Garage Heater

[Synlubes]

After many years of working in a cold unheated garage and out on the driveway in winter, I broke down and bought a heater.

A 55,000 btu kerosene forced air Reddy Heater.

The temp here today was 40 degrees outside and 54 in my garage.

My garage is 14’ x 24’ with a 12 foot ceiling, after only 15 minutes the temp in the garage was 70 degrees.

I have a vented hatch to my overhead for the garage so fumes are not an issue for me.

There really wasn’t a problem with fumes while the heater ran, just when starting and shut down.

The heater is much more than I need for inside, but will also suit me well when working on the drive in the cold.

 

Lowes has them now for $99.00 down from $199.00 (closeout).

 

Some of the best money I’ve spent in a while!

[Some-Guy]

ill have to check it out my garage is unheated no insulation well actualy its a barn lol it doesnt even have doors on the ends but i got a few enclosed rooms ill have to check into getting one of those

[pparaska]

My garage is part of the house - the master bedroom is right above it.

 

I don't like this layout, as it's unsafe. If I burn the garage down, there goes the house! Also, fumes get into the house from the garage, no matter how well I've sealed things up - going in to use the facilities is an issue.

 

Anyway, for this reason, I wanted to do something both more capable for heat output and with less/no fumes than the old Kerosun kerosene heater.

 

I looked at propane heaters, but the deal with having to refill, the possible fire hazard and fumes kept me away.

 

I found a great solution, for me anyway. A 230V 20.2AMP electric "construction site" heater. It can warm the 25x20x9' garage from 50 to 65 in about 1/2 hour. Fairly quiet, and has a thermostat. I'm very happy with it, and would suggest it as an alternative to burning fuels in the garage.

 

Here's a link to the place I bought it:

http://www.shopfnc.com/qmbrh402.htm

I bought the BRH562. (note that the above site has the voltage switched in the specs, here are the correct specs):

 

Model#_Volts__Watts_______BTU/HR____Amps

BRH562_240/208_5600/4200_19,110/14,33_23.3 / 20.2

 

19,110 BTU/HR is fine for a typical 2-car garage, IMO.

 

If I'm out in the garage for 8 hours on a 30s-40s day outside, it takes about 30-45 minutes to get into the 60s from about the high 40s, and then only comes on maybe 10-20% of the rest of the time. That's like 15-20 kWh, which on my "off-peak, non-summer" rate (currently 0.03252 $/kWh) is about 50 to 65 cents for the whole day! Even if it stayed on the whole 8 hr stint, it'd be $1.45.