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Has anyone had a good experience with a portable garage heater? I have an 18 x 36 ft. garage I want to take the chill off so I can do some maintenance, etc. during NJ winter months.
I've used the Propane non electric (no fan = quieter) there are several types available also wall mount units, the bottle sizes range from the standard BBQ ones to a 100 Lb all depend on what you want to lug around for refilling.
Lows and Home Depot sells them, check out there web sites.
Right now I'm using a natural Gas unit on my 2.5 car garage most can be converted LPG.
I'd think 20k BTU would take the chill out, but that depends on insulation and outside temps.
For a 22 x 27 I'm looking at "installing" a celling unit w/sealed combustion chamber, Mister Heater but it will requiring venting and wiring up power.
As always be carful w/ open flame when working with Fuel and other flammable fumes.
I have found the biggest problem for a non insulated garage where you want to warm it up just when you are maintaining the car is that the air might be warm but everything else you touch is freezing. The tools are cold, the liquids are cold the car is cold the parts are cold, the floor is cold, etc ...............
You should insulate the garage and then just have a small T-stat controlled electric heater keeping the space around 55-60F. Then you can heat up the space to comfort level by a supplemental heater when you are working there.
Just my thoughts.
Happy Thanksgiving everybody.
Mr. Heater MH200CV 200,000-BTU Propane Convection Heater
This will run you out of my 1000 sq ft, 12 ft ceiling shop in about 15 minutes if you don't turn it off.
I use it to "knock the chill off" and an electric forced air to maintain. If its really cold, I kick the Propane back on for a few minutes every hour or so.
I just got one of these last week and it really works well- granted I live in Ca and nothing like the cold you get. It's been in the mid 30s at night recently. My shop is 16 X 22 ft and has 10 foot walls with a 16 ft peak. Heats the space up very fast, especially on the max setting.
I used portable electric heaters for a couple of years, but they did not last long as they seem to be designed for only occasional use. My garage is insulated, but it is Ontario, Canada and has four doors that people keep opening - they seem to think their daily drivers need to be stored in a garage too...
I switched to a permanently-wired, 220V, in-wall electric heater with a separate wall thermostat, and so far it has been much better. I run it at 5C all the time and then turn it up to a working temperature (say 18C) a few hours in advance of working on my car.
I too worry about CO and condensation from propane heaters. The more air-leaky your garage is the better, since gases and humidity get cleared quicker and the greater energy efficiency of propane is more attractive.
I also should mention that I have a CO detector in my shop, and I keep the batteries fresh. It was a leftover when we bought a bunch for our house when we put in a new HVAC w gas furnace (house is 110 years old). So you could always put in a detector since they are cheap, but these combusting fuel heaters are only meant for very well-ventilated spaces; in my case the shop leaks air like crazy and is detached from house. People do die from CO poisoning by not having enough ventilation and it's no joke.
11-23-2016, 04:55 PM
Portable heater for garage
