How to heat my garage in winter
 

I live in upstate NY and have an insulated 2.5 car garage. I want to
heat it with something other than electric ($$).

I am turned off by Kerosene due to the stink...even with the scents
added.

I am considering propane...I have seen protable interior propane
heatesr my mr. heat and readdy that give about 20 - 30K btu. I've
heard they are a little noisy, but my big concern is I read somewhere
that they cause lots of moisture...condensation, which would be bad for
my tools and such. I only want to use this occasionally when it I have
to fix something or work on my car. Anybody have any experiences?

My other option is to get a free old wood stove from a buddy...but that
takes up space due to being so far from the wall and then I have to buy
the chimney ($$). Thanks in advance.

How to heat my garage in winter
 

wrote:
I live in upstate NY and have an insulated 2.5 car garage. I want to
heat it with something other than electric ($$).

I am turned off by Kerosene due to the stink...even with the scents
added.

I am considering propane...I have seen protable interior propane
heatesr my mr. heat and readdy that give about 20 - 30K btu. I've
heard they are a little noisy, but my big concern is I read somewhere
that they cause lots of moisture...condensation, which would be bad for
my tools and such. I only want to use this occasionally when it I have
to fix something or work on my car. Anybody have any experiences?

My other option is to get a free old wood stove from a buddy...but that
takes up space due to being so far from the wall and then I have to buy
the chimney ($$). Thanks in advance.

For fuel, you'll probably do best using whatever heat source you use
for your house.

There are plenty of blower units that mount near the ceiling for just
this application. Also, radiant systems would work well.

How to heat my garage in winter
 

wrote:
I live in upstate NY and have an insulated 2.5 car garage. I want to
heat it with something other than electric ($$).

I am turned off by Kerosene due to the stink...even with the scents
added.

I am considering propane...I have seen protable interior propane
heatesr my mr. heat and readdy that give about 20 - 30K btu. I've
heard they are a little noisy, but my big concern is I read somewhere
that they cause lots of moisture...condensation, which would be bad for
my tools and such. I only want to use this occasionally when it I have
to fix something or work on my car. Anybody have any experiences?

I have used propane space heaters before and they are OK. If you only
use occasionally the condensation should not be a prob. Yea, they are
noisy but you get used to it. The newer ones have an integrated fan
which makes them more efficient. They also have a safety feature which
shuts the unit down if it is tipped over. The old style heaters are
still available and really put out a lot of heat but are less safe.
the big advantage of propane is that you can use a bulk tank, which is
convenient. Wood stoves make sense only when you have a ready supply
of cheap fuel.

How to heat my garage in winter
 

Personally I use a kero "Reddy Heater" to occasionally heat my garage. We
have nat. gas heating in the house, but the piping is not convenient to the
garage, and it would be a major install/expense to run a line. For the few
times I use it, it just isn't worth it.

You can get propane Reddy Heaters as well. They are a bit noisy, but it
doesn't bother me in the garage. I built a little thermostat that cycles it
on and off (you can also buy them, but I didn't want to spend $50). I
usually keep it about 60 degrees when I'm working out there, which is fine
for me. Here in MN we can see temps sub-zero and my 60,000 BTU unit can
heat up the garage in about 15-20 min.

-Tim

How to heat my garage in winter
 

wrote:

I live in upstate NY and have an insulated 2.5 car garage. I want to
heat it with something other than electric ($$).

How about solar heat? Put a layer of glazing over the door and open it when
the sun shines, if it faces south, as described on Gary Reysa's web site
http://BuildItSolar.com. Or add a layer of glazing over the south wall
to make an air heater, if it's unshaded.

What are the garage dimensions and how much insulation does it have and
which way does it face?

Nick

How to heat my garage in winter
 

On 9 Oct 2006 07:31:58 -0700, wrote:

I live in upstate NY and have an insulated 2.5 car garage. I want to
heat it with something other than electric ($$).

I am turned off by Kerosene due to the stink...even with the scents
added.

I am considering propane...I have seen protable interior propane
heatesr my mr. heat and readdy that give about 20 - 30K btu. I've
heard they are a little noisy, but my big concern is I read somewhere
that they cause lots of moisture...condensation, which would be bad for
my tools and such. I only want to use this occasionally when it I have
to fix something or work on my car. Anybody have any experiences?

My other option is to get a free old wood stove from a buddy...but that
takes up space due to being so far from the wall and then I have to buy
the chimney ($$). Thanks in advance.


Horizontal mount furnace bolted to the ceiling, and vented from there
to the outside. Your choice as to fuel, although I'd go with oil.

How to heat my garage in winter
 

How to heat my garage in winter
 

How to heat my garage in winter
 

Try an infrared lamp. It won't heat the entire garage, but it will
keep you warm if you are not moving around a lot. Much cheaper and
safer than propane.

On 9 Oct 2006 07:31:58 -0700, wrote:

I live in upstate NY and have an insulated 2.5 car garage. I want to
heat it with something other than electric ($$).

I am turned off by Kerosene due to the stink...even with the scents
added.

I am considering propane...I have seen protable interior propane
heatesr my mr. heat and readdy that give about 20 - 30K btu. I've
heard they are a little noisy, but my big concern is I read somewhere
that they cause lots of moisture...condensation, which would be bad for
my tools and such. I only want to use this occasionally when it I have
to fix something or work on my car. Anybody have any experiences?

My other option is to get a free old wood stove from a buddy...but that
takes up space due to being so far from the wall and then I have to buy
the chimney ($$). Thanks in advance.

How to heat my garage in winter
 

wrote:
I live in upstate NY and have an insulated 2.5 car garage. I want to
heat it with something other than electric ($$).

*IF* you have a south facing wall and only need to heat it in the
afternoons, google "solar thermosiphon wall panel"

propane stinks too, but not as bad as kerosene, in ombination with the
solar panel you should get a warm garage cheap (currently working on
mine)

How to heat my garage in winter
 

Tater wrote:

*IF* you have a south facing wall and only need to heat it in the
afternoons, google "solar thermosiphon wall panel"

With sufficient insulation and thermal mass, a thermosyphon wall panel
can provide 100% solar heat in December in northern NY.

Nick

How to heat my garage in winter
 

According to :

I only want to use this occasionally when it I have
to fix something or work on my car.

If you're only going to use it occasionally, a construction
cube heater (4800W 240V fan heater) has none of the drawbacks
of wood/gas/propane (moisture, possibilities of CO, venting etc),
convenient/safe (eg: leaving it running for a day or two),
and its extremely low installation cost will offset operations cost.

In my situation (garage in the great white north is well insulated,
and probably about the same size as yours), any other form of heating
would have a 20+ year payback compared to the two cube heaters I use
because of the installation/equipment costs of other systems.

Electric IR panels are another possibility - they're relatively
small (eg: 1000-1200W), but keep _you_ warm while working on a car,
and can be plugged into ordinary outlets.

Lee Valley carries one of these panels. $70 I think.

I've found cube heaters for about $40 new, and bought one at an
auction for about $15.
--
Chris Lewis, Una confibula non set est
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.

How to heat my garage in winter
 

Chris Lewis wrote:
According to :

I only want to use this occasionally when it I have
to fix something or work on my car.

If you're only going to use it occasionally, a construction
cube heater (4800W 240V fan heater) has none of the drawbacks
of wood/gas/propane (moisture, possibilities of CO, venting etc),
convenient/safe (eg: leaving it running for a day or two),
and its extremely low installation cost will offset operations cost.

In my situation (garage in the great white north is well insulated,
and probably about the same size as yours), any other form of heating
would have a 20+ year payback compared to the two cube heaters I use
because of the installation/equipment costs of other systems.

Electric IR panels are another possibility - they're relatively
small (eg: 1000-1200W), but keep _you_ warm while working on a car,
and can be plugged into ordinary outlets.

Lee Valley carries one of these panels. $70 I think.

I've found cube heaters for about $40 new, and bought one at an
auction for about $15.
--
Chris Lewis, Una confibula non set est
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.

For my super-insulated, 2-car garage, I use one 240-V fan heater. For
my uninsulated 14' x 22' shed, I use two 240-V heaters. Considering
that I probably only use them a few times in the winter for a short
period of time, electric works out great.

In my situation, where I have natural gas for the house, I would use
that if I wanted to do a lot of serious heating even though it would
require digging a long, deep trench through my lawn for the pipe. The
new, 90% efficient gas furnaces are very small and don't require a
regular chimney--just a vent that can be run through a wall to the
outside.