Garage Heater

[BeezFun]

If you have a welding outlet you could get a cheap electric heater. I have two 5000w space heaters, one in a welding outlet one in an air compressor outlet.

 

[etpm]

Hi all. Thank you for all of the recommendations and advice. I think my non insulated garage is leaky enough to invite fresh air without any extra effort. Good to look for a unit that has some kind of O2 safety shutoff.

I recall my parents having a kerosene heater for the house many years ago. And the smell... But it sounds like modern kerosene/diesel are much better about that.

I have one of those propane flame throwers already. Never even thought of the redneck option.

The Val6 or a propane torpedo seem like the best options for me. Time to go shopping.
Thanks,
Doug

Low oxygen shut off is of course very important. But just having plenty of oxygen available, through leaky windows and boards or whatever is only part of what you need to worry about when you are burning anything in an enclosed space. Carbon Monoxide, AKA CO, will kill you even when there is plenty of oxygen available. And it can kill you slowly enough that you don't even notice. This is because CO sticks better to the hemoglobin in your blood than oxygen. Hemoglobin is what carries oxygen in your blood and delivers it to the rest of your body. Carbon Monoxide, since it sticks to hemoglobin better than oxygen, will crowd out the oxygen in the air you are breathing. And it doesn't let go easily. This means it builds up in your blood over time, whereas oxygen doesn't. So if enough CO is present in the air you are breathing it will eventually bind to enough of your hemoglobin to suffocate you, even though there is a normal amount of oxygen in the air you are breathing. And it gets worse, because CO not only prevents you from using the available oxygen and so causes suffocation, it is also a poison. So it is best you not only have plenty of ventilation, you must also make sure your heat source also burns cleanly. I have a CO alarm in my house for this very reason because I have a gas furnace.
Eric

 

[Torvy]

You may have surprisingly good results just insulating the garage. When we lived in Wisconsin, our garage rarely got below 40 degrees with no heat. Add some insulation and a little space heater will probably be enough... This is for an attached garage....the insulation will also make it easier to keep your house temp moderate.

 

[bdhsfz6]

I have an 800 sq ft unheated, partially insulated garage that I use mostly as a work shop. In my younger years, heat & cold didn't bother me much working out there. Now, being retired, I spend a great deal more time in the shop and temperature extremes are more of a problem.

A few years back, I started heating the shop with propane. I tried a salamander style heater which worked OK but it took up too much floor space. I then switched to this tank top model:

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It works well and has a small footprint.

I found the ultimate solution last year when I decided to throw some $$ at the problem. I installed a ductless mini split heat pump on the garage wall. It takes up no floor space and provides A/C in the summer as well. Surprisingly, the cost to heat the shop with the heat pump is only about 15% more than it was with propane. The added safety and convenience made the decision well worth while. I now wish I had done it years ago.

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

Robles I have with unvented propane or natural gas heaters, is that the combustion produces a lot of water vapor. I wouldn’t want one in my shop for fear that the cast iron surfaces of all my woodworking tools would get rusty.

 

[Doofy]

I have never had excessive moisture problems in a well ventilated area when using propane + I am a rabid user of paste wax on shop tools.

 

[JPRambo]

I have a 24' x 30' garage. I used a propane buddy heater in my garage before I installed a heat pump mini split.

 

[lman]

I had this problem in the seventies when I had no money and absolutely needed my car fixed. I found that if I put my wrenches in a bowl of warm water to heat them up that I could work much more comfortably. Obviously this limited my selection of tools but I got it done.

How do you keep the water from freezing?

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

You may have surprisingly good results just insulating the garage. When we lived in Wisconsin, our garage rarely got below 40 degrees with no heat. Add some insulation and a little space heater will probably be enough... This is for an attached garage....the insulation will also make it easier to keep your house temp moderate.

I insulated attic (12 " of fiberglass) then walls (6" insulation) on my 28x32 garage/shop and it made a huge difference. Don't have to add heat to often now. Temperature before insualtion pretty muched matched outside temps. With insulation there is at least a 20 to 30 degree temp difference between outside and inside, this works until night time temps get below freezing.
I was using my 24 HP tractor for heat when needed. Hook up exhaust hose to tractor exhaust and power vent to outside (diesel exhaust extraction fan), ran pto generator for electric heat, once warmed up turned off tractor.

 

[Spanky100]

Anyone using a waste oil heater or know of a reasonable cost small waste oil heater? It would ne nice to use my drain oil and not have to take it to the recycling centers.

 

[wdchyd]

Spanks, I use a waste oil heater at work but we generate about 2000-2500 gals of waste (mainly hyd) oil. The waste oil furnaces are nice but they are costly and use it up rather quickly.
If I was using temp at a home garage I’d consider bullet type propane or kero heaters. YOuTube has some decent vids on DIY waste oil burners, some clever people out there.

 

[KennyG]

I looked at waste oil heaters a few years ago and was shocked at the cost. Unless you build your own I think it has to be a commercial application to make sense. I only have 5 or 10 gallons of used oil a year. I get rid of most of it by mixing it with pine shavings and putting a little at a time in my shop wood stove. It's great for starting the fire since it eliminates the need to fool with kindling.

 

[kenmac]

I just don't work in mine when it's cold out. 40X80 14 ft sides. probably 20' tall in the center.
I can't afford to heat it.
My water lines comes in through the bathroom, which is insulated.
I just turn all water off except where it comes into the bathroom and use a small elect. heater for the bathroom to keep water from freezing

 

[kenmac]

Low oxygen shut off is of course very important. But just having plenty of oxygen available, through leaky windows and boards or whatever is only part of what you need to worry about when you are burning anything in an enclosed space. Carbon Monoxide, AKA CO, will kill you even when there is plenty of oxygen available. And it can kill you slowly enough that you don't even notice. This is because CO sticks better to the hemoglobin in your blood than oxygen. Hemoglobin is what carries oxygen in your blood and delivers it to the rest of your body. Carbon Monoxide, since it sticks to hemoglobin better than oxygen, will crowd out the oxygen in the air you are breathing. And it doesn't let go easily. This means it builds up in your blood over time, whereas oxygen doesn't. So if enough CO is present in the air you are breathing it will eventually bind to enough of your hemoglobin to suffocate you, even though there is a normal amount of oxygen in the air you are breathing. And it gets worse, because CO not only prevents you from using the available oxygen and so causes suffocation, it is also a poison. So it is best you not only have plenty of ventilation, you must also make sure your heat source also burns cleanly. I have a CO alarm in my house for this very reason because I have a gas furnace.
Eric

with the proper amount of combustion air, and properly operating appliance, CO isn't an issue.
It only becomes an issue with inadequate combustion air, and a improperly burning appliance.
You only gonna find an ODS pilot on small gas appliances .

 

[Doofy]

I looked at waste oil heaters a few years ago and was shocked at the cost. Unless you build your own I think it has to be a commercial application to make sense. I only have 5 or 10 gallons of used oil a year. I get rid of most of it by mixing it with pine shavings and putting a little at a time in my shop wood stove. It's great for starting the fire since it eliminates the need to fool with kindling.

I have the same problem. I just don't generate enough waste oils to even build my own burner. I did spend the afternoon watching videos of other folks building them.

 

[etpm]

with the proper amount of combustion air, and properly operating appliance, CO isn't an issue.
It only becomes an issue with inadequate combustion air, and a improperly burning appliance.
You only gonna find an ODS pilot on small gas appliances .

And there's the issue, improperly burning appliances. I know, you get a new appliance ant it operates properly. Then it gets used, gets kicked around, or isn't operating properly from the get go. Then it pumps out CO, you can't smell it, you get poisoned, and then, maybe you die. So when operating a fuel burning heater that exhausts into the space it is heating folks need to be aware of the hazard and take measures to protect themselves. Usually not a big deal. Only about 400 people a year die from accidental CO poisoning. But then 50,000 people a year are admitted to the ER for accidental CO poisoning. That number is in my opinion high enough to be concerned, that's all.
Eric

 

[Alien]

There are plenty of diesel burners out there ranging from $400 to whatever you want to pay.

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[ultrarunner]

My work around was parking a warm car in the space next to me...

Always warmed up the space

 

[PILOON]

When I DIY'd my home and garage I insulated the garage to the same specs as the home.
walls @ r20 and ceiling @ r 40. (wool batts are very cheap)
Never to regret, door was one issue but r 20 foam board and screws corrected that.
Door seals were made from floppy foam DIY wipes.

When absent heat is @ +/- 40 deg and easy to adjust when wanted.
No rusty tools or frozen paints.

 

[thepumpguysc]

I have a metal building.. I insulated it 2” foam boards
between the studs..same as the ceiling & covered it all w 5/8 sanded plywood..on the walls & 7/16 on the ceiling..
The 2 burner that sits on top of a propane bottle works great..especially if I have a small stand up fan behind it on low.. it pushes the heat directly where it needs to be.
In 15 minutes I’m stripping off my jacket..
But like I said, it doesn’t go down to the single digits down here in S. Carolina..