Shop heat

[brotherGood]

Alright...I'm tired of using the cold as an excuse to not get stuff done during the winter, so I'm looking into getting a garage heater. Can't use the propane thing, nor can I use the turbo heaters using the fuel or whatever. Those will stink up the house and I'll never been seen again.
I've seen some of the electric heaters..but how well will those work? I'm using it in my garage..which is a deep single car garage.

Any thoughts appreciated.

 

[MiradaMegacab]

I have an electric 12kw heating element in my forced hot air unit in my 942 sq ft home. That is used as a backup as I also have a 100,000 BTU hydronic coil that is heated with an oilburner. Both of these heating coils are in my central AC unit, so I have central heat and AC. I plan on swapping to a 410a system and I will get a heatpump option in the condenser.
In my 756sq ft garage I use a 100,000BTU Modine HotDawg Natural Gas Heater.

I've installed 15kw heaters in 4ton air handlers and those use about 90 amps when running. That's a big load, lol
Is your garage connected to your house?

 

[brotherGood]

You go out the back door onto the porch, and through the garage door. so physically they're connected, but you go out of the house to get to the garage

 

[Dr Lebaron]

Just get a house furnace from someone upgrading or a demo.
Can go gas or electric.

LOL, if money wasn't a option, radiant floor heat.
Laying on the floor would be warm and toasty.
Still hoping on the lotto.

 

[Aspen500]

Look into one of the ceiling mounted gas garage furnaces. Whether you have natural gas service to your house or need propane, they're not all that expensive.

Not sure about electricity costs in your area but, my one car attached garage has electric heat (was there when I bought the house) and it costs a fortune to run, so I only turn it on when absolutely necessary. The big garage (a.k.a. 24x30 shop) behind the house has a ceiling mounted natural gas Reznor and it costs roughly $20 a month to keep it at a constant 70 degrees. Granted it's insulated better than the house garage and the door never gets opened in winter.

What I mean is, don't forget to factor operational cost when deciding.

Doctor,,,,,,,,If I could have afforded in floor heat when I built the back garage, you can bet that's what it would have! The Ford dealer I worked at for 21 years, until it closed in '07, had heated floors in the shops and the drive in service write up area and it was the cats ass!!!!!!!!!! There was also a big make up forced air unit in each shop also to compensate for the door opening and closing a lot and/or ice cold frozen vehicles coming in.

 

[AJ/FormS]

Don't hate me cuz I have in-floor hot-water heat, supplied by a wood burning boiler, in my basement that also supplies hot water to the house radiators.My garage is more like a workshop, about 18 x 28.
This is the cat's meow all right; quiet, draft-free,and like said; comfy to lay on. Plus there is never standing water anywhere for more than a few minutes. Ummmmmm.
Electric heaters,and such, heat the air, which then heats you. Your body likes it to be maybe 68 to 72, to work in shirtsleeves. Not so in floor heat. I mean yeah it heats the air, but once that slab gets warm and stays warm,it warms you by direct radiation. I find an air temp of 65 to maybe 68 is more than sufficient. Any warmer than 68 I better be moving slow.
Yeah I know it ain't cheap to install, but in the grand scheme of things, it was my cheapest option.
Did I mention quiet and draft free?lol
In another building, I had a gang of 5kw,220v heaters. Those suckers used to be cheap to buy, but man do they empty your wallet in a hurry during use! And of course they are pretty drafty and somewhat noisey.
Another time I had kerosene back-up type heater.This was a hot air/radiant type heater. It was a small space ,maybe 14 x 22, in which I built my 68 Barracuda. That heater required a continuous source of combustion air. And guess where it got that;yup right under the big door.Man that floor was cold in January.It worked ok on kerosene, but cheapazz me burned diesel in it.That worked ok too but if it didn't get enough fresh air it could give me a whopping headache.
You know when I was young, I was told that electric heat is 100% efficient. What does that even mean?Tell me in terms of dollars how much it's gonna cost to feel warm.In this regard, electric is the least efficient in my experience.
Heat is transferred to humans (and other living things) in three main ways; convection,conduction, and radiation. In-floor heat does all three.
Yeah I know, kinda late now.But you can retro fit it in about 1.5 inches of concrete.
Otherwise yeah, I installed a second-hand 15 kw forced air unit into my daughters garage. It gets the job done.Just don't be standing in front of it when it cycles on; the draft is 900mph ferocious!

 

[kkritsilas]

Nothing is 100% efficient. THe fact that the elements glow in an electric heater proves that (the glow is light energy, which is coming from the electrical energy input). Just like an incadescent light bulb is ineefiicient (a lot of the energy generates heat, not just light), but in reverse.

 

[Justwondering]

Heating the workarea, not a problem. I'm far enough south that the bigger issue for me is how to cool the workarea.

For the house, we went with radiant floor heating, 4 zones going back to the manifold. Set up so we can heat with propane or with an outside boiler. 110 of the 120 acres covered in trees so there is plenty of fuel. Planned for the future costs to rise and for the day health would prevent us from cutting trees.

Since we are on co-op electric -- heating with electric is like having a car payment that month. Gag.

 

[AJ/FormS]

Yeah, one day soon, I think I will add a propane burner into my firebox, and kiss goodbye the wood harvesting thing.
Actually, I haven't been harvesting cordwood for several years now. A local company purchased a machine that is able to shred hardwood and reform it with hydraulic pressure, into what they call fuel-pucks. These are little cylinders that resemble a stack of 2,3,or 4 hockey pucks.The hardwood material they use is off-cuts from several local cabinet companies. All pre-dried and all Oak. I burn about 12,000 pounds of this stuff annually, and the ash from that, fills about one standard metal garbage can!My cost is $175c/ton.EDIT plus 12% tax.
Me likey!

 

[brotherGood]

Convinced the wife to get me a heater for Christmas. After going back and forth between a gas heater and electric, I found a ceiling mounted, forced air heater for 60 bucks at rural king. I've gotta hard wire it..but other than that it should work well for what I need it for. one of my goals this summer is to finish insulating it..but I've got a lot piling up already..lol

 

[Silver Bullet]

I learned the hard way about constantly running the electric heater last year. The electric bill went from $20 to $300 for the garage. Now I bring up the temperature with the propane then maintain it with the electric only while I'm out there tinkering.

 

[AJ/FormS]

Now that's cooking with gas!
up here, hydro is about 16cents per kilowatt-hr, and 1kw in an uninsulated garage will get you exactly zero.But a 5kw will make a dent in the cold, costing me 80 cents per hour.At the current -20*C up here it would take more than a day to melt snow in there, and has cost me about $20canuck-bucks. If there is any cold air infiltration whatsoever, I would have been just as well off to set the 20dollar bill on fire.......Hydro is easy, but it ain't cheap.
Now, in an insulated and well-sealed workplace, the gains are much better.
But burning fuel,any fuel, is faster, and unless you set the place on fire,waaay cheaper. lol