Heat!

So how is everyones heating solutions doing. Hope your staying warm.



My 2 ceramic and 18k BTU LP are working well enough that i now shut them off most nights. Besides the bottom foot of the garage staying cool, it takes about 20 min to get it to working temp on most days. Then cycle them off and on.
 
Wal-Mart had some Homles water-filled sealed radiators on sale for $30 so I picked one up to use in my house for room heating.



At the highest setting it uses about 1500 watts but it will really warm an area up and it provides comfortable heat because it doesnt use fans.
 
I made a wood burner out of a 55 gallon drum. Cut a square in the top for the door and 5" hole for the flu. The exhaust exits the length of the garage, this makes it more efficient and heats up in about 1/2 hour. Just have to crack a window when it gets too hot. I bought the mounts for it to set the drum on off Northerntool.com



I keep a dedicated pile of wood inside and use old pallets the local factories don't want anymore.
 
We want something to hang from the ceiling in our 2-car, but we might end up just getting a reddy heater jet engine-style. My only concern would be when I go to start fiberglassing. Resin is flammable. :soscared:
 
The Burner doesn't blow out more than a foot if even that. The heat is pretty intense in the front for about several feet though. I think my manual says you have to leave 8' clear in front.



If it's a attached two car garage I would look at something like this. It's electric so you don't need to cut a hole in the roof for a vent pipe (the gas one's need to).



All you need is a 240v drop installed in the garage. Any electrician can do that or depending on where your Breaker Box is in relation to the garage you can do it yourself.

Also the unit needs to be wired up. Again something you can do or have an electrician do it.



All sources of heat that have a combustion-able fuel source need to be ventilated. So with the Reddy Torpedo Heaters you have to leave the garage door open, which in turn lets out the heat.



I've had my Kerosene Torpedo Heater now for several years and while it puts out a lot of heat very quickly the fumes suck. When I come in the house after being any where near the thing my clothes smell the way my dad did when he came home from work (he was a N.Y.C Firefighter).



If I owned a home and wasn't renting and knew I wanted to use my Garage as a work shop I would've gotten one of those ceiling mounted Heaters. Floor Space is a premium when working in a garage. Another vote for getting the heater up and out of the way



MorBiD
 
I don't have one but ever since I brought something from Northern Tools they send me like a kazillon emails to buy more stuff. That unit was listed on sale in the last one.



110v electric heaters can only put out a max of about 1500 watts. All of them. This one runs on 240V so it should have some heat to it. It also has a fan and programmable thermostat. Both pluses. Reviews are mixed but mostly positive.



Get a estimate from a electrician for the install before making the plunge so you know the true cost.



Make sure you have room in the panel box for the 240V breaker. As for wiring you can either have the wire running straight to the box from the unit or put in socket near the heater from the panel box and have a piggy tail made for the unit.



The second one will allow you to remove the heater (for maintenance maybe) or disconnect the heater and use the socket for something else like a air compressor without having to disconnect the wiring from the Heater. Plus I think the building code would want you to have a disconnect near the unit so it can be shut down in case of emergency.
 
JuneBug said:
I'm looking at the 2 burner heater that sits on top of your 20 pound propane tank $89.00and the little Redi Heater - it's twice as much at $179.00 (Lowes) for my 2 car garage 24'x26'. Any Pros and Cons ?



I just bought one of these at Lowes ($137 incl. new full tank) and tried it out this weekend in my old, uninsulated detached garage with outside temp at 1 degree F. I finished polishing the paint on my 19 year old black Zcar with Megs D151 with PC and white pad speed 6. It provided enough heat ( 30,000BTU on high setting) to get the job done. I moved it around to cover the side of the car I was working on. I had to keep my PC and D151 in front of the heater to prevent freezing. Actually it seemed like the D151 worked better on the cold surfaces of the car. (longer working time) That old Zcar looks amazing. I finally got all the swirls marks out. Topped with DG AW. Ready for spring! That propane heater does the job but you need to be careful moving it around and leave plenty of space around it and DO NOT knock it over. A carbon monoxide detector would be a good idea.
 
Morris9982 said:
'I had an electric heater put in my garage a couple years ago and I really like it.\r\n\r\nIt\'s about 18,000 BTU and is 240V. It keeps my garage as warm as I want.\r\n\r\n
2006-10-14GarageASmall.jpg
'

I just put this one in my 24x28' attached garage. Normally I leave it two clicks below the low setting, keeps it above freezing. When I want to work or wash, I turn it up to one notch above low and I can work with a sweater on, no jacket. I have insulated the ceiling and most of the walls, still need to insulate the garage door and put drywall in. Too early to tell what it's costing me to keep it warm but is sure is nice not freezing out there! So far I have never had the need to turn it to high, don't know how warm that would be.



Cost was $259 delivered from a greenhouse place in Danville, IL IIRC. Add just over $100 for Romex and a circuit breaker and it was the cheapest way to go for me. No drilling holes in the roof for a flue was a big plus!
 
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