[andyl]

I have been wanting to get some sort of heat in my garage for the past few years, and getting the K this year pushed me over the edge. I have a 30,000 btu wall mount vent-free LP heater on order - http://www.reddyheat.com/products/gp30t.html

Any words of wisdom with these things I should know about? My garage is only a 2 car newer (1998)construction and I plan on putting some additional insulation in the attic. LP gas line is not far away from the crawl space so I should be able to tap into the line pretty easy. Curious to know operating cost if I run it 24/7.

 

[jimmm]

i have a heated garage to,, tho bare in mind i live in Arizona,, in the mountains where we get snow and stuff, but winter daytime highs usually in the 40 +. why heat it 24/7? I only heat mine when im going to be out there. can you set the t-stat to 45 degrees? be sure to mount the heater at least 18 inches off the floor so gas fumes dont ignite. ventless means CO2 and CO3 build up. Does it come with a O2 sensor? I'm a bit leary of the ventless stuff, here in Az land its against code to install them. the O2 sensors are supposed to make them safe tho. Our propane is over 2.00 bucks a gallon here so doing the 24/7 things sounds like money pit. The K should start in anything over 20 degrees, lower than that, take the Buick. I have a 26 ft X 26 ft garage with a 60,000 btu heater that I only ran when i was out there, took just a couple minutes to be warm and toasty. I have only R-11 in walls and ceiling. Prior to the heater I ran a mr. Heater single element heater that really worked ok,, tho it struggled to keep it warm. Oh, i have 10 foot ceiling too which are harder to heat. Oh if you keep the garage too warm the beer gets too warm to drink. and I couldnt get your link to work so not sure what heater you got coming. Jim

 

[brucecha]

Andy
You might want to do some checking. I know that ventless gas heaters are illegal in Calif.
Bruce C

 

[mbohn]

heat

I have been wanting to get some sort of heat in my garage for the past few years, and getting the K this year pushed me over the edge. I have a 30,000 btu wall mount vent-free LP heater on order - http://www.reddyheat.com/products/gp30t.html

Any words of wisdom with these things I should know about? My garage is only a 2 car newer (1998)construction and I plan on putting some additional insulation in the attic. LP gas line is not far away from the crawl space so I should be able to tap into the line pretty easy. Curious to know operating cost if I run it 24/7.

My suggestion is to insulate as much as you can. I have no heat in my garage and I don't need it. It is always at least 30F above outside temperature and if I bring a hot bike or truck in it goes above that. Yes, in the summer I avoid bringing in a hot truck. Reason for all this is that the garage is bermed in on 2 sides and the third side touches the house. I remodeled it a couple years ago and insulated it and considered adding heat but I'm glad I didn't. If it gets close to 0 deg F outside for any long period I find something inside to do!

 

[andyl]

I have not checked with the county yet, but from what I have read online in my state ventless are illegal in bedroom/bathroom/tight contstruction areas (those that are vapor sealed)...it does have an o2 sensor/cut off. Planning on putting an CO detector right by the garage door to the house as a precaution and might have an extra in the garage to plug in when I am working out there only. From what I have read as well, folks don't recommend running these for more than a couple hours and you still need a fresh air source...guess I need to find a better heating option.

 

[lytnin]

I have a 24X24 detached garage. It gets a little cold here in St. Louis so I needed heat. I started with a torpedo heater but got tired of the smell and noise. I wound up putting an electric furnace in so I didn't have to put a flu in and dig a long deep trench for a gas line from the house to the garage. The electric furnace makes very little noise and keeps the place warm plus it doesn't stink. I could barely tell a difference in the electric bill.
Later == Bobby

 

[dkeven]

heater in garage whoa whoa stop.

I install heating and air as a sideline and I am yelling danger will robinson danger, a ventless furnace is great in some cases, but a garage is a bad place, gas vapor, paint fumes, solvent vapor. All accumulate near the floor in a garage. Which is why garage gas water heaters are mounted on a pedastal to get above the concentration. Be very careful of using any open flame heater in a garage, a big boom is sometimes the result. You have been warned.

 

[Fulltilt]

I use a Monitor kerosene heater in mine, but if I was going with gas, I'd get either a Rannai (sp). Pricey, but very nice units: direct vent and easy to install. Be sure to check local codes!
Check the local classified ads for used ones.

 

[jimmm]

wonder if a radiate(sp?) gas heater might work well here? the ones you mount on the ceiling and heats objects not air? use only when needed. anyone have any experience with these? FWIW I took my gas heater out of mine so a customer could heat his new house with it,,, err,, now its his and I dont have a heater in it for this winter. Was thinking of putting my old wall furnace in there, mounting it up 2-3 feet off the floor. I try to use a little common sense ( thats all i have, a little) and not clean parts with gas in front of the heater or spray varnish with it on.
With gas over 2 bucks a gal I wonder if electric is cheaper now? How do you compare? BTU's per gal of propane to kilowatts per BTU?

 

[Fulltilt]

I've seen these, but no experiance with them. Looks like a good unit.
http://www.propaneproducts.com/modine-hot-dawg.html

(do those UBB codes work here)

 

[andyl]

At folks urging, I passed on the ventless and ordered a Dayton G37 240V electric heater - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...v=glance&n=284507&n=507846&s=kitchen&v=glance

Wish I had it this evening...close to 30 outside, and inside the garage shows 40's

 

[Julian]

In this part of the country some folks air condition the garage

 

[brucev]

Andy:
I live in Massachusetts and it gets below zero during the winter. I have been thinking about putting heat out in the garage as well. Does your garage have any insulation? I will be interested to hear how your new electric heater works. My garage is 24x24 and that heater seems perfect. I think I would need to blow in insulation in the walls. Gararge is finished however no insulation.
Bruce

 

[dkeven]

Garage heater

Good move on the electric I think you will be pleased and safer. With the price of gas the electric may prove to be the cheaper alternative anyway.

 

[jimmm]

just to confuse the eastern guys,, i sometimes use a swamp cooler to cool mine in the arizona summer

 

[andyl]

I will let you know how it goes...I want to see how fast the temp raises within 15, 30 & 60 minutes. Two of my walls I insulated (as the garage is attached on these). My door is the stryfoam style (can't do too much better with it) and the outside wall I am not sure, but my guess is it is not. I was thinking about renting a blower from home stupid or lowes and blowing in the attic of the garage... might see about doing that wall at the same time.

 

[andyl]

Got my heater installed and running today...tested it with 40 degree starting temp in the garage...took about an hour to raise the temp to ~70 in the far corner. Fan is stronger than I expected but not loud at all. Only two bad points, both very minor. The hanger which comes with it is kind of weak looking, but does the job. Second...there is no "off" setting (thermostat goes down to 25 f), so you might want to wire in a switch if you hardwire. Mine is within 10 feet from the service panel, so local code says you don't require a switch (brother is an electricain which makes things easy ). I put it on a 30 amp twist lock plug in the ceiling, so I can unplug it if I move/need to service it.

 

[brucev]

Andy:
I am interested in doing the same set up as you. I would hire the electrician though. Could you ask your brother what would be an approx. price for this install. Also I am interested to hear how this heater changes your electric bill.
Bruce

 

[andyl]

I will give him a call and ask what he would have charged for the labor (for me it was a few beers after we finished)...hardest part was getting the line to the box. Main run through my house is right over the garage so we just fished a new wire down the chase to the top of the panel. Supplies wise, you could do cheaper then I did by hardwiring it in (amounts are from top of my head):

10/2 (with ground) romex wire (from box to plug) - ~$2 per ft
240v 30 amp twist lock receptacle (L630) - $17
twist lock cord cap (L63) - $17
6 ft SO 10/3 appliance cable - $2 x 6 ft = ~$14
Couple of cord caps - ~$6
Old work box - ~$2
Cover plate - $3 (I could only find stainless steel)
30 amp double-pole circuit breaker - $9
Heater - $299

Supplies retail cost you about $400...guess another $100 in labor. If you have electrician buy the heater, can probably talk them into giving it to you at cost (which is about $225).

 

[george_in_KG]

I know you have made your decision for electric, but I would like to add for the record that the wall-mounted, ventless propane heater works just fine. I installed one on the garage wall about 24-in up off the floor as required by code. Garage is about 26 x 35 with a high ceiling. All walls are insulated. It does a good job of knocking the chill off within 20 minutes of being turned on. I will crack an outside door for fresh air if I operate it for more than a couple of hours. No, I would not recommend one of these units for daily, indoor use in the living spaces of a house, but I think it is fine for garage service.