Suggestions for heating a garage?

[OGBeno]

Hey all:

Looking for a reasonable (read: cheap) way to heat a garage.

Dimensions: 20'x24'

Wood frame/metal body (aluminum), two sliding windows.

Dirt floors (hardpack), I have a large tarp covering a good portion of it and have 4- 4'x8' pieces of 1/2" plywood on the part that the truck sits on.

Any sugggestions? I don't need it ridiculously hot. I just need it to be in the mid-40's so I can wear a sweat shirt when I wrench, as opposed to a full Carhaart and gloves....

Thanks for any suggestions.
-onur
Oberlin, OH

 

[MrMoMo]

Do a search on ebay for Mr Heater

 

[Arya Ebrahimi]

Get a kerosene space heater. Very effective and pretty cheap to run.

 

[2badfjs]

propane tank with a radiant heater

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Heat the garage??? Dude, move to California. The Norcal Wagons could use a man like Onur...

 

[OGBeno]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone...

I'm going to check these options out and see what looks good for some winter wrenching...got a lot of projects lined up along with some work on other crusiers.

Thanks again. Much appreciated.
-onur
Oberlin, OH

 

[OGBeno]

Heat the garage??? Dude, move to California. The Norcal Wagons could use a man like Onur...

Thanks Andrew for the invite....get a petition going and everyone throw in $10 for moving costs and I'm there...

In all seriousness though, a move back to NorCal is in the plans--hopefully in a couple of years...I need to get back. The mid-west is killing my soul!

 

[Okie_dave]

I bought a ventless propane free standing heater (20,000 or 30,000 BTUs) and a 100 lbs propane bottle. I heat a 30x50 shop with it in Oklahoma and get it warm enough on cold days to wrench in a sweatshirt. If I did it again, I would get radiant and a 2 smaller propane bottles. It does not require power to make it work but I bought the optional fan to circulate the heat a little. I got a long hose from the bottle to the heater so I can move it around where I am working.

For a garage, I would go a little smaller size.

 

[spressomon]

I have used 220V radiant panels suspended from the ceiling for the past 4+ years. They work great and are relatively inexpensive to purchase, install and operate in my 1200' garage. They also serve double duty when I have the wood working tools fired up by not creating a 'flash zone' with whatever dust is left from the dust collector and dust filter system.

 

[IBCRUSN]

Onur,

This is the little gem I have been using. It worked really well in NJ but my garage there was slightly insulated. I have used it a couple times here in KS in our uninsulated garage and it does pretty well. For $120 +/- it has been good a choice. K1 kerosene isn't expensive and I can usually get 3-4 nights of work out of the tank, so 5gal goes a long way.
DH2304
http://www.yourheater.com/kerosene.htm

 

[BGarcia88FJ62]

If you wanted to go old school a good size wood burning stove and some circulating fans would probably run you out of your garage.

 

[NorCalDoug]

Thanks Andrew for the invite....get a petition going and everyone throw in $10 for moving costs and I'm there...

In all seriousness though, a move back to NorCal is in the plans--hopefully in a couple of years...I need to get back. The mid-west is killing my soul!

do it.

let your soul breathe free again

 

[NorCalDoug]

as for the heat...I like the propane tank mounted heater idea...maybe a couple of them, depending on how large the garage is and how cold it gets out there.

 

[valentine]

Onur,

This is the little gem I have been using. It worked really well in NJ but my garage there was slightly insulated. I have used it a couple times here in KS in our uninsulated garage and it does pretty well. For $120 +/- it has been good a choice. K1 kerosene isn't expensive and I can usually get 3-4 nights of work out of the tank, so 5gal goes a long way.
DH2304
http://www.yourheater.com/kerosene.htm

That's the same one I use too.

Bought mine at a yard sell for $10.00 & it was like new...

 

[alia176]

I don't know what type of service you have available in your grarage but if the walls and attic are insulated, then a simple vent free heater (NG or LP) should work. These don't need any plumbing or electricity and can be hung on a wall. You have enough leaks in the garage to not to worry about CO level.

The dirt floor won't be doing you any favors though in winter though! I used to use a mondo Kerosene Torpedo thing but the fumes were killing me; especially during startups and shut downs. I also found it hard to maintain a set temperature because it was either full on or off. But, a normal kerosene heater that are made for homes are quite decent and put out minimal fumes (when used on high setting).

Good luck bro!

Ali

 

[inthewall]

I use a lanair waste oil heater. They are expensive 3500-5000. I needed to get rid of a lot of waste oil from construction business. It keeps shop warm 24-7. If you have access to waste oil this is the way to go.

 

[Truckasaurus]

Onur,

One thing to remember about all this:

The tools stay icy cold, no matter how long that garage has been warmed up. (Don't go throwin' away the latex gloves or fingerless Mechanix!)

Let us all know what you end up doing...

(Now about that winter wrenching...what weekends do you want your MUD buds to visit? )

 

[OGBeno]

Onur,

One thing to remember about all this:

The tools stay icy cold, no matter how long that garage has been warmed up. (Don't go throwin' away the latex gloves or fingerless Mechanix!)

Let us all know what you end up doing...

(Now about that winter wrenching...what weekends do you want your MUD buds to visit? )

Yeah, tell me about the cold tools!

I did a birf job on 92 this past Monday and I was happy that my ex-girlfriend let me use her heated garage. I was a happy wrencher!

Now, tonight, I'm swapping in some new driveshafts and it is cold, rainy, humid and damp. I am going to hate wrenching tonight.

I ended up getting the Mr. Heater unit because it was cheap and I plan on splitting my wrenching time between the heated garage and here. I'll do the small, quick jobs here at home, and the long involved jobs in the heated one...



You are welcome to come down anytime gents. I'm always happy to host fellow MUD visitors....


Best.
-onur

 

[spressomon]

Onur,

One thing to remember about all this:

The tools stay icy cold, no matter how long that garage has been warmed up. (Don't go throwin' away the latex gloves or fingerless Mechanix!)

Let us all know what you end up doing...

(Now about that winter wrenching...what weekends do you want your MUD buds to visit? )

Not so with my radiant panels...

 

[RavenTai]

If you wanted to go old school a good size wood burning stove and some circulating fans would probably run you out of your garage.

Any recommendations on wood burning stoves? I think I want the long low two burner style as it seams easier to load with larger pieces than the vertical "pot belly" style. I have never really used a wood burning stove so not sure what to really look for in quality.

I am thinking about putting up a large shop on some property in FL, I do not think it is cold enough often enough there to justify radiant floor heat, there is 6 acres of hard wood there (mainly live oaks) , have more wood laying around than I know what to do with, should be able to cover the 4 or so months of "cold weather" with ease.