tolerable. A few years back I ran 220 to the garage and hung an electric heater from the ceiling. If its really cold out I use the torpedo to warm it quickly then switch over to the electric to maintain. In more moderate winter weather the electric ceiling mount is usually enough.

 

I have this little guy sitting at the end of my bench.


Might need to get it some help for the colder days..


Kidding. I also have a heat lamp above my head, and a convection heater under the bench. That temp reading was before I put the heater on the bench. It came up to 60 pretty quickly. That's warm enough for me. It was about 30 deg outside. I keep my glue in the house.

 

https://www.homeair.org/best-garage-heater-reviews/

Concrete floor? Get a horse mat form the farm supply.

I had a 12x28' gambrel roof shed with no insulation and a vent up top on each end. When 30^ outside in winter I used a Kero heater like this 139.00 home depot unit.



I started it up in the center of an open floor area and went back in the house. 30 minutes later I'd go in, carry it carefully outside closing the door behind me and turn it off. Outside because it turns off by burring the wick and it stinks for a bit.

Then I'd go into the shop and take off my flannel shirt down to a Tee shirt. It was nice and warm in there. And I'd get moving/working and by the time it cooled down I'd usually be done. If not I'd repeat the process, but I'd get a few hours easily before I noticed I was getting cold.

Cheapest easiest method I can thing of overall...

Here in PDX I have 220 ran out, and a smaller 256SF insulated big room in my 800 SF shop. Wood floor, and a 4k Watt 220 heater. I also use a portable A/C unit in dehumidify mode that throws some heat and circulates a bit.

Just be aware you will never get a concrete floor warm enough without radiant heat in the slab, So good warm shoes and the horse mat will work great.




https://www.farmstore.com/product/rb-rubber-34-in-rubber-stall-mat-4-x-6-ft/

 

I rehearsed with many bands in a detached garage at my old house, I insulated and sheetrocked it and put in a funky woodstove with the metal chimney going out a plate in the window....did use a kerosun for a short while before the woodstove. Real garage bands !

 

Once had a band meeting in January on a weekend with no gigs where we dragged out all the PA gear, cleaned up controls, soldered cables and performed general maintenance in the drummer's garage. Used a 1000W par can for lighting AND heat.

 

It is hard to overlook the most cost effective way to heat and retain heat is insulation,especially in significantly cold areas. This morning it was 16 degrees F at my home. My garage was 54 degrees. That was after the 2 car garage door had been opened and closed and I haven't turned on the heater in weeks. The less insulation the more heat loss, the bigger heater, the bigger cost to maintain a given temperature.

If you can't do it all at once start with what you can do. At one shop all I could afford to do was a periodic roll of insulation. I would buy a roll when it went on sale and put it in the ceiling. Even half a ceiling done was an improvement. Months later the ceiling was done. Then on to one roll on a wall at a time & another. Took more than a year to do it al but a huge improvement. Today I easily heat my 3 car garage with a 30,000 btu heater when I want to. Even without the heater it stays mid 50s most of the time at which temp I don't run it much.

Eric

 

Insulated a 12 x24 bandroom this year. I did 10,000 btu LP gas heater mounted on wall, The tanks are outside. Very efficient and cost effective. I go down about 2 hrs before band practice and fire it up. I think 1 tank is going to make it all winter. I keep the guitars and amp head in house and bring them down for use and then back up.Also mounted AC unit in wall for summer use. Its our escape room..

 

We think alike, it took me a year to finish mine in the same fashion. The only thing that I would add is that getting the ceiling insulated is the key as insulating walls don't really help all that much (heat goes up, not sideways) although I did them as well. The other thing that I did was run a layer of house wrap on the ceiling to reduce air leaks and keep the inusulation from sagging. It is not really code, but if my garage ever caught fire that wrap would be the least of my problems. Like you said, just insulating the space makes a big difference (about 30 degrees) difference from outside temps in my case on a sunny day....even more when the warm vehicle is parked inside.

I still hate working in the garage during the winter though and the heat in June isn't a whole lot better. I converted half of my basement into my shop and found that worked out better anyway....of course that only applies to single guys I would wager.

 

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FWIW, the new neighbor next door in the last 2 years [good friend now] is an artist. The garage [with concrete floor is where she does her craft, a super hot wax process so can't do in the house. Anyway, I gave her a piece of the horse mat about 48-36", and she doesn't point the heaters at her feet anymore. It is quite effective a thermal conductive barrier perfect for exactly this.