Cheap Heating For Garage?

I have this 24x24 detached garage that was partially insulated by the previous owner.

I want to be able to use it this winter. I have a propane torpedo heater, but am concerned about having to keep a window open due to carbon monoxide, which would be counterproductive.

I don't have a lot of money to put into this, so what could I find for around a $100 that could work out well? Possibly Electric? Something that runs off fingernails and children's dreams?

If you have 220, you can get an electric heater reasonably cheap that will roast you out of there.

Solar collector. Do a search, i built one. Where do you live, and what does hour south-facing wall look like?

http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/home/solar-garage-furnace.htm

Try this.

Have access to cheap/free waste oil? Save an oil furnace form the scrappers and convert it.

Woodstove

Direct vent LP heater that mounts on the wall and has a fan built in. 30,000 btu/hr is probably overkill.

Electric is the easiest and cheapest, but you'll definitely need a good sized 220 or 240 volt line to get enough KW for it to work. My 4KW 220V heater (this one: http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200612632_200612632 ) does a good job in my attached 12x26 garage but it never made a dent in the cold trying to heat my ex-g/f's 24x28 detached with partial insulation.

Open flame and potential for gasoline vapors is generally frowned upon. Chose your level of risk there... I used infrared propane mounted heaters in her garage, but there was a large opening into the uninsulated and vented attic. Still, if I could only use two heaters running for a short time.

120V quartz radiant heaters can work if you can confine your work to small areas: http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200395479_200395479

(there are other/cheaper sources, but Northern Tool is easy to search and link a number of options)

RossD wrote: Direct vent LP heater that mounts on the wall and has a fan built in. 30,000 btu/hr is probably overkill.

Judging by how well my heater at 19K BTU's worked in my ex-g/f's garage, I'd say 30K would be barely adequate. It's easy to turn down a reasonably over-sized heater, but an undersized one will feel like wasting money as it works and you're still cold...

If the garage doors face the south, then a solar collector in place of one door panel would provide a lot of warmth without taking up much space. It would also be removable for the summer months. It might take a few days to build.

In reply to stafford1500:

build thread or ban

Haven't actually built it yet...
Done plenty of research and thought about making a portable version to put in front of the garage (to maximize the angle and keep the HOA off my back). I only really need it to take the chill off the garage.

Finish the insulation job on the garage first, it will make heating it much easier.

I would like to do electric because its the easiest. I probably should finish the insulation.

My problem is, that I probably don't have 220 running out there. I think they built the garage without electricity in mind, then ran Romex from the breaker box in the house, out underground, to a small breaker box to the garage which powers three outdoor lights, two indoor lights, and 5 electrical outlets.

just saw this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/US-Stove-Cast-Iron-Barrel-Stove-Kit-for-a-30-Or-55-Gallon-Drum-/400550602546?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5d42ad2732

Turns any 55 gal steel barrel into a radiant heater with wood fuel

I heated a 24x14x14 uninsulated walls 1 car garage with a Mr. Heater Hero (cordless propane torpedo) for two Ohio Winters and unfortunately for most I'm still here. I never had to crack a door, and there were no windows to open, granted the space wasn't exactly air tight. I'd get toasty enough to need to turn the thing off for 30min or so at a time.

With it being cordless you don't have to take up a plug, and you position it pretty much anywhere you can fit the propane bottle and heater. It wasn't unusual to get 6 to 8 hours of use on a fully charged battery. Even took the thing tailgating last year, it was a hit.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200485166_200485166

Additionally, torpedo heaters are excellent for heat-shrink tubing.

• Lee

4cylndrfury wrote: In reply to stafford1500: build thread or ban

Not a garage door, but here's my build

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/trying-to-harness-the-sun/44432/page1/

Doing it on a garage door wouldn't work real well. The door panels are wide but short so you'd have very little convection going on. A side or rear wall would work great. Build a 6'X20' panel for a few hundred and have free heat when the sun is shining....a lot of heat!

I use an adjustable 75k to 150k btu propane blast tube to heat a 24x24 uninsulated cinder block garage with 12' ceilings. There wasn't a cold day that heater couldn't beat. I filled a 100# propane tank 3x that winter, about $60 each time, and used it for 2-3 hours 3-4 days per week.

It would get so warm most days I'd run it for 30 minutes, shut it off for an hour, and kick it back on for another 15 or 20 minutes every now and then. The garage leaked enough that I never really smelled anything.

A guy at work made a DIY solar hot water system for the roof of his 30 X 40ft. garage. Inside he hooked it up to a 20 ft. length of hot water base board material. VERY, very warm.

I did a wood furnace in mine for a while, ended up spending too much time baby sitting the fire and not wrenching.

No matter which way you go, insulate and plug holes; why push money out the window?

Dan

I use a 150kbtu forced air kerosene heater in a 28x32 uninsulated garage with a 2nd floor loft. Not very air tight.

It'll have me sweating in about 45 minutes starting from 10-15F.

Downsides: It's loud as E36 M3. Sounds like a jet engine. And it's thirsty. I go through about 4-5 gallons of Kerosene in a 6-8 hour wrench session. That gets expensive.

BUT, it was cheap to purchase, works really well, and since i use it less than 20 times a year, i'll take the trade-off.

That said, if i had 220v, i wouldn't be using this thing.

I'm going to be building a solar wall to replace one of my south facing garage doors later this week.

Swank Force One wrote: That said, if i had 220v, i wouldn't be using this thing.

FWIW, my 220V cube heater isn't exactly quiet. It is easy, tho... get home, turn it on, go make/eat dinner, by the time I'm ready to wrench the garage is reasonably toasty. There were times when it would get the garage warmer than the house.

All this reminds me I need to remove the window a/c unit soon.

If you concerned about CO then just get at CO detector and put in the garage. Run your heater and if it doesn't go off you don't have a problem. I have s 20 X 20 attached garage and use a kerosene torpedo heater to heat it. Once up to temp I shut it off and use a propane catalytic heater to maintain it. I've never had a CO problem.

In reply to jimbbski:

That's good to know. CO2 detectors aren't a bad idea.

Currently I have an propane 30k BTU torpedo heater that I run off the bottles you use for the gas grill. Loud, but I have a louder stereo in the garage.

That's the nice thing about the direct vent LP heaters, way quieter than a torpedo heater and stink significantly less.

On Bell and Gossett make a 12-24volt pump made for circulating water for off grid use. Ecocirc SC pump: http://bellgossett.com/pumps-circulators/small-circulation-pumps-boosters/ecocirc-sc-solar-circulators/

Nearly any used home furnace of c-list will heat a shop that size in no time at all.