MetallicaMatt

iTrader: (19)

Does anybody have heated garage floors?

I am looking to build a shop in the next 1-2 years, probably 5,000 square feet or so. I was thinking about how to heat the garage during the cold winter months. I would like to keep it all above freezing, and some sectioned off parts fairly comfortable.

I've been thinking about Geothermal, but I haven't looked into it yet, or the price

Whats your experience?

Bobs-00-SS

iTrader: (1)

Why not just get a heater? Gas heaters are nice but if you dont want the hassel, ihave a nicer dayton electric heater. Its got a built in thermostat. I keep it on low and never gets below 40-45 during the coldest day. turn it up 15min before i go out and its 75. on high it gets up to 115 in there no joke in the dead of winter. just some advice......

romoranger

iTrader: (2)

a house i just remodeled had it. It had radian heat flooring laid in the slab. I can not comment on how well it worked because the boiler there has been really finicky.

snketr

iTrader: (3)

I'd do radiant heat with a water heater also. Won't be that expensive.

MikeGyver

iTrader: (5)

Who do you hate more, the electricity supplier or the gas supplier? That would answer your heat pump vs. natural gas question. Have you seen those wood-burning boilers that are in the back of Popular Mechanic's magazine?

chromeplated500

iTrader: (10)

Radiant heat. We went through the same ordeal when we built our shop. But decided it would be easier to service, more economical and acutally work better with radiant heat. the only thing to consider is if you have the space to spare on the ceiling or the wall for it. But it definently kciks ***.... it warms up objects instead of making the air hot. so it will heat the concrete. idk its hard to explain but i defenently stand behind it.

Rhedalert

iTrader: (21)

I had radiant heat in the shop I used to work at, it was great.

X-RACER

I have infloor heat in my garage and love it! My garage is 60' x 30' with 16' ceilings. The infloor heat is very similar to radient heat in that it heats the concrete and objects not just the air. If you need to do work under a vehicle and do not have a hoist you get to lay on a nice warm floor. I was nervous at first about the recovery time when a door was open and a cold car was brought in during the winter, but there is hardly any at all.

The only down side that I can think of right now is if you want to anchor anything to the floor like a hoist or air compressor you run the risk of hitting a hose.

9silverbird8

iTrader: (19)

radiant heat is an excellent option, and is very easy to.

BlackBADaSS02

iTrader: (17)

+1 for radiant heat. it works great.

Drumer919

iTrader: (2)

From what I have heard geothermal is a great heat source but has a very high inital cost.

MikeGyver

iTrader: (5)

Good point, but in-floor radiant is a step above infra-red radiant as far as comfort goes. If cost is no object, I think in-floor heat is the ultimate. I find that a heated floor is just plain cozy. In a basement that the in-floor heat is not the primary heat source of the house, you won't even notice it, until you realize that your stocking-feet aren't cold on the concrete. A lot of times for me, infra-red makes me feel like I need to be on a rotisserie, because one side's hot and the other side's cold.

Sideways240sx

iTrader: (22)

Definatly get heated floors. Get a boiler, get your plumber out there to run some water lines and go to town. If i build a house for myself it will have a heated basement floors/driveway for sure, which would mean no shoveling in the winter.

Also if its warm in the shop, but the floors are cold, and you have to lay on them for any reason, You will be cold. Tools laying on the floor can get pretty cold, once you get past the initial cost, it will save you money in the long run, as your shop wont get as cold with the heated floors.

Chris

boondiggys

iTrader: (165)

the radiant heat takes longer to warm the room, but if you open and close a door, you wont notice the room get cold like you do with hot air heat...the difference is that you can definately stand on your feet longer when they arent frozen...

Ryan33187

iTrader: (16)

I have heated basement floors, garage floor, and driveway at my house it is great you do not feel the difference when a door opens up and its nice to lay on a warm floor then an ice cold floor. I can not remember the cost of it though I would say go for it.

'JustDreamin'

In new construction, the cost of in-floor radiant heat really isn't all that signficant.

It does add to the cost of the floor slab, since you've got to add additional insulation below the slab, and you've got to run all the tubing (material cost and labor to put it down / tie it off).

How you heat the water / anti-freeze that runs in the loops is where you have alot of choices and the range of cost can be huge. It can run from a simple domestic hot water heater (like you can pick up at any Home Depot) to fairly high end boilers, to external boilers, to geothermal heat pumps, or regular heat pumps (not a good choice in many climates). The complexity of the system will be dictated by your location, budget, needs / desires, etc.....

Also, keep in mind, that you don't have to install everything right away....You could put the tubing in (because it's pretty cheap relative to the cost of the concrete slab) and not install the rest of the components (due to budget constraints or whatever). So you can spread out the cost over some time if really necessary.....

Just a thought or 2....I'm planning on doing this in the 1000 sq ft garage I'm adding to the house....

'JustDreamin'

zo6vetteman2003

iTrader: (1)

Geothermal works best in warmer climates like North Carolina, but is terrible for the climates of the northeast, because of the need to reheat the air when the outdoor temperature drops below 40 degrees. You need a 95 degree leaving air temperature to maintain a 72 degree space temperature, and a heat pump will not give you that in colder climates, again without reheat. There are a few ways to reheat and the means is usually electric $$$ and hot water reheat would be defeating the purpose. Geothermal heat pumps are also pigs on electricity, because they have internal compressors. Radiant floor heat is a great idea and probably is the most efficient as long as you use a condensing boiler and keep the return water temperature below 140 degrees to keep the boiler in the condensing mode. This is a home run on efficiency in the +95% efficient range on natural gas. Unfortunately the do not make a waste oil, or #2 fuel oil condensing boiler because of the specific heat of oil isn't high enough. That would be a billion dollar idea if anyone could do it.

'JustDreamin'

Alright, I've got a question, to make sure that everybody's on the same page.....

I was under the impression that a Geothermal Heat Pump was a pretty efficient type of system. Mostly because instead of trying to pull heat out of 30 degree F air in order to heat the home that you're pulling heat out of 50 to 55 degree F water (based on soil temperatures significantly below the frost line, which is where most of the vertically drilled systems are located).

So, if you've got a heat pump with a properly sized geothermal heat source / sink, how come that doesn't work in any climate?

An advantage of that type of system is that not only does your Heat Pump system manage to make warm air in the wintertime (something that most air to air heat pump systems can't do without resistance heat or some other kind of help) but also the system can cool much more efficiently also (that same 55 degree water is a great heat sink to reject building heat to.)

Just trying to understand why geothermal heat pumps don't work well, I thought they were supposed to be the next big thing, with the exception of high installation costs....

'JustDreamin'

MikeGyver

iTrader: (5)

Yeah, zo6vetteman2003 is confusing geothermal and air-to-(refrigerant) systems.

zo6vetteman2003

iTrader: (1)

All geothermal systems have compressors for heat. I had a client in Marstons Mills Ma. that had a geothermal system used off of lake water, that he got talked into by another engineer. His electric bill was $2000.00 a month for a 4500 square foot residence. The three zones had one 8 kw and two 10kw reheats, because his leaving air temp was too low. You can't maintain 72 degrees with 72 degree air. You need at least 15 degrees above that for a leaving air temp. I ended up ripping the heatpumps out and installing 3 Carrier 58MCA condensing furnaces with remote condensing units. To avoid getting into a reheat situation, you need to go down deep enough where you can find that constant ground temperature for ground water. I also recommend having a closed loop system where glycol can be used. Open loop systems should not be used, especially without having your ground water tested first. The pumping of the water can result in some additional high KW loads. Find a ground source heat pump with the highest EER possible to keep the energy costs to a minimum. The initial cost is probably the reason why more people don't use them. For years we have been warned in the industry about climate location and well depth.