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Garage heat

Mike6A

Well Known Member
Years ago I used to visit my family nMontreal in the winter. They had a car radiator plumbed in line with the water heater output with a fan behind it. That garage was warm. Anybody do something similar.
 
That's certantly one way to do things. If it was an electric hot water heater, I can't help but wonder if a normal electric heater would be more efficient though.

Me, I put a natural gas heater in the corner of the garage during a big reno that included completely redoing the electrical, insulating, drywall, etc.
 
OOps not designed for it

Well having been a Journeyman auto mechanic for a number of years, I will tell you this isn't a great idea.
First just use electric heaters and they are safer
Second if you have house water pressure it will probably blow an automotive radiator up. They are really designed to operate at about 15-20 PSI MAX
Having been a home builder for the last 43 years I can tell you house water pressure even on a well system is usually 45 PSI. City water can go as high as 125 in our area. We have to install regulators as a standard on our homes.
Then it is set at 60 PSI
I ain't gonna trust that used car radiator with that pressure.
Why would you want to flood your shop when an electric heater is faster, cheaper, more efficient and point of use.
And I like no problems.
Art
 
That's certantly one way to do things. If it was an electric hot water heater, I can't help but wonder if a normal electric heater would be more efficient though.

Me, I put a natural gas heater in the corner of the garage during a big reno that included completely redoing the electrical, insulating, drywall, etc.

Yeah...this for sure. I can now keep the garage at 50 degrees unless I'm doing something in there. Might not sound that warm, but when it's -30F (like this morning), a 50F degree car is a great thing.
 
Garage Heat

Best option is not need any heat. Insulation doesn't wear out. Insulation doesn't fail. Insulation doesn't require a monthly bill unless to pay for it. You might need a dehumidifier if you have no way to remove moisture.

Keith Rhea retired HVACR professional
RV7
2022 donation
 
Insulation, even of the garage, is very important, I agree, but here in Minnesota I view its value almost entirely as decreasing the amount of natural gas it takes to keep the garage at 50F in the winter. Ain’t gonna happen without a heat source. IIRC, it was $1000 for my heating/plumbing company to install that gas furnace. Money well spent.
 
I have been using an Eliminator Waste Oil Heater in my 40'X40' shop now for about 15 years and it has worked quite well. There is a bit of a learning curve and they require periodic cleaning, otherwise the heat is virtually free. Friends and family keep me well stocked with waste oil.
 
After years of using a ceiling mounted electric resistance heater augmented with a propane salamander I bit the bullet this year and installed a couple of Pioneer DIY mini splits in the shop.

Best shop addition in a long time. They are quiet, super efficient, and cost a fraction of what the electric heater was using (even at 62F vs 42, where I had the electric set). Plus, I have AC in the summer, humidity is lower and my tools don't rust.

If you have the skills to build an airplane you can handle this install.
 
Twenty years ago we completely insulated our attached Garage/Hangar and installed a Reznor gas Modine type heater. 125K BTUs. Our garage/hangar is about 1800 square feet with a three car garage street side and one plane hangar runway side. We keep it heated to 45 deg. F. all winter and bump it up to about 60 when working out in it. Great investment and has been very economical to heat. The Reznor unit has been great. At the time the unit ran about $900.00. and we installed it. Hot Dawg heaters are available as well.

Roberta
 
Also had a Reznor unit hung from the ceiling in my southeast Wisconsin garage and was a great help. The only issue is circulation of heat, as it liked to stay on the ceiling, and your legs get cold. I had to add a floor fan in the opposite corner, pointed at the ceiling, to mix the cold and hot air.
 
Never had a problem with heat hanging up in the ceiling. our ceiling is sloped up from the garage portion about 9 feet up to the flat portion by the plane at 14 feet. Maybe the slope helps mix up the air.
 
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