Need a Garage Heater for this Winter

S

SR77

New member
I am looking to purchase a heater for my garage for the winter so I can continue to work out there and I am need some opinions, tips from those of you that have some. I am not looking for a fixed unit, I am looking at portable one, either a torpedo style one similar to this one:

(http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200178674_200178674) or a dual disk type similar this one: (http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_5838_5838). For those of you that have experience with either one of these portable type heater, can you give me your opinions, pro, cons etc... I need something out in my garage to keep it some what comfortable. I have a door on the back of my garage that I can keep cracked open for fresh air while the heater is running. Might even put the tank outside the door too. My garage is roughly 22 x 22, the wall and garage doors are insulated, but the ceiling is open, just the rafters and some storage up there. I know this adds a lot to the square footage, but I don't have the money or time right now to insulate and install a ceiling in my garage. Plus last year our dryer vent exited into the garage (this will be moved soon) and that along would get the garage around 50 degrees depending on the outside temp., so I am thinking a dedicated heater should do better. Need some help with what type of heater to go with and roughly what size. I have a 20lb tank from my grill that i will proabaly use. Any help is much appreciated! I can't go another winter without heat in the garage. thanks for all the help
 
I used to use those forced hot air heaters on the job. They are great but very dangerous. They blow out very hot air. Anything they are pointed are can and will get burnt. Things catch on fire with those things around. I like the heaters that look like a rectangular can about 2 feet tall, or a kero heater. I have a medium sized one for my garage 22X32 and it works great.
 
I have a kerosene heater in my garage until I can afford to put in a permanent furnace. It works well, heats up the whole garage and keeps in comfortable. Bad side of it, heats from the top down, I have 10 foot ceilings in mine and it takes a while to heat the lower zone to comfort level.
 
I have a Kerosnes (Reddy Heat) forced air for my garage. It's similar to the first one you linked to but on wheels (170,000 BTU's).



Overkill for a 1 car garage but as someone pointed out they are seasonal items and usually are on fire sale at the big box stores at the end of winter. So by the time I got there the smaller ones where long gone. I got this one for like 50% off.



It does put out some serious heat though. Mine has a progammable thermostat on it so I can set it to where I want and it'll come on and go off when needed.



You'll want at least 5' or more in the front of these things to be kept clear while running for safety reasons as it gets stupid hot the closer you are to the front.



That said, I can go from butt azz freezing cold to kick-back and take your shirt off and relax out there in a real short time. That's with the back door open in the garage.
 
Thanks for the replys. Any opinions on the disc type heater, or are they really for small spaces. I guess the torpedo ones seem like they would heat up a larger 2 car garage faster. As for the kerosne ones, where do you guys buy the kerosne at and how much is it. I same the bigger kerosne one too at Lowes, but it was also twice the price. Any other opinions or tips on heaters is welcome. thanks again for the help.
 
SR77 said:
Thanks for the replys. Any opinions on the disc type heater, or are they really for small spaces. I guess the torpedo ones seem like they would heat up a larger 2 car garage faster. As for the kerosne ones, where do you guys buy the kerosne at and how much is it. I same the bigger kerosne one too at Lowes, but it was also twice the price. Any other opinions or tips on heaters is welcome. thanks again for the help.
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Not sure about which disk type heater your talking about. You can get Kerosene at "almost" any gas station (Hess always for sure). If they have a pump that is off to the side of the station by itself that's bound to be kerosene. Mine actuall will run on Desiel fuel and JP-5 as well.



qballjr13 posted a link to Grainger Industrial supply but they are not open to public shopping. You need to be a business or work for one that has an account already. I know cause there's one around the corner from where I work and I got an account through my company.



Lowes, HD, almost any Big Box store sells torpedo heaters. The best time to get them though is in the end of winter when they are going for 50 to 60% off.
 
I have used a 40K BTU propane torpedo type like you showed for two years when I detail in the garage in the winter, never had any problems. I just keep it away from everything, park the car in teh middle of the garage, put it about halfway in the garage, half way between the wall and car, and nothing is in front or back of it. I can keep my door open and based on two thermometers in the garage, it never drops temp wise. I only run it like that though, when I detail, with the door open. Works out great for me.
 
N2 Space. Thanks for the reply. How big is your Garage? Is insolated or have a ceiling? How long does it take to heat up the garage? How long does your tank last? I have a 2 car garage, so it would be hard to put the vehicle in the center, especially when i want to detail both cars, but I can prbab;y move thing around so i can pace it so nothing is within a few feet of the front.



Another question for anyone out there, the torpedo style heater seems to come in 2 different setups, one that runs on propane and another that runs on Kerosene/Diesel(which are the higher BTU Units). I was told by someone that the Kerosene/Diesel types burn dirty and that if you run in long enough in a garage or work shop that it will begin to hurt the eyes etc... They recommend the Propane heater instead as they said it burns alot cleaner. Is there any truth to this? If so, I might just have to go with the lower BTU burner and get a 40lb tank so it runs longer. thanks again
 
SR77 said:
N2 Space. Thanks for the reply. How big is your Garage? Is insolated or have a ceiling? How long does it take to heat up the garage? How long does your tank last? I have a 2 car garage, so it would be hard to put the vehicle in the center, especially when i want to detail both cars, but I can prbab;y move thing around so i can pace it so nothing is within a few feet of the front.



Another question for anyone out there, the torpedo style heater seems to come in 2 different setups, one that runs on propane and another that runs on Kerosene/Diesel(which are the higher BTU Units). I was told by someone that the Kerosene/Diesel types burn dirty and that if you run in long enough in a garage or work shop that it will begin to hurt the eyes etc... They recommend the Propane heater instead as they said it burns alot cleaner. Is there any truth to this? If so, I might just have to go with the lower BTU burner and get a 40lb tank so it runs longer. thanks again
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It's a two car garage, about 20x20, 8ft ceiling, and it is insulated. Because it is, it stays in the 50's in there, so the point of my heater is to keep it warm in there. It doesn't drop, and on warmer winter days it will actually make it warmer in there even with teh door open. I go through about 2 20lb tanks a year, at $10 an exchange, it's well worth the $20 a year IMO. I park both my cars in my garage, so if I pull one out and pull the other in I have plenty of room to detail. Having 2-3 feet in between the wall and car and 10 ft in front of the heater seems to work just fine for me.
 
SR77 said:
Another question for anyone out there, the torpedo style heater seems to come in 2 different setups, one that runs on propane and another that runs on Kerosene/Diesel(which are the higher BTU Units). I was told by someone that the Kerosene/Diesel types burn dirty and that if you run in long enough in a garage or work shop that it will begin to hurt the eyes etc... They recommend the Propane heater instead as they said it burns alot cleaner. Is there any truth to this? If so, I might just have to go with the lower BTU burner and get a 40lb tank so it runs longer. thanks again
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Propane does run cleaner, that's true but you can't run either fuel without ventilation.



For my Torpedo heater I buy an additive that you put in with the fuel (comes in many scents) that takes care of the smelly fumes.



So with the either door in the garage cracked open and the additive I really don't notice the fumes and my eyes don't burn. Also take into consideration how often the thing will run. Mine has a programmable thermosat so it doesn't run continously and if it's not running there's no fuel being brunt which means less smell. Most of the smell comes when it first kicks on or flames out.



In the end I suppose either fuel types are a preference. I can and have gotten Kerosene from the gas station at 3:00 AM or some ungodly hour like that. If you run out of propane and the place to refill or exchange the tanks isn't open your done for the day.
 
thanks. I was at Lowes today and I saw the different kind of additives, so that might be the ticket! Plus the Kero/Diesel nes seem to be the better bang for the buck. The have a Reddy 55K Kero one there that comes with a 5 gallon tank, thermostat an fuel guage. The Propane one is only $20 cheaper but comes with nothing but ignition.



Also, does anyone have a Convection Heater for their gagage. i saw one of these at Lowes too and the one they have is compact but is 80K BTU and 1900sqft coverage on a propane tank for only $99 Do these work as well as a forced unit like the Torpedo ones or will it take forever for it to heat a garage. It looks like you wouldn't need as much space around it, but I have never see one before, so i am not sure how effective it would heat a garage vs a torpedo one with a fan that blows the heat around. Any have a convection type? MUch cheaper then the torpedo ones, so I wonder if there is a reason for that. thanks again
 
Anyone out there that can comment on a convection heater (trash can style) for a garage. The price is definitly better then the forced air torpedo ones, but how about the performance? The propane convection one i saw at lowes for $99 was 80KBTU and covers 1900 square foot. Sounds good but since it is a convection and not forced air with a fan, does it really take alot longer to heat a space up or will it run alot more then a forced air meaning you'll be going through propane alot more. I was just about set on buying a torpedo style unitl i saw this $99 80k BTU convection one. thanks again for the help!
 
First off i would put a layer of poly on the ceiling. It will make a big difference on warm up. BTU's are a standard unit, so 80k is 80k- add your own fan for faster heat up.



Always be careful when using these types of heaters indoors, besides the fire hazard they use up oxygen.



Also check outmr heater



Use this advice at your own risk, it isn't much different than other heaters. In the past i have used a gas Bar-b-q. It was new, so it didn't smoke with burnt food and heated quickly. I guess it could be cleaned, if dirty. I used it to warm up the garage, then used electric heat to keep the heat constant.
 
SR77:



It will take a little longer to heat up the space without the forced air, how much longer will depend on how cold it is when you start out and how much space your trying to warm up. I've seen but never used the one's your talking about though.



I was at Lowes the other day and it looks like Reddy Heater has re-freshed thier line for the season. I saw a couple of small Propane forced air one's that looked sweet. No Thermostat but I think Reddy Heater sells a portable one you plug up to thier heaters and it will turn the heater on and off based on the temp you set.
 
thanks for the replies. i will probably get a propane forcded air one and give it a try. Maybe next summer i will try to get some insolation up on the ceiling too. thanks
 
With the climate changing this is a good thread..The heater in the posters link will heat 1,250 sq ft.. this would be enough for any 2 1/2 car garage ?
 
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