Garage heat

[TShort]

I'm thinking of putting something like this (can't insert link, but mcmaster.com item 1702K21) in the garage with a thermostat for the winter.
Is something like this safe to keep "on" (i.e. with the thermostat set for 50F or so) all the time? I would hate to have a fire in the shop ...

Thomas

[N713R]

Thomas,

I would strongly recommend going with a hanging heater in your garage. If you are not familiar with them, they are available from many different suppliers. Or you could install it yourself. Not that difficult at all. They are available usually in 30K, 45K, 60K, or 75K BTU. With a 30K generally large enough for most two car garages. Unit should cost you about $500. Plus some extra parts, like venting, wire, gas pipe, and a thermostat. I install them for my customers, and it usually costs them about $1200. With everything, including labor. I see you are in Indy, I am just north of Bloomington Normal, IL so our climates are not that different. The cost of operating that electric heater will pretty much stop your building to pay for the electric bill. I looked at Mcmaster Carr, and the small one (17,100BTU) operates at 20.8A @ 240V. Roughly figuring, if you pay $0.10 per kW/Hr, that is roughly $12 a day. Or $360 a month. Now granted that would be operating 24/7, but that small of heater, it will work pretty much consistantly in the winter to keep the garage even remotely warm enough to work in. (in reality, it is not big enough for the job, But would probably keep it from freezing.) Your best bet is a gas fired heater of some sort. Look for a Modine, or ADP (two of the more popular) hanging heaters. They are about the size of a carry-on suitcase, and hang from the ceiling and extend down only about 18 inches. So they take up amost no usable space in your workshop. Look long term at the solution, it will save you money.

[frankh]

leave any gas fired heater on in my shop with me not in it.

Then again why would you wan't to? If you are building then there is no real benefit to keeping heat on.

For winter building I use a 85k BTU propane tube heater..But the CO levels do get up there and so it will with any unvented gas fired heater.

I just avoided running it till I was warm and toasty...just run it enough to keep the chill off...Makes you work faster...

[Righty]

Gas is most often less expensive, but not always, especially with some of the recent severe hikes in gas prices. Thomas, you need to check your utility rates to see which is more expensive. I recently did an energy study for a facility in Alabama where heating with gas would cost double (yes double) what it would cost to heat with electricity.

Bottom line, you need to convert your gas and electric utility rates into the same units and account for heater inefficiency to see which produces a unit of heat for the least cost. By the looks of utility rates in Indiana, it might be close to a wash.

For electicity, you are charged in units of $/kWh, to convert this to $/Therm, divide by 0.03413. Electric heaters are 100% efficient, since they don't vent any heat outside in the form of exhaust.

For gas, you are charged in units of $/Therm, but you need to divide this by 0.8 to account for standard heater efficiency.