Garage heaters?

Just wondering what you guys in the cold climates are using for garage heat?

I bought a propane convection 'Can in the Middle of the Garage' dealie, and it sucks. Headache, burning eyes, nausea, all within 5 minutes.

Just picking everyone's brains on what works for them.

 

any kind of propane heater will give off CO, which is why the headache, etc., unless buying a catalytic style propane heater. Same goes for Kerosene heaters.

I use an electric oil-filled heater. Works decently in the shed, but one of these days I'm going to insulate it.

If you want to stay with propane, a BigBuddy heater may be a good choice for you if the garage is insulated. Adjustable heat setting, battery operated fan. But get a 20# cylinder conversion kit or you'll be buying 1# cylinders every day.

 

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/ ... pla&ci_kw={keyword}&gclid=CO-nwtH38rMCFQyk4AoduikA2Q

 

http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/3 ... ?locale=en

Use this guy in my shop. Bare block building lined and sealed off with sheet plastic. It doesn't get terribly cold here but most of the time i can be working in the shop with just a sweater on.

 

I use to live in the Yukon where it got very cold. Had a double insulated garage, was able to find an old mobile home furnace as well as outside oil tank (above ground) instaled myself -cheap - worked fatastic.

 

I think I've got to be a bit more careful about the fuel since my area is so small. Side room where I have the XJ is probably 17 x 10 feet wide max and has one standard doorway into the 1.5 car garage. Garage is not insulated, and the side room is just paneled over studs. It wasn't 5 minutes before I started to feel sick.

 

This is what I have in my garage, http://www.mrheater.com/product.aspx?catid=50&id=40
I have a double attached with styrofoam on the two outside walls, the door has foam insulation and the wall to the house and the ceilng is drywalled and insulated. I usually keep the garage at 45-50 degrees and turn it up when I go out to work. There is enough ventilation with the gaps around the man door and garage door to not worry about CO poisoning. I had it installed by a friend that has a gas fitters licence as it burns natural gas. I can't say it really added much to the heating bill and I also don't worry about freezing pipes or dreaded condensation from winter to spring.
I have it mounted on the inside/house wall pointing into the middle of the garage, I also have two really cheap (Walmart) ceiling fans running on low 24/7, one blows up, the other blows down to create constant air circulation which also helps with the CO issue. Here's what it looks like

I have only had to relight the pilot a couple of times when it was blown out, other than that I've had zero problems.

 

I use Electric Oil Filled . I have 2 then found 2 more older ones this summer at yard sales. It's good to have a few justin cases around. Also My shops insulated so it doesn't get that cold unless I'm working with big door open.

 

HIGHLY recommended. My Big Buddy is MY BUDDY! I have a tiny, one-car semi-insulated garage, and I wall-mounted my Big Buddy. It runs off a 30lb propane tank parked outside the garage, by the side door. I also got the optional AC Adapter, so I don't need batteries for the fan. Love it. I only have to run it on "full" (both elements) for an hour or two in really cold weather, then I turn it down; and a few hours later, turn it down again.

No headaches, minimal stink and it works better than I had hoped for.

I got mine at TSC.

 

The oil filled radiators are great, I use one in my bathroom and they are effecient because the oil stays warm after the thermostat kicks off the electric and totally safe...but they don't put out a lot of heat.

I have used this heater many times in the garage and few years back when a major ice-storm hit it was a life-saver. It has a low oxygen shut off so it won't kill you and if you run it off a large propane tank it will last a VERY long time.

http://www.bing.com/shopping/mr-heater- ... ORM=CMSMGR

You can also buy a CO detector and keep it in the space your heating to be SURE you're not being poisoned.

 

That's a "Buddy." The "Big Buddy" is the same heater, but with two elements and a fan. http://www.bing.com/shopping/portable-b ... ORM=CMSMGR

 

Anyone use a 220 clothes dryer with the hose off??

 

sounds like a rocket
but go to a construction site and see what they have.
heaters are like a garage, as soon as it's done you wish it was twice as big

 

Make yourself a friend who works in the heating and AC field. I get used equipement all the time and save it for people to use in their shops. Most of the time they are free, except to the cost of materiale to re-install it. I have a gently used gas furnace with AC in my shop and I'll go through about 100 lb of propane in a winter.

 

I use the same heater as Maxim-X (Mr. Heater). I rarely work in the attached garage anymore since I opened the shop. Still it's nice to keep the garage and cars above freezing.

I have a friend that built a new house. He got an unvented gas fireplace that was cheap because it was scratched or something. He says it does a good job in his 3 car garage (Dayton, OH).

 

I wish I had a space to work in the winter ... oh well some day i'll have a big garage/work shop

 

I picked up one of these a few years ago. It still makes fumes but newhere near as bad as a kerosene torpedo heater. It runs off your bbq grill propane tank and 120 volts for the fan. Works great when you need heat for your garage to do a repair job in the winter. I heated an un insulated 18x24 garage from 22f to 65f in about 45 minutes just to see what it could do when it was 11f outside. If you point it at where you are working in the garage, you're good to go right away.
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/ ... pla&ci_kw={keyword}&gclid=CObdo-DC97MCFYVFMgodFTQAMQ

 

The best kind to have, besides non-combusting, is one with an element and will burn 99.97% of the fuel releasing only CO2 and H20, like some of the previous ones listed. The big torpedo heaters are really designed for much larger somewhat open air spaces like a big workshop type garage. No matter what you use if you get a CO or carbon monoxide detector you will know when its not safe. You can't smell or see CO.

 

Which ones are you talking about?

 

He's referring (I believe) to the Mr. Heater "Buddy" series of indoor-safe propane fired heaters that a bunch of us were talking about. They have an "oxygen depletion" sensor that will shut them off if a problem occurs; and from my personal experience, produce VERY little "aroma" and work quite well.

Torpedo type heaters also work quite well; but they're NOT designed nor intended for enclosed spaces. I have one, it works great when working on the car in the dead of winter with the garage door open. (Won't fit all the way in-- bikes.)

The Buddy is for heating the garage when it's in "Man Cave" mode.