Garage heat?

[Soak_n_Fused]

I have a 25x25 garage in eastern south Dakota. Not completely insulated but it does ok.

I have been considering a heating source I have a small forced air heater right now but
I gotta open the door after about an hour of use on high

I have been considering a 5k watt 240v hanging electric heater they are about 17,000 BTU

I have also considered putting a huge panel on the roof with black pipes in in the running the water mixture down through like a heater core with a fan behind it
(geothermal style)

Here is my issue I want to be inexpensive but its a rental garage so I cant just go put an exhaust in the celling cause I really would like a concealed combustion heater

MORE THEN ANYTHING I JUST WANT TO KEEP IT ABOVE 32 DEGREES IN THERE!

 

[IndyIan]

The electric heater running 24/7 may keep it above freezing most of the time. What would that cost though? If the slab isn't insulated you really have to dump heat into it for days to get it and some volume of dirt under there at your room temperature.
Our house is slab on grade and while we were building it, I was surprised how long we had to run the woodstove to really raise the indoor/slab temps to something reasonable from below freezing. Especially when there was no insulation on the walls... ~50k btu for hours and hours and that with an insulated slab.

 

[Fsharp]

Those forced air heaters can put out a lot of fumes especially the kerosene ones. I think the hanging electric heater would be good. Put it over where you work so the radiant heat will warm you. Couple this with a small ventless propane heater and I think you'll be good without the fumes. If you can pipe natural gas to the garage, use that for the ventless heater, to keep the temp above freezing and use the electric heater for spot heating.

 

[dnewton3]

If you have a close source of fuel (propane or nat gas) I'd recommend a blue-flame heater. They require no exhaust, are safe for continual use, and are not too expensive (perhaps $140 for a 30,000 btu unit). Some come with blowers; some don't. The install is easy if you're able to run the gas line yourself.

I use just such a unit for me 22x22 garage and does a great job. I can set the thermosat low for about 40 deg just to melt the snow off the cars, or turn it up and within an hour I'm warm enough to work on the cars.

 

[MNgopher]

If you are renting, talk the landlord first.

I'd shy away from anything "permanent" in a rental situation, unless it was made clear with the landlord.

On top of that, Electric heat in eastern SD? All I see are dollar signs paying the electric bill. Ouch!

 

[EdwardC]

What is your goal? Do you want to have it comfortable enough to do work while you're in there, or do you actually want the garage to maintain above-freezing temps all winter long?

I can't imagine the costs involved with keeping an uninsulated garage warm. For getting it reasonably warm for doing work a few hours every weekend, I'd look into something that directs the heat towards you, some kind of radiant infrared heater. That way you can focus it where you are and you can stay warm, not wasting energy warming up the entire space.

 

[Bgallagher]

Originally Posted By: MNgopher
If you are renting, talk the landlord first.

I'd shy away from anything "permanent" in a rental situation, unless it was made clear with the landlord.

On top of that, Electric heat in eastern SD? All I see are dollar signs paying the electric bill. Ouch!


+1

 

[69GTX]

In years past I used a 1500KW electric heater in my garage (insulated and attached to the house on one side). I had no problem keeping the garage at 40 deg or higher with outside temp in the 10-25 deg range. On days I wanted to work out there I could get it up to 50-60 deg as long as outside temps were no lower than 30 deg.

I'm not in South Dakota, but it still ran me a couple hundred bucks in electricity from Dec-March.

 

[Rand]

5000w heater would be about 80cents an hour here.

That would be 576$ a month for 24/7 use. Obviously it would cycle.

If possible ventless natural gas would be 1/10 the cost (at least at my ohio rate)

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: Rand
5000w heater would be about 80cents an hour here.

That would be 576$ a month for 24/7 use. Obviously it would cycle.

If possible ventless natural gas would be 1/10 the cost (at least at my ohio rate)


You would really have to do a Manual J calculation to determine how many BTU's it would take to keep the place heated. It really depends on how high you want the internal temperature. Usually in areas that are in the middle of nowhere, there's no natural gas so propane might be the other option, but you'd have to store the tank outside so again because it's rented, you'd probably have to get the permission of the landlord to run the line inside.

 

[Soak_n_Fused]

For some of these suggestions like a blue flame heater can I run a 20lb tank?

That electric would be crazy expensive

What if I left one of the windows open and cut a piece of insulation to fit then cut a hole in that for an exhaust

No Green energy options?

 

[MNgopher]

My advice if renting is to use some sort of temporary/portable heat, and crack open a door or window while working or running the heat to lower the chance of carbon monoxide poisoning. Having a CO alarm would be smart too. A tank top heater would throw out a decent amount of heat.

Not a fan of the ventless heaters, etc...

 

[Joel_MD]

Originally Posted By: 69GTX
In years past I used a 1500KW electric heater in my garage (insulated and attached to the house on one side). I had no problem keeping the garage at 40 deg or higher with outside temp in the 10-25 deg range.

1500KW = 1.5 megawatts

I'm sure you could keep your garage as hot as the center of the sun with that heater!

 

[IndyIan]

The solar water heaters with evacuated tubes can work in cold weather. But I assume they aren't real cheap, but maybe one coupled to heat exchanger, a couple of pumps, and an old radiator might have you getting some heat for $1000-1500?
We toss around the idea of getting a evac tube water heater to reduce our propane use, but haven't done anything yet.