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I'm starting the process on researching natural gas garage heaters. I have a Harbor Freight torpedo heater off propane but that puts off too many fumes that linger in the upper half of the garage.
I have a typical two car attached garage with one door leading to the kitchen. No windows with what I believe to be standard 7ft ceilings. Walls have drywall but not sure if they are insulated or not.
Looking to add a natural gas forced air heater with separated combustion chamber since it won't be uncommon to spray paint/grind/weld inside the garage.
What do you guys use and how do you like them?
This appeals to me since it's not too tall and tucks up nicely:
Not natural gas but just wired a plug on one of these to use in my welder outlet. https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/pr...r?cm_vc=-10005. At only 5kw you can't just crank it on in a 30 degree garage and expect it to heat right up but it works well for what it is and like you said these ceiling units pretty much require no valuable garage space.
I would be happy with getting the garage to at least 50-60*F. It's been colder than normal here in Northern Kentucky in the single digits for the past week or so.
I'm seeing people like the Mr Heater Big Buddy that I can hook up to a 20lb propane tank and it burns MUCH cleaner, but I'm skeptical on only a 9000/18000 BTU for a 400 sq ft garage.
The torpedo heater I have is 60,000 BTU on high I think, but I can only burn that for 20min until the fumes get too much. Then I need to open the garage door which then lets in cold air...rinse and repeat.
I found a old empire 65k btu direct vent for $200 off craigslist. Fired right up and has been awesome during this cold spell. I'm in NH and it has been single digits for 2 Weeks.
I actually used my gas torpedo to knock the chill off for 5 minutes and then the heater held it at 55 the rest of the time. First time I have had clean heat in the barn besides a torpedo where I too used the open the door to let good/cold air in every 20 minutes.
Rocket stove mass heater. Zero heat loss from anything you burn and no fumes.
Burn whatever you want in a chimney. The chimney is contained inside of a metal tank. The cooling gas goes down to the bottom of that tank and exits via a dryer hose in the wall. Works awesome on a slow oil drip from used oil I have sitting in jugs. I used one back when I had a detached garage and it would heat it all weekend on almost nothing. Can burn whatever you want. Oil, paper, wood, anything that will burn.
Take a look at regular small house type Furnaces, I bought mine used for $200 and it's 95% efficient, Vents out a side wall with a small PVC pipe. It was 28" high and 26" wide/deep until I added the A/C coil. Still has a small foot print and heats my 24x40 garage no problem even on the coldest days. It was -18 yesterday and it took about 2 hours to go from 40* to 70*
The heater I posted will get you to the temps you want easily as long as your in a finished garage. Craigslist is where it's at though. This air handler I looked at for 6 days before I bought what I did. It's a Lennox 15kw heat strip air handler. Got it for a buddies garage instead of mine for $50 and $248 in wire, breakers, filter, thermostat and miscellaneous. It's 21"x23"x49". Only prob was the new thermostat was dead on arrival, but a toggle switch is working for now.
Those hanging furnaces are not very efficient. They will eat you out of house and home on gas. Get a small house furnace that way you can have AC too.
They are not efficient in what way? Most of the units I am looking at claim a 80% efficiency rating...80% of the gas burned is converted to useful heat.
This is something that will be turned on only when I plan to work out there. If I know I'll plan to be out there most of the day I'll turn it on and let it heat up for 30min then get out there to work leaving it on or cycle on/off as needed.
When I'm done I will turn it off and go in the house.
One thing I hadn't seen mentioned was your garage door. Is it insulated? I may live in GA, but I have an insulated door (thanks to previous owners). Even when it gets down to single digits (rare) the garage stays at 50*+. It's been in the teens overnight here through this week and my fluid temps in the morning are in the 50s at startup. The aux fridge may help. With the right insulation you can heat a garage with halogen work lights. My garage gets very hot in the summer, however.
Last edited by BudRacing; Jan 3, 2018 at 11:49 AM.
Door is not insulated and is also on my list which could greatly help.
I would be fine with a propane infrared unit and or a kerosene unit as long as it does not smell.
My 60,000 rated torpedo heater works, but it's the smell that gets me. Maybe it's just the inherent design of a torpedo heater which expels too much unburnt propane.
Last edited by smitty2919; Jan 3, 2018 at 12:49 PM.
I just looked up the NG and electric rates for my area. If I calculated this out right:
A 30,000 BTU N.G. unit will cost $0.13/hour.
A 5000W Electric unit will cost $0.44/hour.
To get an electric unit to equal a 30,000 BTU unit it would be roughly a 9000W unit which would raise the cost to $.79/hr.
CLEARLY the N.G. unit is a better route, but a N.G. unit is almost double the cost of electric unit and will need gas lines ran plus 220V run. Electric unit only need 220V ran.
Since I'm not using the heater to keep the garage temperature controlled constantly, electric may suit me.
CLEARLY the N.G. unit is a better route, but a N.G. unit is almost double the cost of electric unit and will need gas lines ran plus 220V run. Electric unit only need 220V ran.
Gas furnace should only need 110v power supply. As far as cost you might be able to pick up a used gas furnace cheap, Like I said in my previous post I picked mine up for $200 and it was less than a year old, They weren't happy with it so they went to a larger unit.
I pulled my own permit for the install so I had less than $300 in running the gas line and mine is a detached garage. Not sure if your area will let you pull your own permit but if you can it can save you quite a bit and running the line isn't hard to do.
Dont forget about home insurance and codes for natural gas in a garage.
That's why I suggested he pull a home owners permit if his area allows it, If you have a permit then you have to do it right to pass inspection. I had to have my energy company come of to do a pressure test and the city inspector checked the electrical side.
Insurance companies can't deny a claim if you follow the rules.
I am using a Menards
Mr. Heater® Big Max 50,000 BTU Dual-Fuel Garage Heater
110v electric and gas line was needed.
in my approx 18' x 30' garage and it does a great job in my opinion. I have it mounted in the rear right corner with thermostat up front by garage doors. The unit can run LP or Natural gas. Cheap and so far has been reliable.
slight threadjack, I'm planning on insulating my 1 car garage door but I'm currently trying to figure out if it's worth heating the garage whenever I work on my car. the garage is detached and the walls are cinder blocks with stucco ceiling. the dimensions are 14'x22'. the ceiling's about 8' tall. would it be worth to just have a propane torpedo heater?
I would insulate the ceiling if it hasn't been done already, That's where most of your heat will go anyway. For a small space like that you could get by with a small propane heater like this https://www.homedepot.com/p/Dyna-Glo...0DGP/202223041
Even on the low setting it will keep it very warm.
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Garage heaters 
