What to use to heat garage in winter?

[NoSoup4U]

The garage is about 450-500 sq. feet. I am looking for something to heat the entire garage up so I do not freeze in the winter when detailing/cleaning it.

What are you guys using to heat the garage up with? I am assuming those 1000 watt electric heaters will not do it -- or, will they?

Also, what can I do to prevent cold drafts from coming in under the garage door when it closes?

Thanks,

James

[SpeedTheory]

In paddock we used quartz lamps rather successfully. Could easily do a 2-3 car garage with two.

[magnetic1]

Forced air propane heater. Just dont leave it on TOO long or you'll kill yourself. It's perfect caus I use my leftover propane from the grill

A quartz lamp just wont cut it. You fire this thing up for about 5-10 minutes and you'll be good.

[elements018]

kerosene heaters are really good too

[sKunkman]

Forced air propane heater. Just dont leave it on TOO long or you'll kill yourself. It's perfect caus I use my leftover propane from the grill

A quartz lamp just wont cut it. You fire this thing up for about 5-10 minutes and you'll be good.

Those things are life savers.

[Car54]

This one is little less Tim Taylor...

[SpeedTheory]

Those things are life savers.

Or takers, if it runs how ours did.

[Mad Dog 20/20]

Forced air propane heater. Just dont leave it on TOO long or you'll kill yourself. It's perfect caus I use my leftover propane from the grill

A quartz lamp just wont cut it. You fire this thing up for about 5-10 minutes and you'll be good.

Why would death ensue?
You don't grill in the winter time? I be out there in the snow flippin steaks, son!

[Pino]

Forced air propane heater. Just dont leave it on TOO long or you'll kill yourself. It's perfect caus I use my leftover propane from the grill

A quartz lamp just wont cut it. You fire this thing up for about 5-10 minutes and you'll be good.

How much for these and is death seriously an issue? My garage isnt big at all but i plan on doing a lot of work inside there. 9-12hrs of heat needed. Should i look another way on this?

[sKunkman]

How much for these and is death seriously an issue? My garage isnt big at all but i plan on doing a lot of work inside there. 9-12hrs of heat needed. Should i look another way on this?

It's just that they output a LOT of heat, so you don't want to have it run for 9 hours. Probably 15 minutes at a time and you'd be toasty.

[Mad Dog 20/20]

Any way to set it to pump heat intermittently? Kinda like a thermostat-controlled output setting?

[nick325xit 5spd]

How much for these and is death seriously an issue? My garage isnt big at all but i plan on doing a lot of work inside there. 9-12hrs of heat needed. Should i look another way on this?

Carbon monoxide. You can't run them continuously without ventilation. And you REALLY should have a CO alarm if you're using one.

But absolutely nothing works better.

[contor]

we use a kerosene heater..works great.....also we put up a tarp on the half of the garage we dont use and heat the other side works great

[magnetic1]

Carbon monoxide. You can't run them continuously without ventilation. And you REALLY should have a CO alarm if you're using one.

But absolutely nothing works better.

Yes, this is why Garrett

But you really dont need to run it that long to heat up the garage. Therefore you shouldnt kill yourself CO alarm would probably be a good idea for those who forget to turn things off :P

Ive never seen one with a thermostat. At least not a cheap one. The 35k BTU ones run under $100. That's pretty much all u need for a normal 2 car garage. You plug it in and the fan runs. Then you push button to release gas and click the ignitor and WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

To turn off, you need to unplug it and close gas. Otherwise the fan keeps going.

Also watch out of you have animals or pets. It gets REAL hot in front of it. You could be sitting pretty damn far from it and it'll burn you good.

[essejM3]

I use a kerosene heater in my gaarage when I, or should I say meathead works on my POS. Turn it on say 45 mins beforehand and you are good to go.

[NoSoup4U]

Thank you guys. Where do you purchase said 'kerosene' or the Tim Allen heater that WongER has? I went into home depot this last weekend and asked about something to heat garage. Guy said buy a couple of electric heaters ... didn't sound right not to mention a huge waste of electricity it would seem.

[mcoupemindy]

Actually for a 500 sq.ft. garage, a 1500 watt electric heater will do fine. And if you're worried about the cost, consider that 1kW of electricity is going for $.09 right now. You can run that puppy non-stop full blast for 24 hours for $3.24. Just above the cost of a gallon of diesel or kerosene.

If you're worried about it not being enough, get two.

[magnetic1]

Actually for a 500 sq.ft. garage, a 1500 watt electric heater will do fine. And if you're worried about the cost, consider that 1kW of electricity is going for $.09 right now. You can run that puppy non-stop full blast for 24 hours for $3.24. Just above the cost of a gallon of diesel or kerosene.

If you're worried about it not being enough, get two.

But it isnt the same as heating a 500 sq ft. room in your house. The garage is less insulated and leaks far too much air. It takes freakin forever to heat.

Use the kerosene or propane. Besides NoSoup4U is RICH!

James, you can get these heaters from Lowes/HomeDepot. Wouldnt be the cheapest pace to get, but is local. Shold be about $100 for the smallest 35k BTU one.

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...t=forced%20air

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...atchallpartial

[adms1018]

I really liked the setup that I had in my old 2 car garage. Maybe it was overkill but it worked great!

Found a heater that was used to heat a tralier (mobile home/trailer park trash trailer) and that has a thermostat and then we used a tank outside the garage. Set the temperature that you want and forget it. When all done just flip the switch and go inside. You could pick up a heater like that for relatively cheap, its just the other stuff like the tank that can get a little expensive. But my dad had some hookups so it ended up being pretty cheap and very effective.

But the much easier method is to get the same heater that everyone has been describing thus far. I've used them several times (before we got above method) and they will heat up the garage fast.

[mlytle]

the other big down side to the "jet engine" style gas heaters is that they are LOUD. even only running it every now and then it is annoying. they also only heat the air...nothing like laying on a cold slab working on the bottom of the car for hours..brrrr. every winter i use mine i kick myself for not putting radiant heat in the floor of my shop when i built it.

[MWhip]

Garage weather stripping for under the door works well. My garage came w/ it and water doesn't even pass through...sometimes it is not a good thing when my car is full of snow from driving and then parking it inside, water collects some at the door. Wear some extra clothes while working on the car...is it really that cold in there? I never had an issue.

[magnetic1]

Garage weather stripping for under the door works well. My garage came w/ it and water doesn't even pass through...sometimes it is not a good thing when my car is full of snow from driving and then parking it inside, water collects some at the door. Wear some extra clothes while working on the car...is it really that cold in there? I never had an issue.

There are still gaps on the sides of the door

Marshall is right though... they are loud! Good thing they dont need to stay on long

[RRSperry]

I have a 75K BTU ReadyHeat and it has a thermostat. I bought it at the Depot last spring Clearance to get rid of seasonal stuff. $100. It is loud, but I have to heat 1200SF. Once it gets the temp up it runs maybe 10 min/hr.

[Hjasty Ipo]

the other big down side to the "jet engine" style gas heaters is that they are LOUD. even only running it every now and then it is annoying. they also only heat the air...nothing like laying on a cold slab working on the bottom of the car for hours..brrrr. every winter i use mine i kick myself for not putting radiant heat in the floor of my shop when i built it.

Make sure you get one that goes to 11, and blast the same 12 songs on HOT! 99.5 all night long

We used my friend's kerosene heater in his garage last winter when we were under there all night working on my car, I wore shorts and a beater (because I'm classy like that) I was pretty comfortable, and his garage door isn't sealed.

[RRSperry]

Other than the fact they are probably made in China, and might freeking kill you in an explosion....Or be painted with lead...lol

Mine has a dial, off, low to high. It turns itself on, and then it turns off. Temp of the operating range is dependant on where the dial is set. So yea, it has a thermostat. It just isn't marked in degrees, but calling 70F, "blueberry", or "Fred" , or just a hair past low, doesn't change the fact that it's 70F.