What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

How are you or have you heated your garage?

H

HeliCooper

Well Known Member
Looking for how people are or have heated their garage/workshop during the winter. I will be working in a lot of 1-2 hour sessions after work but also long 6-8 hours sessions about once a week. As of now I only have 110 in the garage and no natural gas outlet. Most winter days are highs in the 20s lows in the 0s.

Thanks for your guys' knowledge
 
I've had a gas-fired, forced-air heater in a couple of different garages. They work very well and don't cost all that much to operate. My most recent heater purchase was a Hot Dawg heater by Modine. It's rectangular in shape and only requires 1" of clearance to the sheetrocked ceiling. The blower fan doesn't draw much juice so it shouldn't require a dedicated circuit.

I haven't had a chance to install heat in my current garage, but I plan to before this winter. I'm also planning to have the cheapo tin garage door replaced with a new R-18 insulated garage door.

Personally, I think it's worth the cost and hassle to install a natural gas line to the garage because I think in the long run the lower operating costs will outweigh the lower initial installation cost of an electric heater. It sounds like you don't have enough electricity to run an electric heater anyway so you'll have to run one or the other.

The nice thing about having a good forced air gas heater is that the recovery time is fairly quick. I keep my hangar at 40 degrees minimum all winter. Even on the coldest day, I can walk in and have sweatshirt temps within 10 minutes. The garage is even better because it's fewer cubic feet to heat.

For what it's worth...
 
Lacking the space (and budget) for a good forced air heater installation, I got a kerosene heater (which runs just fine on Jet A, thanks). For the really cold evenings, there's an electric heater as well. Half an hour from startup to 50 degrees.

It helps that we have insulated garage doors, and I spent some time putting weatherstrip around them.
 
Mr. Heater Big-Buddy with external propane:

big-buddy-indoor-propane-heater.jpg


18,000 BTU/HR. will heat 400sq'. I use 2. Also have a CO detector/alarm in garage, just in case.
 
At my previous home (garage) in Minneapolis I used a torpedo heater and 20 lb bottles of propane. One bottle of propane would last about 2 1/2 full building days. Back then I could refill the propane bottle for about $10, I think it is much more expensive now. The torpedo heater did not heat the garage very evenly and was noisy but it did the job, it also smelled a bit but not too bad. My garage was not very tight so I was not too worried about fumes or CO.

When I moved to Ankeny, IA I had a Reznor overhead heater installed in the garage which works much better. I would recommend biting the bullet and get a permanent natural gas heater installed like a Reznor rather than dealing with portable propane or kerosene heaters.

Will be glad to see another RV in the Des Moines area.
 
Last edited:
Worth the bucks ...

It is definitely worth the money and hassle to get a nat.gas line run to your garage for a unit heater. I have an older Luxaire unit heater in my garage with a wall mounted t'stat. It's incredibly convenient to go out there, turn the 'stat up to 55F, and in no time be working in complete comfort. In my previous abode I did the kerosene heater thing. I got weary of buying and refilling kerosene cans, not to mention the condensation on everything. Kerosene produces a lot of water vapor when it burns.
The make of the unit heater matters little; they're all made about the same.
 
Well it definitely sounds as if the initial hassle/cost of the forced air heater is worth it. Thank you guys for your opinions. I'll look into install costs.
 
Also consider overhead radiant heat. McMaster.com sells both electric and gas versions. I'm using electric, and it's a nice system, easy to install, reliable heat on the coldest days.

Dave
 
i moved to south florida! :D

If its a connected garage i would only go with electric or gas (natural or propane) kerosene will stink up the whole house and the wife will be very mad. I had a stand alone garage when I lived in the cold country and used a kerosene torpedo, worked good but did give off a smell. for as much cold weather that you get for as long as you get it i would bite the bullet and go with a forced air system and good insulation.

bob burns

RV-4 N82RB
 
I'm using a 17000 btu electric heater in my two car garage and it will maintain low 60s in the dead of winter. It may not be the most efficient or cost effective way to do it but it was quick and easy.
 
Kerosene/diesel/JP4/jetA - is bad because if you only heat a little while it won't penetrate your tool boxes and the water and H2SO4 from sulfur in the fuels will condense. I have a friend that ruined thousands of $ in hand tools over a winter this way.

Definitely gas or electric, vented combustion.
 
HeliCooper said:
Hey Geico. Feel free to come tear up the slab, install that, and repave. I'd be happy to give you a six pack for your troubles. :p

I found this. Would only require running a gas line and seems like the reviewers have had great results. Thoughts?
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200442160_200442160
Click to expand...

We used a similar propane heater in our house several years ago. It was vent free and we had the tank outside. The hose came in through the window which kept it a crack open. We could smell fumes for the first few minutes, then it was fine. I am sure we violated every code, but it worked well and our carbon monoxide alarm never came on.

In our Colorado house, we put in floor radiant heating and it is very efficient and the best heating we ever had. I wish I had put it in the garage too, but coming from California, I didn't even know that was an option. When all my paint and anything with any amount of water in it froze inside the garage, I put a ceiling mounted gas heater - vented to the exterior with outside air intake. It is a Mr Heater brand and works well, but it still has an odor though not that bad. We are at 7200' and it doesn't have the high altitude kit so that may be the problem. It does heat our 1000sf garage when it is -15 to -20 outside to where I can work without gloves on in about 15 minutes.

I am too cheap to heat the garage all the time, so I just wear Sorels, a jacket and buy new paint each year.
 
What about hitting up craigslist for a wood burning stove? You'll have to come up with a chimney, but assuming you can do that, they're cheap, efficient sources of a ton of heat.... A cheap box fan blowing on it helps spread it around...
 
Wood burning would be great for the long shifts but not practical for the, "I just got home from work and want to do an hour or two of work."

Pretty sure I am going to just run that ventless heater linked above off a natural gas line unless anyone has any objections. Thanks for your help and guidance.
 
I've used torpedo heaters, electric portable heaters, built plastic tents but by far the best one I finally found was a hotel style wall heater/AC installed in the wall of the garage. It's electric looks professional and has a thermostat. Also not that expensive on line.
 
n82rb said:
If its a connected garage i would only go with electric or gas (natural or propane) kerosene will stink up the whole house and the wife will be very mad.
Click to expand...
I was afraid of that, but found it to not be an issue at all. Unless I messed something up badly, there was no kerosene odor at all from the heater. I usually got a slight whiff of kero after shutting it down, but that was late at night so it was gone by morning. Overall the only down side to it that I could find was that there was no circulation, so it took a while to warm the whole garage. The oscillating electric heater helped with that, it got the air moving enough to spread the heat around.

I'd still prefer forced air or a gas powered radiant heater, but this way is a few thousand dollars less expensive and works acceptably.
 
Ductless mini split

I installed a 18000 BTU ductless mini split heat pump in my 450 sq ft garage. This would require 220V, but since the CB panel is usually in the garage it is easy to add the circuit. A bit more expensive option perhaps, but I have heat AND A/C.

If you can build an airplane, you can do this installation yourself.

Jim
 
Here in the great state of Iowa mine, and most, circuit breaker panel is in the basement. Still running 220V would be equally as easy as running the NG line. I totally forgot I have a NG line running in the crawl space directly behind the garage. My main concern now after reading more and more into it is that the ventless causes excessive moisture leading to rusting tools, mildew, etc. Seems 75/25 moisture problems to no problems. Ugh Back to a vented NG heater apparently.
 
I have just installed an air conditioner with heat in my garage. It is a window unit, but I decided to cut the wall. Looks good. Not sure how it works yet as I need to run 220v to it. Prior to installing the a/c I have had my garage insulated, including ceiling and doors. Isulating garage has helped a lot already. So I hope a/c with heat will be enough. If not I will use wall mounted heater, like the one in the posts above.
 
My GarageMahal !

28 ft wide, 40 ft long, 10 ft high.

40,000 btu on natural gas.

20 ft x 10 ft heavy duty Kinear metal door with electric lift.:)
 
You didn't mention how long you will be building your RV, but if it's just a few years like most of us, you may not want to spend the big bucks to install a gas line and expensive heating equipment. I have found that a good kerosene heater works great for me, for very little cash outlay. If you keep the wick maintained properly and use high quality fuel, you won't have fumes or smoking problems. I love my little heater. It heats up my shop in less than 15 minutes to a comfortable working temperature on those cold evenings where I'm going out in the shop for a couple hours.

100_7609%20(Medium).JPG


Here's a page on my site where I discussed this in more detail:

Shop Heaters - a Brief Discussion
 
HeliCooper said:
Wood burning would be great for the long shifts but not practical for the, "I just got home from work and want to do an hour or two of work."

Pretty sure I am going to just run that ventless heater linked above off a natural gas line unless anyone has any objections. Thanks for your help and guidance.
Click to expand...

Love my wood stove. This is in my 30x40 pole barn shop with 1" of Cor-bond insulation and an uninsulated garage door. We get winter here, but a fire every day keeps the concrete floor warm. If the OAT is above 10*F it'll still be 35 in the shop or so the next afternoon. Build a fire, go grab a cup of coffee. When I go back out the shop will be approaching 50. Sweatshirt weather. 30 minutes later I'm down to my Tshirt. At the end of my work sessions, I would stoke it up, damper it down and do it all again the next day. Helps if you like chopping wood.
The outside cat spent many days sitting in that chair....but no mice.


RV-7build397.jpg
 
Lots of insulation and a 4 ton heat pump...70F winter and summer. Not real expensive if you buy the components and install it yourself, and unlike portable heat and window air it's a value bump for the building.
 
Live in GA

Just move to Georgia, don't have to worry that much about heat, maybe a small electric bathroom heater from HD aircraft supply on a few days during the winter.
 
HeliCooper said:
Wood burning would be great for the long shifts but not practical for the, "I just got home from work and want to do an hour or two of work."
Click to expand...
You'd be surprised. My shop is a 24x40 pole building with a medium sized wood stove in one end. Winter temps here are similar to what you get in Iowa and I often do short sessions in winter with no problems. It takes me about 5 minutes to get a fire started and another 10 minutes for the chimney temps to get in range. From that point on, its going to heat the space just as fast as any other heater.

I think insulating choices make far more of a difference than the type of heat source. The biggest and best heater in the world isn't going to do squat if the space isn't insulated enough. Likewise if you go overboard with the insulation, you could probably heat the space with a candle. Ok that's an exaggeration but you get the idea. Insulate as much as possible and you'll be fine no matter what type of heat you choose.

Interesting related note. When we moved here 3 years ago, I had no experience with wood stoves, but I'd used unvented propane heaters in the past and liked them. The shop was already insulated and had the wood stove when we bought the place. A month or two after moving in, I saw a propane fired ceiling mounted Reznor heater on craigslist for a song so I bought it because I figured it would do a better job than the wood stove. On project led to another over the course of the next summer and I never did get around to getting he heater installed by the time winter came. So I started using stove just until I could get around to getting the real heater installed and hooked up. The next spring I realized I'd never install the propane heater because the wood stove worked so well and was already up and running. I listed the Reznor on craigslist, sold it and never looked back.
 
Last edited:
I use a 90k btu coal stoker stove in the T hangar, 72 degrees even on a cold day. Cheap to run, easy to hook up and loads of heat.
 
I installed this last winter
700095_700x700.jpg

about $120 from Northern tool. 2 hours and $65 later I had 220 in my ceiling. I would leave it on low and the 2 car garage would be in the 40's, turn it up and it was upper 50's in 15 min.
I really wish I would have installed it several years ago, quiet/no smell/always ready.
 
Our furnace is in the garage. So I simply cut a hole in the forced-air plenum and installed an adjustable vent. This is actually a red-tag offense from a code point of view because the air supply for combustion must be isolated from the air used to heat the house. However the CO detector came up clean, so my intent is to cover the hole prior to listing the house for sale.

I also had central air installed as part of preparing the garage for building. Cost something like $4200 from Costco. In Seattle central air is unusual; however it turned out to be a great investment in terms of reduced complaints about temp (by my wife).

Normalized temps in the factory really add to productivity: in both summer and winter!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top