Garage Heater

[treillw]

I have propane heat in the house. There is a propane line plumbed to the garage, but no heater currently installed.

Second winter in the house and the garage us usually about 45 degrees through the majority of winter. It is now 25 with it being 20 below outside.

I'd like to heat it up a bit in there for working on cars on occasion, etc.

What is a decent heater to knock the edge off? I don't know if I need to spend a couple thousand dollars on the propane heater. Something that is electric that can raise the temp 10 degrees in there might be nice, but it may use a ton of energy and be expensive to run?

Don't want to gas myself out with fumes either.

Suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[hunterjmj]

I think you can get a vented shop propane ceiling mount heater for less than a thousand and hook up a thermostat for control. Electric heat is so dang expensive that you'd probably better off in the long run.

 

[5MilesBack]

I've used the 30k BTU tank top two-burner heater in my garage at times that I use for elk hunting in my wall tent. I use it on a 40lb tank. It works well for just occasional heat, unless you need it more often or want to keep your garage at specific temps through the winter with a permanent install. Under $100 for the heater.

 

[Flatgo]

I'd do the math, i didn't have NG ran to the garage or a vent installed, so it would be really expensive and a PIA to install a gas heater. but i bought a 240V electric heater for $100 and i think breaker and wire cost be another. $80 or so. so for about $200 i installed an electric heater that keeps the edge off pretty well in my 24by26 garage in montana. it probably costs me an extra $20 to $30 in the winter to heat the garage for about 4 months. I figured installing a gas heater would cost around $1500 and assume your going to spend $10 on propane a month, you will be around $20 cost saving for month. so you are looking at 16 years for the gas heater to pay off. not sure its worth going gas. now if you have a larger shop it maybe worth looking at in more depth.

 

[stanginthe11s]

something to look at is a mini split system. you can get them for a few hundred, easy to install and you have the added benefit of AC in the summer. they are also more efficient than a reg. electric heater.

 

[BigE]

We had a direct vent ceiling mount propane heater (later converted to natural gas when it was available for the house) controlled by a thermostat. Was mostly set at 48 degrees in the Michigan winters unless we were planning to work on something in the garage. Turn it up that morning or the night before and work comfortably even on the concrete floor. Very efficient compared to electric. Side benefit is that we'd park the diesel truck and diesel tractors with plows in there and they'd start right up.

 

[Titan]

How big is your garage?

I had a 80,000 btu Big Maxx heater and just swapped it for a 125,000 but the space is very large. The smaller unit worked, but I wanted to heat it up quicker if I wanted to. You will need to add a vent though. The 50-80k units are fairly cheap. $300-500 plus another $100 for the vent.

Other options are a Mr. Cool DIY mini split. Now you have heat an cooling if you want it. Heat works down to 0* based on my experience.

You could also get a $125 diesel heater. vent hole would be small or you could use a window if you have one. Using a 5 gal jerry can would give you a couple weeks worth of usage without re-filling.

 

[wilydawg]

You can use a ventless radiant heater. Not real expensive and easy installation. I have one in my garage with a thermostat. Make sure it's made for propane vs. NG. Works well...

 

[Brendan]

something to look at is a mini split system. you can get them for a few hundred, easy to install and you have the added benefit of AC in the summer. they are also more efficient than a reg. electric heater.

And many / most don't work well at all in those temperatures (maybe none of them at -20). We have a full heat pump system and AC in the house, and it's programmed to shut off and go back to gas forced hot water below 40 degrees. Ours is only about 2 years old too.

 

[Nickofthewoods]

Check out this thread from last winter. Some good suggestions. I still really like mine for occasional use. (Post #11)

Garage Heaters

Wondering about a heater for our 2 car deep garage. Strongly considering a 240v electric ceiling mounted unit, but wanted to see if anyone else has it figured out on here.

rokslide.com

 

[huntsman22]

 

[stanginthe11s]

And many / most don't work well at all in those temperatures (maybe none of them at -20). We have a full heat pump system and AC in the house, and it's programmed to shut off and go back to gas forced hot water below 40 degrees. Ours is only about 2 years old too.

yeah, I don't know how well they work in -20, just a thought. I can tell you they work fine down to single digits though, my house is always 72 in the winter. its cheaper for me than turning on the oil.

 

[Jordan Budd]

I just installed the Mr Cool 12k DIY mini split in our garage. Via direction from @Dioni A. The 12k says its good for 500 sq ft which is about right for our garage. Got it through Costco for like $1500, have probably $200 in electrical and conduit to run a line from the box out to the unit. The 12k is 125v, I think the 18k and up are 240v. Yesterday it was about 15 degrees outside and the heater had it about 48 in the garage. Not sure what it'll do to our electric bill yet. We went with it because it's also an air conditioner. The unit is quiet which is nice.

I priced out a company to put in a different brand but still a 12k unit and they quoted me $4,500 for the unit and install. I decided to do it myself and the DIY unit was important to get as the lines are pre charged and it's literally designed as a kit to do it yourself. If you can do basic wiring it's an easy install.

 

[Titan]

I bought the 12K Mr. Cool unit from Costco about 3 years ago for $800 or so. That's the older generation though. The new one is a little more efficient. I found a non-precharged kit for a little less, but the cheapest quote to handle the refrigerant was $2,000.

 

[hunt1up]

I have a Modine Hot Dawg 60k in my 25x25 garage with tall ceilings. Works great. Depending on your garage size you might be able to go smaller. The smaller the unit the quieter it'll be. I know many people with various sized Hot Dawgs and they're all 100% satisfied.

I've heard good things about the mini-splits but I have no first hand experience with them.

 

[journeyman713]

I have propane heat in the house. There is a propane line plumbed to the garage, but no heater currently installed.

Second winter in the house and the garage us usually about 45 degrees through the majority of winter. It is now 25 with it being 20 below outside.

I'd like to heat it up a bit in there for working on cars on occasion, etc.

What is a decent heater to knock the edge off? I don't know if I need to spend a couple thousand dollars on the propane heater. Something that is electric that can raise the temp 10 degrees in there might be nice, but it may use a ton of energy and be expensive to run?

Don't want to gas myself out with fumes either.

Suggestions?

Thanks!

Do it once, do it right!
For under $1000, you can go to home depot and get a Hot Dawg heater. A Very good choice for you.
The propane conversion kit, you need, is very simple to install.
The exhaust fumes are vented outside with a small dryer size duct.
Average handyman skills needed for this.

Modine Hot Dawg 45,000 BTU Natural Gas Garage Ceiling Heater HD45A - The Home Depot

Ideal for residential, commercial and industrial applications. This Modine Hot Dawg 45,000 BTU Natural Gas Garage Ceiling Heater features a compact, low-profile design great for installing in locations

www.homedepot.com

 

[Dioni A]

The diy kit from Costco is really nice if you need heat and cooling. They don't work well when you get much below 10 degrees though. If you want to be able to heat with an outside temp that low you either need a resistive electric type heat or some kind of gas heat. The mini splits are very efficient in the temperature ranges they're designed to work in though.

 

[Jbxl20]

It would be nice having a permanent unit in the garage but I use my big buddy heater when I need some warmth. In the garage I hook it to a grill tank. I use it in the blind with my kids. It’s portable. I took it over to my parents for some heat while I installed garage door openers for them. In the summer it gets stored in the basement. My kids and I just used it last night while we painted some new beehives.

 

[stanginthe11s]

curious, you guys with the hot dawg setups, are you seeing any loss of efficiency or problems with the propane setup and single digit temps?

 

[SuperDUECE22]

Depends on your situation. what is your current kwH rate ? Does your REA or IOU offer an off peak electric rate. What is the average propane cost ? Where i am located its cheaper to run an electric heater in garage that is hooked up to off peak control than purchase propane. The break even point at my current rates are $1.35 gallon of propane, meaning if i can't get propane cheaper than $1.35 it is cheaper to run electric because my long term off peak electric rate is $.046 per kwH.

see attached images: with straight rate electric it's cheaper to run propane at 2.33 a gallon vs paying the $.11kwH
now on second image ill guestimate your long term off peak electric rate and now its cheaper to run electric. The rates i plugged in are just MT average.