Garage/Shop Heater Installs?

[Michael In Tennessee]

Thanks for posting and the pics. Quite a bit less cost than the Reznor 45 sealed if you did it for $1K.

$1067 delivered from Sterling GG45 Gas Garage Heater on Sale at ACF Greenhouses. including sealed combustion and horizontal vent kits. They provide just enough pipe to get you about 2.5 feet off the wall. If you need more pipe, you just buy extra lengths, but its pricey. Single wall gasketed vent pipe conforming to the latest code. I'm real impressed with the vent kits. Everything is included.

 

[dodge man]

I have a vented LP heater in my garage, similar to one posted above. Mine might be a little bigger. I had mine installed by a HVAC company but I don't remember for how much. Mine is vented through the roof. I keep my shop at about 40 degrees and it warms up in just a few minutes.

 

[MoArk Willy]

Yeah I have horizontal lap siding on the exterior. Now thinking I could maybe remove a row, use a hole saw and then put the lap siding back?

Yes. That would be the best way.

 

[metalbender]

Have to correct my earlier post about the heater in my garage. It was a Beacon Morris, not Modine as stated. The Beacon unit used a gas valve with the integral electronics, very expensive. Most heaters use a stand alone, inexpensive circuit board.

 

[davedj1]

Has anyone installed an electric unit? Something along this line https://www.homedepot.com/p/Comfort...miWYfAASTIuMEMgtonBoCTwMQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
I have been thinking about getting one. Electricity isn't cheap here but I would only use it for keeping the garage warm over night if I had just painted something or the such. My garage is mostly insulated, I would have to fix a couple of areas and insulate the garage door.

 

[rScotty]

I am about to finally install a heater in my 2 car garage converted to a shop. Pretty much settled on Reznor 45kBTU sealed combustion unit. Plan to do the install myself after receiving a quote for $7K installed. My materials for the same thing will be $2K.

Looking for any do's/don't's kind of advice for installation.

Let me tell you what I do for shop or small house heat here in the Colorado Mountains and see if any of this helps with your project.

In several shops now I've used a small or medium size Rinnai Direct Vent Wall Heater. The heater typically sits on the floor next to the wall and the exhaust/intake goes through the wall at a spot you pick within 3 or 4 feet of the heater. Pick natural gas or propane. A size EX17 is good for a two car size shop in a fairly cold climate. The Rinnai is the absolute top of the line natural gas or propane heater - thermostatic, silent 110v. blower, use outside air and very efficient, has internal smart self-checking routines for safety.... Real quality stuff. Set it and forget it.

Rinnai has made their same basic model for decades now and constantly making it better. You can also set it low for freeze protection or to come on at a certain time.

They heater comes as a kit with all the parts to do a simple thru-the-wall double shielded combination outside air in and exhaust out.

Here in the mountains of Colorado we don't have natural gas, so what I know about is propane. I've run them temporarily in my shop using an outside 20 gallon propane tank - which is good for almost a month of workdays in a 2 car size insulated shop in the Colorado winters. But it is better to just order a 250 gallon propane tank and have it filled once a year.

Costs.... I think the Rinnai heater and install kit for the EX17 size runs in the $1500 to $2000 range delivered. A 250 gallon propane tank delivered and set up is around $600. Our propane company will also run a regulated line from tank to your shop for price of the line & regulator plus $100 when they deliver the tank. Line and regulator is another $100. Filling the tank at today's propane price is 80% X 250 gallon x 1.70 = $350.

So it looks like it would run in the $2500 to $3000 range complete if you just ordered things and had someone else do the real work. All you'd do is drill and assemble the supplied wall-thru - which takes a couple of hours max. and then plug it in.
rScotty

 

[grsthegreat]

Has anyone installed an electric unit? Something along this line https://www.homedepot.com/p/Comfort...miWYfAASTIuMEMgtonBoCTwMQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
I have been thinking about getting one. Electricity isn't cheap here but I would only use it for keeping the garage warm over night if I had just painted something or the such. My garage is mostly insulated, I would have to fix a couple of areas and insulate the garage door.

I have put similar units in garages for many years. If your garage is fully insulated they work ok, but are definitely not cheap to operate. Hard to get actual usage for one of those units as they dont run 24/7 but while they operate they consume 5KW per hour of power. lets say they run 10 hours per day for 30 days and you pay 0.10 per KWH (have no idea of your rates) that heater is costing you $150 per month. but i really dont know how many hours per day a unit like that will run. I have electric heat in my tack room and in wifes potting shed. both are very well insulated and thermostats set at around 45F. we have a winter increase in electric bills, but we also use more lights and stock tank heaters. without individual usage meters i have no idea what those heaters are using.

 

[rScotty]

Has anyone installed an electric unit? Something along this line https://www.homedepot.com/p/Comfort...miWYfAASTIuMEMgtonBoCTwMQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
I have been thinking about getting one. Electricity isn't cheap here but I would only use it for keeping the garage warm over night if I had just painted something or the such. My garage is mostly insulated, I would have to fix a couple of areas and insulate the garage door.

I hear you. I did that & still do in some areas. It's not the expense so much as that even on 220, the electric heaters just don't heat up the area like a propane or natural gas heater will.
And the better gas heaters like the Rinnai don't have any combustible connection with the air in the shop. Outside air comes in, get burned in a sealed unit, and the exhaust goes back outside coaxially so as to warn the incoming air and cool the exhaust. I think they are safer. Plus you just can't reasonably "burn" enough electricity to generate the BTUs of heat that even a small Rinnai type will do.
At least that is what I've found here. But electric is sure easy. Like I said, I still do one shop area that way.
rScotty

 

[texasranger556]

Has anyone installed an electric unit? Something along this line https://www.homedepot.com/p/Comfort...miWYfAASTIuMEMgtonBoCTwMQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
I have been thinking about getting one. Electricity isn't cheap here but I would only use it for keeping the garage warm over night if I had just painted something or the such. My garage is mostly insulated, I would have to fix a couple of areas and insulate the garage door.

I have one like that in my attached 2 car garage with 11' ceilings, about 600 sq ft. I added about 6" of blown in cellulouse in the ceiling, R13 fiberglass batts in the side walls and installed sheetrock. The garage doors are old and not insulated but still seal fairly well, planning to replace them soon so left the front wall uninsulated until I reconfigure the garage door placement and replace with insulated ones. I keep the temp low around 45-50 degrees all winter, then turn it up to 55-60 if I have a project going. There is too much crap in the garage to park, so doors stay closed. During the week I hear it run about 5-10 minutes every couple hours, so I'm estimating it adds between $50-100 per month to our electric bill. Winters in MD vary, but it's rare for the daytime highs to be less than mid 20s for any length of time. This winter the average daytime highs have been in the low 40s, perhaps higher.

I consider it a temporary solution. I'd like to relegate it to backup duties and install a mini split since AC is just as important here, and want to get rid of our window AC unit. The rest of our house is electric, eventually I'll install solar panels, plus collecting materials to install geothermal HVAC this summer.

 

[newbury]

<snip>
I'm not sure how well they handle dust (my wife does a lot of woodworking in there, we do not have a vacuum system, and she's not the greatest about using the shop vac to clean up). Is it going to be clogging up regularly?<snip>

GET A DUST SYSTEM!
Then you don't have to worry about your lungs, dust in paint, etc.