Brett Richmond

Does anyone use electric plug in heaters to heat their garage, I check into gas but to have line run and by the heater was way to much $$$$ and kerosene will make the garage smell and the fumes would hurt the dog, does anyone have any ideas to heat a 450 sq ft garage???????

Help would be appreciated,temp just dropped to the 30's from the 60's

IT'S COOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLDDDDDDDDD!!!!!!!

moffitt

Use an electric baseboard heater. You can get them in 110 and 220 volt and varying lengths. Very inexpensive at most hardware stores. Is the garage insulated at all? The only real problem is they cannot have stuff stacked in front of them.

RichS

I'd hate to see that electric bill! Have you looked in to Propane? A tank with a regulator is all you need. Then you could run the lines yourself in the garage to a heater. They make alot of nice LP heaters for a garage and they arn't hard to install.

BobMachus

I have an electric heater for my garage. It is a unit that hangs in a top corner of the space. It is about 18 inches square, has a thermostat and a big-time blower motor. It is made by Dayton and heats the garage up fast and maintains the heat relatively cheaply, but my garage is fully insulated. I usually leave the thing off, but when I wanna work on a project I turn it on. It is a 220v unit, very handy!

mackeyred96

Don't worry, You'll have to sell the vette to pay the electric bill :(

jimmyd

Im just a few miles from ya. Around here it doesn't seem to get as cold as it used to. (Except it is going to be in the twenties this week) I've got a 2 1/2 car garage with 12 foot ceilings. Im using a 240 volt base board heater to knock the chill of when it gets below freezing. (kept on low). Haven't used it yet. If i need to warm it up to do some work in their i use a bigger heater with a fan. The heat from one of the cars helps a lot. Propane would be good if you dont mind dealing with the tank. The way gas prices went up last year im in no hurry to pull a gas permit and deal with that at this point.
:)
good luck.


[Modified by jimmyd, 5:18 PM 12/24/2001]

Bill Reid

Do you want to heat the garage to keep the hussie warm or do you want to only heat the garage to keep you warm when your tinkering with her? If you plan on heating temporarily I'd get a propane heater that mounts on top of a 5 gal propane tank. They are clean burning. I just bought one for an xmas party. There were 2 ea. 2 burner heaters in my friends garage. With the garage door open so we could play pool the heaters still kept the area warm enough not to wear jackets and it was about 40F outside. You can buy them at Lowe's or Home Depot. The one burner models are about $45. The 2 burner models are about $100. The 2 burner model should heat 450sq ft nicely. If you want to heat the garage semi-permanantly through the winter another method would be better suited... and I sure hope its insulated :yesnod:

Bluevette85

I have a 24x24 garage heated with a ventless natural gas heater. I also have a ceiling fan to circulate the air. Heater was less than $200 and gas line from basement was $150. Call different plumbers. One guy wanted $400 for the gas line. A solid pipe line was cheaper than flexable pipe. I think it's worth it.

91whitevert

Hi,
I have herd that the ventless heaters put out a lot of moisture,is this true?I was thinking of buying one for Christmas. I was looking at the one by http://www.comfortglow.com/blueflame/ they sell them at home depot by me
Thanks and merry Christmas!

RichS

I have a mid size comfortglow in my small garage and it throws alot of heat. Buy the fan kit to help blow the heat out. It helps. I'm getting ready in the spring to build a new 28x28 garage and putting radiant floor heat in. Then have the smaller heater for some instant heat.

moffitt

I don't know about your electricity rates there, but a 2000 foot all electric home with baseboard heat is only $70.00\month here.

kd4pbs

Whatever you do, remember a few rules:

1) Insulate, insulate, insulate!
Heat means nothing unless you can keep it in the room. It's alot cheaper to heat a small area than to heat the world.

2) "ventless" gas heaters aren't.
It's a law of nature, whenever you burn something, it gives off carbon monoxide. You can't have a "ventless" system unless you want to go to sleep, eternally.

3) Gas is cheaper than electricity in most places.

4) 240V is not cheaper, nor is it more expensive to operate than a 120V heater.
I saw someone mention that 240V heaters cost less to use than 120V heaters. This ain't true, unless you take into account the miniscule extra wattage lost in the wiring between the two voltages. The power company charges you by the kilowatthour. A 1200W 120V heater pulls 10A from the outlet. The same wattage only pulls 6 amps from a 240V circuit. Sounds like the 240V would be cheaper, huh? Nope; the kilowatthour meter will spin just as fast with either unit, as it's measuring watts, not amps.

Guys, use your heads on this one - I don't want to read about someone dying in thier garage curled up next to a kerosene or propane powered portable heater in thier garage. If you use fire, make sure there are no gas fumes or other volatile sources of combustion in your garage. Also be sure that it's vented. In a garage, electric heat would be the safest thing; it's worth the extra money to ensure your safety! :yesnod:
-Matt

91whitevert

Is Vent-Free Gas Heating Right For Me?
this link has some ventless info http://www.comfortglow.com/isventfree.html

kd4pbs

Consider the source on that page - they want to sell their stuff. ANY CO exposure will cause a potential risk. They are assuming a use in some kind of ventilated area, just look at their guidelines. I guess it would be acceptable in a drafty old shanty.
I guess Darwin will prove himself right again... :(

Bluevette85

To follow up to my earlier reply:

The walls and ceiling are insulated. The ceiling has an attic stairway in it which I crack open with a small piece of wood. This allows any gas buildup to exit the roof vent built into the peak (standard on new construction in my area). I also have a CO detector. With proper installation and precautions its nice!

SLICKMAN

First off it cost more to use a 120 volt heater than a 240 volt heater. Amps equate to wattage, with that in mined, what is trying to be said here is that a 100 watt bulb at 120 volts pulling 1.2 amps is going to cost the same as a 100 watt bulb at 240 volts pulling .6 amps. Bull dinky...

Anyway, bin there and done that.. Stay away from the electric heat. I have a 24x24 garage and I tried the putting in two 8 ft baseboard 1200 watt heaters and it did not keep up with the amount of heat required to put the temp at a point that was a comfort zone. I now use a 20lb propane tank with a heater mounted on top of it that I purchased from Harbor Freight for $35 bucks. This little gem works GREAT and a 20lb tank has lasted me three days of constant use keeping the temp at 70 deg..
:cheers:

BobMachus

Be careful with the CO thing. I nearly assassinated a roommate about five years ago. I was painting the engine compartment in my truck while the engine was out being rebuilt. I had a portable propane heater in the garage and was being VERY careful (or so I thought). I had garage door cracked and would periodically open opposing doors to cross-ventilate. I was on my way to a party and left the heater on while I took a shower. I then went to the party, had a good time, got home to a house with all door and windows open in December at 2 am. Stormed around the house cursing roomate for being a psycho (she was a bit unstable), noticed answering machine was blinking. I pushed the button and it was the roommate saying

"Hi Bob, Risky (my dog, hadn't noticed she was missing till then) and I ok, the fire dept got here in time. The heater in the garage was making the whole house hot so I went to turn it off. I opened the garage door and that is all I remember. I guess I was able to crawl to the phone and call 911 (911 has record of open call with no voices). Firemen opened doors and windows and ventilated the house with fans, gave Risky and I oxygen for about 20 mins. I am at the hospital, Risky is at neighbors. Sorry for the commotion."

Scary to say the least. My friends and I laugh about it now 'cause no one died, although the roommate did move out about 3 months later. I now only use poperly installed vented propane heat.

Be careful out there.


[Modified by BobMachus, 9:30 PM 12/24/2001]


[Modified by BobMachus, 9:39 PM 12/24/2001]

kd4pbs

Amps do NOT equate to wattage. Amps times Volts equate to wattage.

Look at your electric bill; do they charge you for kiloAMP hours? Nope. They charge for KiloWATThours! Amps do not equate directly to heat, but watts do. That's why a heater is rated in watts.
watts=power (and yes, I can convert a 300HP engine to a rating in watts, directly!)
amps=electrical flow.

Let's assume this...
a 1000W heater could be constructed infinite different ways, for example...
It could be running at 10 volts, and 100 amps. It would heat up just as much as the one running at 10,000 volts and .1 amp, which would give the same amount of heat on the one that is rated for .001 volts, but draws 1,000,000 amps.

It takes more than just volts to heat, as it takes more than just amps. Are you saying that a dual voltage motor, such as a 1/3 HP motor that can run on either 120V or 240V somehow miraculously makes more power when hooked to 240V?

I thought everyone knew Ohm's law of power ;)

If you want to play roulette, just buy a 6-shooter and get it over with - don't let us wait around until your "ventless" heater proves the manufacturer wrong.

73,
-Matt



[Modified by kd4pbs, 11:38 PM 12/24/2001]

91whitevert

Hi,
I was just wondering does a have a natural Gas stove in there kitchen.
also seen any ventless heaters for sale used out of the 87k of them they sold last year .most of the people must of died by now.

SLICKMAN

NO, what I'm saying is you cannot rule out a current draw. As you state below, you motor will cost you less on 240 volt than on the 120 volt due to the current draw. Do the math in reverse with the motor not using the power that the motor is rated at. At 240 it will be using less watage.

In general any electrical item that has the ability to run at 240 volts verse 120 will draw less wattage. This is why the automotive industry is looking into running 48 volts verse 12 volts, less current draw, less wattage therefore less heat dissipation. :cheers: :cheers:

I thought everyone knew simple ohms laws ;)


[Modified by 1991C4, 1:16 PM 12/25/2001]