I have a detached 880sq ft garage in the back of my lot, just built this spring. Gonna insulate it, probably dry wall. For those who have detached garages that are some distance from your house (i.e. gas lines, water lines, etc), what do you do for "climate control", if anything. I (silly as it may sound) was just staying at a hotel, messing with the wall climate unit, thinking this may be a viable option for the garage. Heat is my primary goal, but an A/C option would also be cool (no pun intended), if for no other reason that the anti-humidity part of the A/C. Anyone use an "all-in-one" unit like your average chain hotel? Man... its getting cold here in Chicago! Gotta keep the "kids" from getting too cold!
Did you run 220V power or just 110V? How about a simple oil filled radiator that runs on 110V and hooked to a thermostat to maintain 50 degrees?
To control the climate correctly you need to address humidity as well as temp. Things like those cheap ventless gas garage heaters (propane or NG) will create a lot of humidity..not good for cars. Forced air can be too dry.. not good for cars. Plug in oil filled radiators...?? Don't know. If you are doing it mostly for car storage in the winter it's propably best to consult a heating contractor. Plus, if you are just starting to finish the space then all the better.... you'll have a lot more options.
Both the previous posts are good. Insulate the building as best you can, walls and ceiling. Hopefully, you've got a vapor barrier below your concrete floor--that will make a big difference. If you've got 220v out there, wire in an in-wall heater of about 2000 watts--or use 3000-3500watts if you want to work out there in summertime-like comfort during the winter. Consider using two smaller heaters, rather than one big one for better air circulation, but be aware that the areas in front of the heaters must be kept clear, or you'll burn the place down. Such heaters are easily wired and are usually referred to on the West coast as 'Cadet'. For humidity control, try (or think about) a simple, portable de-humidifier. They work well. Think also that my suggestions will burn kilowatt hours ($), but are simple, easily done. First class would be a full system (1 ton heat pump, or less with built-in de-humidification). Cost would be a consideration, though, as it would probably run $3000-$4000. Check with a HVAC contractor on the heat pump option, as they might have better ideas.
Forgot to add: Don't wait 'till you are sharing the space with raccoons and possums to think about rodent proofing. 1/4" is all a mouse needs...
Mike, if you only want to heat "once in a while" just go get a portable propane or kerosine heater. Will heat for 8 hours on a gallon or 2 of fuel. An electric heater is ok to, if used periodically. Left on all of the time - costs will be high. Home depot sells a gas ceiling furnace for $700...thats what I plan on getting. Keep in mind no garage is trully insulated, all the garage doors leak - even the best insulated ones. Ask me how I know!
A portable propane or kerosene heater emits soot, as the heat is also the fumes. You will want an exterior vented system similar to your home's heating system or a fume free device like the oil filled electric radiator. I seriously doubt you want kerosene residue on your Ferrari's paint daily.
Agree. Anything that heats by combustion and does not use exterior air for that combustion will produce a lot of CO2 and use up available oxygen. An unvented system will make it hard to work for any long period of time. I recently did an 800 sf addition to a home that used radiant in floor heat. We wanted to stay with radiant heat, so we installed a second small wall mounted unit in the new addition. It's about 2' square, less than a foot deep and is more than adequate for the 800 sf. Obviously your slab is already poured but you could use a unit like that and run radiant baseboards all around the garage. It's a closed system, which once filled with water or solution requires little if any refilling. You might have to watch the humidity, but it would be safe for a garage since it uses outside air for combustion. Those ceiling mounted heaters that can be found at Home Depot are a viable option as I think they can be vented. Plus sicne they are ceiling mounted they seem to be safe for garages... fuel vapors stay low to the floor.
living in N. CA in the Sacramento Valley i'm Lucky in that we have good weather year around - get's a little cool at times in the winter - my garage is only a 2 car so i think i'm going to go with natraul gas - gas is said to be going up 70% this year but it's still cheaper that electric - today it was in the mid 70's -
There are special fuels that can be used in a kerosene heater which do not provide soot. Home depot has tons of heater which can be used indoors. I don't use them in my garage, but have used them on sealed construction sites - they work fine.
I have a heater specifically designed for garage installations that hooks up to the gas line that runs up to the garage. (It is a fully detached building). It is properly vented, and it does a nice job of taking the chill off in a garage building that can easily accomodate four cars plus. I suppose if I cranked it up (it has a thermostat, wall-mounted some distance away), I could make it nice and toasty to hang out up there. I also have a big window A/C unit which I use only occasionally, not so much for dehumidification- see below, but for the few times i find it uncomfortable to be working in the garage in the summer. I'm not sure using the A/C unit to dehumidify is as efficient as using a dehumidification unit. In fact, the reverse is true- once the dehumidifier has been on for a while on a muggy hot summer day, the garage is not only dry, but cool~ no need to use the A/C. I am only using one of those standard, floorstanding de-H units, a good one, but probably no better than anything you could buy at a Lowe's or Home Depot. I know there was a thread on the board somewhere, a while ago, about dehumidifiers that worked below 60 degrees F- larger industrial units. Mine sits above a drain, so it drips right into it. But, you'll want to figure out how to situate it to maximize effect, and drain directly into a water outlet. My .03.
Thanks for all the responses. To answer a few questions, it is 110V. Space is only studs now, so anything is possible to do. I had the "insulated" garage door installed. And I primarily want to keep it from getting brutally cold in the garage (maybe 45-50F), occasionally crank it up while just messing around in the garage. I have a floor unit dehumidifier in the basement, which works fine (can set the % humidity you want to maintain). Maybe I'll just get another for the garage.
I am installing a Reznor UDAS NG furnace in my garage next weekend. This unit will hang from the ceiling and has an enclosed combustion chamber, both vent and outside conbustion air. My garage is only about 440 sf with a 10' ceiling, the furnace has a 30,000 BTU rating. Now if I could only find a switch that will turn the furnace off if the garage door is open!
I have a 4.5 car garage. What size built in gas heater should I use? Does Homedepot have them? I don't remember seeing them there. I am very interested in this. Any direction is appreciated... B~
Reznor is not at Home Depot, I am getting it through the installer. I like this unit because it has a nice white cabinet and dual outside combustion air and vent. I did not look into buying the unit seperately, but I am sure you can find a local source. The installer sized the unit me.
I bought one of those indoor/outdoor heat-cool units at Lowe's good for about 500 sq. ft. this year - it runs on 110, and it has a unified vent pipe you can put through a window sash or else fix a vent hole somewhere in a wall. We need the cooling more than the heating here in Dallas, I hope it can give me a few more days where I can work in the garage during the summer stretch.
I hear ya', James, but when the winter sets in here, it's friggin cold. Sure it's not Montana cold, but easily into the 30's with windchill many of times a year. I like some heat. I'll do some Googling to figure the heat situation.
Indeed - and my experience with the electric heat pump approach like my thing has (in Oklahoma City, where it gets friggin cold, too) says that either it will not heat enough for you or you cannot afford it even if it could. It essentially runs the A/C system in reverse to heat. What about getting an old country favorite - a big propane tank and then a wall-mounted space heater? That's what all the Okla. farmers & ranchers did if they were too far away from natural gas.
The installation of my garage furnace is nearly complete. The unit is in the middle of the garage to uniformly heat the entire garage. The vent stack is at the back of the house and not visible from the street. In addition the programmable thermostat, I am having a magnetic reed switch installed at the garage door. This will turn the furnace off when the garage door is opened; the thermostat will resume its program once the garage door is closed again. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
down here cooling is the real need. what i do for heat in the winter is turn my window a/c unit around and it acts like a heat pump.
