3 car garage heater suggestion?

Check out craigslist.com. A friend just bought a used NG heater for $50, list new was $250.

 

Several years ago I installed a Dayton model 3UG73. It is electric so no venting needed. It keeps my 600 sq ft 3 car garage at 50 F without running very often. It is mounted to the ceiling and is very compact. However, you will have to run 220volt service to your garage if you don't have it. The unit cost around $400 brand new. I am very pleased with it.

 

I would consider something along the lines of gas fired hot water / radiator type of system. They can be had in suspended models with blower or convection type... several options in compact sizes, depending on expecations. For a storage / garage installation where overall temperature maintainance is more important than quick recovery a convection system should have low acquistion and operating cost, especially in the north. If the garage floor is in need of an upgrade, heat coils could be installed into the floor as an option. Become informed and you should find the correct solution.

 

I got a free forced air high-efficiency furnace from a house that was going to be demolished and put in my garage. It is sized for a small house, perfect for a 1000sf garage. It is a wonderful thing and installation cost was minimal.

 

I have a propane fired shop heater mounted on the ceiling of my 2 car garage. Works great. Mine is 45k Btu but they make a 75k one for a larger space. My garage is standalone and not very well insulated but this keeps up no problem. it is vented out the gable end of the garage. Standard house thermostat.

I got mine at Lowe's for $300, best money I have spent.

Here is a link to the company website


http://www.mrheater.com/product.aspx?catid=50&id=117

 

You may want to check this site...Reviews are good as well as the price...

http://www.air-n-water.com/product/G73.html

 

Would electric radiant in floor retrofit be possible?

There are a number of low-voltage mat type systems available, that can be installed with a portland cement veneer over the existing slab floor. Like laying ceramic tile, without the tile, or you can lay tile on top, if desired. Since heat rises, everything above gets warm. It will also dry the floor quickly. It is very efficient and is best to leave it on, during the heating season, because it takes a while to re-heat the slab. Because you would be heating the slab, it prevents frost-heaving and floor cracking.

http://www.cement.org/tech/pdfs/PL971Radiant.pdf

http://www.concretenetwork.com/radiant-floor-heating/retrofit.html

http://www.warmyourfloor.com/nuheatfloorheatingmats.aspx?gclid=CMWy9I6JtKwCFQrGKgodUFlU2Q
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As an electrical contractor this is what we usually use, and is what I have in my garage. Thermostat is on the unit but you can put one on the wall if thats more convienient. 30amp 240v circuit, 3 #10.
http://www.king-electric.com/prodtemp.asp?prodID=KBP

 

I would get a Modine gas furnace that's made for residential garages and workshops.


http://www.modinehvac.com/v2portal/page/portal/hvac/hvacResidentialDefault/hvac_com/residential_hot_dawg/level_2_content2_035.htm

 

+1
Any way you cut it natural gas will be less expensive than electric. An overhead gas fired shop heater will warm my 6 car garage from 40 degrees to sweater temperature in about 5 minutes. Thats with the outside temp at below zero.

 

Forgot to mention it's 75k BTU. I think there are a few listed.

 

Why not a heat pump so you get cooling in the summer too?

 

heat pumps don't work in cold climates... when it gets cold they go to strip heat mode ( use electric elements, as in a common electric heater ) depending on area, electricity can be costly

 

I don't know whether you have central air / heating for the the rest of the house, but if you do, have an HVAC guy run it / extend it to your (presumably attached) garage.

You can have zonal temp controls installed, so you only use heat and AC when you want it.

I did this when I bought my current home, and it works great.

 

..

it is against building code in many areas... to heat / cool garage areas with the same system as the rest of the house... the major concern is carbon monoxide and other toxic gases

on the surface it seems like not a big deal, but in reality it is serious. Also it may be in breach of insurance, should somethng happen, the insurance carrier could use that to not pay any claims... If it is in violation of code, it could affect a future sale of the house. Better to verify your local building codes. The codes are based on substance, so there is some reality behind their caution

 

Yes garage HVAC air ducts need to be separate from house by code. If you have a hot water system could do water loop to garage.
When you heat/cool the garage, code will also require that it be insulated.
That said in NJ top end system for heating and cooling would be heat pump with gas fired backup or geothermal heat pump.
considerably lower installation cost would be gas fired unit heater or electric unit heater, if have gas, gas is a lot cheaper to fuel than electric resistance.

 

Get one of these. https://www.rezspec.com/catalog-udap.html

Get a load calculation done on your garage so you can choose a properly sized heater.

 

Curious, just how much are the running costs to heat a garage?

 

You can heat the floor with 1 30-60 gal water heater, a closed loop piping (called pecking) with a thermo on the wall - it controls a pump. It will not bring the garage up to a room temp in a freezing area but will be good enough for the cars - best heat also - from the ground up - I use this plus regular heat when in my garage in the mountains but only the floor heat when I am gone for the winter
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Our garage is ~850 sq ft (4 cars with plenty of space around them) with 8ft ceiling and has a large, NG forced air heater built into the ceiling. Fairly well insulated, but even so in doing research on past gas bills they were quite high in the winter.
This'll be our first winter in the house - couldn't tell what was house and what was garage, but in an effort to keep my winter gas bills low I just bought one of these (recommended by fellow Milwaukee F-chatter Joe):
http://www.heatersunlimited.com/item29040.ctlg

I know the 25k BTU model won't heat the garage to 70F+ in January, I'm just planning to use the radiant heater to keep it 40-45F, then fire up the big forced air unit when I plan to work out there for 1hr+.

Radiant is much more efficient and doesn't move air&dust around. I plan to install it this weekend, will let you know how it works.

 

their site says the heater is ventless, something to give second thought to

from my experience ventless heaters usually have a disclaimer in the fine print that requires fresh air be vented ( open window etc ) into the space being used, limit the time spent in that space, time heater can be run etc to avoid build of toxic gases.

 

The heater came with a ~12"x12" outside-vent, but after speaking with the sales tech we determined that my garage should have sufficient leakage (2 garage doors, 4 windows, 2 outside doors) that punching another hole in the wall isn't necessary.
Joe - if you're on did you add any vents in your garage?

This is where I plan on mounting mine. There's an exisiting 3/4" gas line running to the ceiling mounted forced-air heater, so I just need to install a 'T', ~12" straight piece, another T, and a 3/4-1/2" reducer to go to the flex pipe to the infra-red heater on the wall.
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"came with outside vent"... "should have sufficient leakage"... tells me there are venting / clean air issues... a proper hot water "boiler" or forced air furnace has zero emissions...
there are plenty of outside walls to vent combustibles through and perhaps overhead / in roof space...a hot water system can take up very little space and be mounted anywhere... radiators can be convection or powered or both and installed anywhere... radiant heat from the floor

what really is amusing is the penny pinching hap hazard logic, a single trip to the dealer for service is significantly more costly than a properly installed heating system that will deliver much better heat under any conditions at no personal risk.

 

Well that's a rather odd response. Why so surly?

I'd love to hear an HVAC expert's input on that statement.

In-floor hot water systems sound great, but I believe the OP is not building a new garage.