Garage Heater

[legion]

My reloading station is in my garage.

I have two electric heaters that I can't use in conjunction with any power tools (trips the breaker) and provide inadequate heat. The third bay of my garage is built onto the back of the house and has open soffits that open to the open roof: there is no ceiling in that part of the garage.

I was thinking of getting either a propane or kerosene heater. Which is safer? What are the advantages disadvantages of each?

[azasadny]

legion,
Make sure you have adequate ventilation! I have a natural gas line in my garage (for the pool heater), so I'm thinking about putting a natural gas heater in my garage. I would think propane would be better than kerosene. I do my reloading in my basement and I reloaded 300 .45ACP today as my father gave me his Smith and Wesson 645 to try my loads on. Can't wait!

[911boost]

Are you looking for a permanent heater, or a portable one?

[legion]

Portable.

There is plenty of ventilation.

There is no ceiling and the roof is open to the vented soffits: the wind blows right through there in the winter. I would think that would make for adequate ventilation.

[SpeedracerIndy]

I got one of these from Lowe's on clearance last spring for $50. It's 40,000 to 80,000 BTU propane. I have a two car garage and it keeps my garage warm on the lowest setting. I have to turn it up to medium on really cold days, but it still does a pretty good job. My garage sounds similar to yours.

[Rot 911]

they both heat equally well. Propane will cost you more, but you may not like the smell of the kerosene.

[legion]

My garage already smells like kerosene--my parts washer corroded through and leaked all over the place...

[Scott R]

No propane or kero heater is safe in a garage. I tired all of them, same thing each and every time they tripped the CO monitor I had. You need a heater with some sort of ventilation system either forced side draft or vertical. (my soffets were open as well btw) You guys would be amazed by the amount of CO these things produce in a closed garage, its enough to cook a few brain cells.

[pavulon]

Not sure if insulating is an option but I insulated my garage and heated all six stalls w/ a single portable electric baseboard heater for two winters...I was shocked it worked that well and really did not seem to be working very hard to keep the temp at +45F despite outide ambients of -20 to -30F. I'll admit to being out of the wind most of the time but my garage is also detached from the house.

[cl8ton]

Chris, I use this one in the winter made by “Mr. Heat”, so go with propane IMO!
The tank cooks steaks in the summer and heats my garage in the winter!

I have a 3 car garage w/insulated walls and insulated roll up doors, after 15 min warm
up, I am working with sandals and swim trunks in the dead of winter!

[TimT]

Didn't some else just post similar thread?

some guy... garage... needs heat?

frickin waste of bandwidth

[911Rob]

Hey Chris,
Here's the LINK to the similar thread; some good info there.
I can recommend the kerosene/diesel heater works great.
Cheers

Click Here for LINK

[notfarnow]

Chris,

I have a kerosene heater like this one:

It works OK, especially if used with my small electric heater to move the air around.

Problem is the fumes... after a 2-3 hours it's enough to trigger my CO detector. That's in a 20x30 garage.

[cstreit]

Make sure you have some air circulation and try and keep the heater above ground. Many flammable fumes are heavier than air and will settle at the floor level. An open flame and BOOM!

Now that I've covered liability, I really like my 50k BTU propane torpedo heater. No smell at all. Even after hours of running no activity on the CO meter. However in a smaller garage these things will suck up the oxygen pretty quick too so keep a window open a little otherwise you'll find you start getting a little "hazy". Be SUPER careful about solvent use, when they burn even in small quantities they produce some nasty nasty stuff.

[legion]

So far the problem with the back of the garage is that there is too much air circulation from the outside, that's why it's so damn cold back there...

[Rot 911]

Chris, what kind of burn time do you get with a 20lb tank?

[911boost]

If yo are going to be there for a while, I reccomend one of these, vented through the roof or side wall. I have one, and love it.

[mudman]

+1 on the ceramic heater. It is good for being out for a few minutes or a few hours. I also have a trash can heater (see above propane unit for$50 at Lowes, but mine is twice as big) but it sucks propane fast, puts tons of humidity in the air and smells kinda funny after a while. The ceramic is awesome because you can set it near your work area and efficiently keep yourself warm without trying to heat the rest of the garage. Biggest thing for me: it requires almost no storage space, can be moved anywhere and all you need to buy is the heater and have a tank of propane handy. My wife gets pissed when I steal the grill tank so I've acquired three spare tanks. Now she never runs out of propane and I don't get in trouble.

Even if you get one of these and you decide you need more heat you'll find plenty of uses for it besides the garage.

[MotoSook]

I have this same two disc catalytic heater as below. It is quiet (unlike the torpedo heaters and the trash can heaters) and the IR heating is great for heating up metal surfaces and concrete floors. Tools can be handled without gloves and the cement floor isn't so cold. I use it in combination with a fan mounted high up to blow hot air down from the ceiling. Works great for a $80 heater.

I also have one of the trash can 80,000 Btu heaters, and I rarely use it. It's a convection heater and like the other poster indicated it creates a moisture issue.


I think next year, I'll install on of those natural gas heaters like the Hot Dawg.

Originally Posted by cl8ton

Chris, I use this one in the winter made by “Mr. Heat”, so go with propane IMO!
The tank cooks steaks in the summer and heats my garage in the winter!

I have a 3 car garage w/insulated walls and insulated roll up doors, after 15 min warm
up, I am working with sandals and swim trunks in the dead of winter!