(Home) Garage Heater: Kerosene vs. Propane

[Propflux01]

This is what I use. Propane. Works perfect in a 40X30 shop.

 

[Traction]

I gave up on all of those options many years ago, went with a hanging gas furnace, and never looked back. I keep my 26x32 garage at 45 minimum at night, but during the day when I'm out here like I usually am it's at a balmy 67 degrees. I also have an infrared strip hanging right above my desk right now as I type. I waste too much gas heating the shop, and not getting much done like I should, but it sure is nice, and my dog likes it too.

 

[JHZR2]

Don't know how un-insulated your garage is, but my 2 car is un-insulated with an open attic. A 23K round type kerosene would not suffice at all. I have a 140K BTU torpedo style and it heats it up pretty decent. It's loud I will say that, don't plan on listening to music with it running. There is a slight odor when it fires up and shuts down, but not horrible. I've only ran K1 undyed in it so far. It might be a little overkill though, they make 80K versions.

I agree the smaller ones won’t get it as warm... but they also don’t take up as much space, make as much noise, or make as many fumes...

In freezing weather I can get my uninsulated two car garage up to about 55F with my small kerosine heater.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/KeroHeat-Radiant-Kerosene-Heater/

It’s only 10k.

Even a little electric space heater pulling 1400W can help very locally...

But drop much below freezing, and it’s all a different story...

 

[JHZR2]

dont see your location but COAL is a great economical heat, +wood is even cheeper but more work unless you buy it. you could run a cheep hand fired unit or a small stoker stove with a thermostat that stays on. i live in pa=coal reigon + turn off my oil when its gets + stays under the 30's, about 2 ton for a heating season, a little less than $200 + haul it in myself + dump the ashes @ our local road cleaning ash pile. i am using a hand fired harman + nut coal but many other models can auto feed so it needs less care, but i am retired + mostly home or garage in the winter, garage 32-28 + well insulated uses a small wood stove THAT puts me in a TEE shirt in temps below 30 in short order!! check out coalpail.com + other sites for cheep heating!!

Agree. Parents have an EFM oil and coal stoker boiler. It does have to be pretty cold to keep coal on (house is very well insulated), because otherwise the fire can go out and the coal keep feeding... but if you can watch it, it is great and economic heat.

 

[benjy]

WHY no insulation!!! no mater what you heat with insulation pays for itself!!! $$$$ is a deciding factor as well + how much time you spend in your garage. as i stated my hand fired Harman in my house is CHEEP CHEEP heat, retired so taking care of it is no biggie, haul my own coal + the ashes + i live in the COAL region so coal is cheeper than most areas. in my garage 28 x 32 10' ceiling with 9.5 " of fiberglass + 3/4 " shiny silver foam insulation, in the ceiling, block walls tight as i built about 15years ago + i ONLY heat it while there + my small pot belly chinese stove gets it warm in about half an hour using FREE wood i cut! key is airtight + insulated ceiling!! i have a better wood stove i hope to install this summer since i finally got more shelves built + things properly stored so i can easily get around + work as needed. there are NO excuses for not keeping the heat IN your garage!!