Shop / garage heaters... what do you have?

Squatch

Squatch

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So, I have a two-car detached garage. It's only partially insulated, so it can get rather brisk when the weather turns cold, and these old bones just can't take that like I could twenty years ago. I've been thinking about a shop heater of some sort. I have natural gas at the house, but to be honest, I'm not sure I want to go through the permit process and whatnot, as well as the installation cost. I have 220 in the garage, so that might be an option. Propane heater? Could be. I heard they create moisture problems. I probably need to finish insulating and putting up dry wall, I know, but as for the heat source, what do you all use and/or recommend? I'm all (cold) ears...
 
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Probably the simplest method would be a ceiling mtd electric unit heater with a blower but I would finish up the insulation and drywall first.
 
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I put a Modine Hot Dawg in my garage in March of this year. We built our house in 2009 and had a gas line brought into the separate garage. I've wanted a heater since then but the cost issue kept me waiting. It worked great but I haven't used during the real cold of the winter yet. Let us know what you decide on.
 
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Squatch said:
Propane heater? Could be. I heard they create moisture problems.
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Any type of heater that isn't maintaining the space at a reasonable temp will cause moisture. It's the rapid heating from say 25F to 65F that causes that.

With that said......
These type work well, I've got a much older model. Quieter than a torpedo heater, they work well to but i can't stand the noise or smell.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Dyna-Glo-15K-25K-BTU-Propane-Convection-Heater-RMC-LPC25DG/202223055?cm_mmc=Shopping|G|Base|All-Products|All|All|PLA|71700000014585962|58700001236285396|92700010802552412&gclid=CjwKCAjw0oveBRAmEiwAzf6_rO_xOFCxHoLx5pzSyYMwzuhs6SNZIHQmD_44 0_15395607736657129802177780842958.jpg nJt3kKn3OYkZSFWIpRoC_B4QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=COmJ7b-Nh94CFYMuaQodkM0P9Q
 
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I had a propane heater like Ohio referred to in the garage at my old house. I couldn't stand the smell and hated waiting for it to get warm. Finally I ran the gas down to the garage and bought 2 small Dayton gas heaters. Total cost was about $1200. That included the heaters and gas line(125 feet) and the wiring. I did all the work. My plumber ok'd the install. I would set the thermostat on both at 4 all winter. They worked well.
 
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Tony DiDomenico said:
I had a propane heater like Ohio referred to in the garage at my old house. I couldn't stand the smell and hated waiting for it to get warm. Finally I ran the gas down to the garage and bought 2 small Dayton gas heaters. Total cost was about $1200. That included the heaters and gas line(125 feet) and the wiring. I did all the work. My plumber ok'd the install. I would set the thermostat on both at 4 all winter. They worked well.
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I do have a resource where I could get the black pipe (isn't that what they call the gas line?) installed...in fact, the whole unit done...cheaper. Maybe I should seriously look into that. At least get an estimate...
 
Squatch said:
I do have a resource where I could get the black pipe (isn't that what they call the gas line?) installed...in fact, the whole unit done...cheaper. Maybe I should seriously look into that. At least get an estimate...
Click to expand...

Installing conventional black gas pipe is pretty much on the outs these days, most use corrugated SS flex tube that does not require any special tools and is very easy to install. Just had Suburban Propane pipe propane into the new kitchen for gas appliances and they roughed in from the tank to 4 locations in about 6 hours with the flex. I think HD sell it online in 50 foot rolls.
 
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TJ4Jim said:
Installing conventional black gas pipe is pretty much on the outs these days, most use corrugated SS flex tube that does not require any special tools and is very easy to install. Just had Suburban Propane pipe propane into the new kitchen for gas appliances and they roughed in from the tank to 4 locations in about 6 hours with the flex. I think HD sell it online in 50 foot rolls.
Click to expand...
I assumed that a run of black pipe would be needed from between the house and the detached garage. It would be underground, so would they still use the flex tube?
 
Squatch said:
I assumed that a run of black pipe would be needed from between the house and the detached garage. It would be underground, so would they still use the flex tube?
Click to expand...

They use it for everything. It's stainless so better than steel UG, the only place steel is required is where the potential for physical damage could occur such as a wall in the garage where a car bumper could crush a pipe.
 
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Squatch,

No fun working in a cold shop, did that for years out at the farm in my younger days. Finally got tired of working in insulated coveralls and gloves so one year I build a waste oil stove with a kit from Harold Electric, a local firm. http://usedoilheatingsystems.com/ I had lots of equipment generating used oil at the time. In a uninsulated 40 x 40 x 14 steel shop I could get it up to 70f in about two hours when it was in the high teens to mid twenties outside. The lower barrel would be a dull red when it was turned all the way up. But, you had to baby sit it all the time, and clean the burner out every other day. If I had to go to town for parts I would turn it off before I left, I did not trust it if I was away. I would go through around 10 gallons of used oil in a 8 hr. day. When I converted the horse barn where I am now, 40 x 45 x16 I put a pellet stove in. I have three walls and half of the ceiling insulated to R19, need to finish that, temp in the twenties it took 8 hrs to get it up to 60f inside. Added a ceiling fan, that gave me another 5 degrees by bringing the heat down off the high ceiling. Last winter I added a second pellet stove and now I can get it to 70 in three hours. I go through at least two to four bags of pellets in a 8 hr. day.
If I had natural gas available I would opt for a pair of hanging natural gas fired heaters. It would be great to have thermostat, set it at 40 to 45 or so, then turn it up when I wanted to work. I think it would be worth the effort for the convenience.

Best of luck on whatever you come up with.

B
 
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oldb said:
Squatch,

No fun working in a cold shop, did that for years out at the farm in my younger days. Finally got tired of working in insulated coveralls and gloves so one year I build a waste oil stove with a kit from Harold Electric, a local firm. http://usedoilheatingsystems.com/ I had lots of equipment generating used oil at the time. In a uninsulated 40 x 40 x 14 steel shop I could get it up to 70f in about two hours when it was in the high teens to mid twenties outside. The lower barrel would be a dull red when it was turned all the way up. But, you had to baby sit it all the time, and clean the burner out every other day. If I had to go to town for parts I would turn it off before I left, I did not trust it if I was away. I would go through around 10 gallons of used oil in a 8 hr. day. When I converted the horse barn where I am now, 40 x 45 x16 I put a pellet stove in. I have three walls and half of the ceiling insulated to R19, need to finish that, temp in the twenties it took 8 hrs to get it up to 60f inside. Added a ceiling fan, that gave me another 5 degrees by bringing the heat down off the high ceiling. Last winter I added a second pellet stove and now I can get it to 70 in three hours. I go through at least two to four bags of pellets in a 8 hr. day.
If I had natural gas available I would opt for a pair of hanging natural gas fired heaters. It would be great to have thermostat, set it at 40 to 45 or so, then turn it up when I wanted to work. I think it would be worth the effort for the convenience.

Best of luck on whatever you come up with.

B
Click to expand...
Wow! Talk about a "Been there, done that." response! Thank you for that, my friend. I guess the one thing that I know I will need to be doing is finishing the insulation. I have about 75% of the walls done (including drywall), but the ceiling is still open. The biggest issue I have right now is that I have stuff stored up in the rafters. Bringing it down means finding a new place for it. Mind you, I have 6 engines, 4 transmissions, 46 (of the 60) rims, etc., etc....making extra space limited, at best. Still, I know it needs to be done.
 
With close to 40 years experience working in home garages and commercial shops in Michigan I’ll list my thoughts:

I hate torpedo heaters, noise and smell are aggravating unless your desperate, especially when my cheap ass father-in-law used diesel fuel!

The portable kerosene heaters I’ve been around just didn’t seem effective unless you were right on top of them.

Waste oil heater. High maintenance as has been said. Ive been around three of them, one was ineffective in <40’, one worked ok but was fussy, and the third smelled like a tire was burning!

Electric was waaay to expensive during Michigan winters. YRMV.

I used a wood stove in two home garages. Worked well, but there is a lot of work involved and you’ve got the usual safety concerns. IMO they were a lot of trouble and I’ve been around a wood stoves all my northern life. Condensation is a problem when you heat up and cool down the space repeatedly.

My dad had a stand alone oil burner designed to heat a small hose before central furnaces,, 40s vintage, built like a tank, carbureted, SS burners, was a great unit as long as he was around to service it, lol. (Damn I miss him). Great heat, very little smell. Took up as much floor space as a refrigerator, needed a stove pipe.

If it were me in an existing building I’d go with natural gas. Buy once, cry once. The ceiling mounted one in my last garage was my favorite heat source. Keep thermostat at about 40’.

If I were doing new construction it would be in floor, hot water heat. With a well insulated structure you would be amazed at what can be heated with a 50 gallon residential water heater and a small circulation pump. I have no experience with this method in a garage with vehicle bays but it’s a great system for 12x30 shop machinery space.

Don’t overlook insulating the garage door. Don’t know what your temp range is but we were dealing with sub zero at times. I usually avoided working out in the garage then but sometimes you have no choice.

Get the necessary permits, don’t cut corners, you don’t need to burn up the treasures you’ve acumulated and find out you have no insurance.

And yup, I’ve spent a lot of hours in insulated Carharts with no heat and enjoyed it less every season.
 
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jgaz said:
With close to 40 years experience working in home garages and commercial shops in Michigan I’ll list my thoughts:

I hate torpedo heaters, noise and smell are aggravating unless your desperate, especially when my cheap ass father-in-law used diesel fuel!

The portable kerosene heaters I’ve been around just didn’t seem effective unless you were right on top of them.

Waste oil heater. High maintenance as has been said. Ive been around three of them, one was ineffective in <40’, one worked ok but was fussy, and the third smelled like a tire was burning!

Electric was waaay to expensive during Michigan winters. YRMV.

I used a wood stove in two home garages. Worked well, but there is a lot of work involved and you’ve got the usual safety concerns. IMO they were a lot of trouble and I’ve been around a wood stoves all my northern life. Condensation is a problem when you heat up and cool down the space repeatedly.

My dad had a stand alone oil burner designed to heat a small hose before central furnaces,, 40s vintage, built like a tank, carbureted, SS burners, was a great unit as long as he was around to service it, lol. (Damn I miss him). Great heat, very little smell. Took up as much floor space as a refrigerator, needed a stove pipe.

If it were me in an existing building I’d go with natural gas. Buy once, cry once. The ceiling mounted one in my last garage was my favorite heat source. Keep thermostat at about 40’.

If I were doing new construction it would be in floor, hot water heat. With a well insulated structure you would be amazed at what can be heated with a 50 gallon residential water heater and a small circulation pump. I have no experience with this method in a garage with vehicle bays but it’s a great system for 12x30 shop machinery space.

Don’t overlook insulating the garage door. Don’t know what your temp range is but we were dealing with sub zero at times. I usually avoided working out in the garage then but sometimes you have no choice.

Get the necessary permits, don’t cut corners, you don’t need to burn up the treasures you’ve acumulated and find out you have no insurance.

And yup, I’ve spent a lot of hours in insulated Carharts with no heat and enjoyed it less every season.
Click to expand...
Thanks, Chief. This is the kind of information I'm looking for. What you and @oldb have provided definitely gives me things to think about. Great to have the comparisons!
 
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