Soda can garage heater

Add a small solar panel running a brushless computer fan to move the air.

Once you get it in the sun and it heats up, convection will move the air without a fan (and it will move surprisingly quickly).  Adding the fan will increase air velocity at the expense of a lower output temperature, so you'll have to experiment with speeds/flow rates to fine tune it.

One of the warming huts on Mt. Killington in Vermont used to have a heater like that a long time ago and it put out a very surprising amount of heat.  One 4' X 8' collector on the side of the hut heated a 12' X 12' space for the line shovelers and Ski Patrol folks and could get the hut up over 60ºF.

I actually investigated doing this for my garage and someone in the northern states had done one and his designed allowed it to be built in the wall of the garage and it had provisions for an air gap or block for nighttime prevention of the heat being sucked out of the garage... as when it cold the process reverses. 

The unit worked quite well for them but then they did not get too cold in the winter. 

I would imagine the King of Stanisland, could chip in to tell us if Radiant floor heat would be better or cheaper.

I looked at this in some depth a couple of years ago to heat my garage. It's about 700 sq. ft. Got close enough to almost pull out some shrubberry and do a 10' high x 6' wide model. Thankfully, the project came to a full stop when I found some website that published accurate numbers of the btu's provided by this system. Looks like fun but the real return was pitiful. On a cloudy day you get zero. Very inconvenient if you have a project to do. 

We heat our home with horizontal loop geothermal which is quite economical to run and the Government paid $15K out of the $22K it cost me. I found a run in the ceiling of the basement which I diverted into the garage for slow heat. If I want more, I open the garage entrance door to the house. If I want more, I'll plug in a 1500 watt electric heater or two. If I want more in a hurry, I ignite a fair sized propane heater. Need more ?....head South. :-)

Thanks for that info, Heading south is definitely in the plans for the future  

My home shop is only 500 sq ft , I have a 240 volt in wall fan forced electric heater that works great until it is below 20-15  degrees then I drag in the gas grill to get the inside air temp up and the wall heater maintains the heat. ..Smells like steak for the day though....

I'd seriously consider a passive solar system but I don't have a good south facing wall in my garage. Or, actually, the south wall attaches to the house. There's a bit of heat leak-through, so that's good.

Last few weeks I've been working on Bridget in the farthest, northest corner of the garage from that wall. It's a sort-of add-on bay the PO built to house his boat. It's where Bridget lives, along with the lift. That bay appears to have been made in stages. I think he had a post building that was open and he enclosed it when the county wasn't looking. It's only got one little window, and it seems to be well-insulated, but the walls don't seem to quite reach the floor, so there's a good draft in there that doesn't much happen in the rest of the space.

I've got one of those Mickey Mouse-style two-ear propane heaters and a little oil-filled plug-in jobbie. Then I hung two sheets of 8-mil plastic sheeting across the entrance to this bay, and slit the sheets in two different spots so there is overlap.

The bay gets up to 70-80F pretty quick now with the propane, and the little electric dealy maintains it, almost.

To heat the whole, 1,000-sf space, I really want something like this. But running a gas line in there is going to cost $1,000 at least, and there are other things to do...

 

overhead gas radiant heaters are awesome 

Alan Merklin posted: ..Smells like steak for the day though....

You say that like it's a bad thing...

I suppose you could do different culinary, "stink-up-the-shop" themes for different days of the week:

Tika Chicken Mondays

Hot Taco Tuesdays (alternate different meats for different weeks)

Italian Pork Roast Wednesdays (or maybe Lasagna done on your Weber)

Mongolian Beef Thursdays (alternate with Curried Veal different weeks) 

And good old Tuscan Steak Fridays (those big, thick buggers)

I would even come to help you work (and I have an award-winning Chili recipe for "Game Day Sundays - It's got Bushmills Whiskey in it).  

Too bad you're not farther south - I could come for the Winter!

I'll bet that beer can deal works, somewhat.  My friend painted his front door black and his house faces South , with a glass storm door in front of it.  For looks, not for solar energy.  His wife came home one afternoon this Summer and when she got to the black door it was steaming hot, and the plastic trim on the door was melted.  She thought the house was on fire inside and called the fire dept.  I guess she must have seen "Backdraft" and thought she was going to blow up.

Maybe she was smart, but I might have peeked in the window or tried another door while I got my phone out.  Those guys are pretty busy in the Summer.

My garage is slightly less than 20 by 20. I insulated the ceiling and closed off and insulated a couple windows. Also put 2" foam in the garage door. 

Then I installed two wall mounted 220v electric heaters, 5,000 watts each. They heat it up quickly and maintain it with thermostats to about 62. 

It really spins the electric meter, but it usually costs about 150 to 200 extra for the season, totally worth it to me.

The real advantage is there is no condensation on my tools and the car. Combustion heaters will cover everything in moisture and rust your stuff.

I agree with Danny. A few years back I wanted to get a stand work lamp on the cheap and found a like new one on Craigslist.

I bought it from a guy who had recently retired and converted his two car detached garage into an elaborate wood working shop.

He used the lights while redoing the ceiling lighting and installing electric radiant heat in the ceiling and felt that he no longer needed them.

He explained that he had natural gas heat and it rusted everything. Sure enough, every piece of wood working equipment had a solid coat of surface rust.

It made a lasting impression on me.
>

So, Natural Gas Heat will cause rust? 

It might have been propane
>

I heated my house with oil, natural gas and electric. Things inside it did not rust.

Propane burning in a cold garage will generate some moisture. Unvented natural gas will too. A vented natural gas heater will generate a lot less ambient humidity. 

What's the right amount of humidity?

I varies a bit, but consider this: in my basement, right now, is a dehumidifier that's been set to 70% for the past four or five years. In the bedroom? A humidifier that wafts visible steam all night as we sleep. 

Combustion produces moisture. If you have a ventless gas heater it'll put moisture in the structure. If it's vented outside, it won't. As a matter of fact, it'll dry stuff out to the point that you'll possibly need to add humidity.

A ventless heater in a garage is just a bad idea. An electric heater is great if you own stock in your electric utility. Natural gas is almost free at this point.

Makes sense,  my direct vent gas stove in my sunroom is awesome but it gets dry . 

If condensation occurs then moisture coats everything and rust occurs if no condensation then no rust. Hence car capsule fan based covers used in damp hot or cold help 

i keep a ceiling fan running all the time in the garage 

Before I installed electric heat in the shop I used a propane heater it caused condensation from the quick cold to warm temp

Burning natural gas generates lots of water and CO2.  But it generates lots of other biproducts like carbon monoxide.  CO (carbon monoxide) bonds to red blood cells preventing them from carrying O2 (oxygen).  My wife gets terrible migraines when natural gas is vented inside.  Because of the CO and H20 produced I would never vent combusted  hydrocarbons inside.  Some towns like Charlottesville VA do not allow indoor venting of gas fireplaces.  I know lots of people will say its fine.  I'm not one of them.

 

I've been using propane, reluctantly. So far it's been OK, but I try to run it short. It's augmented by an electric and I only heat one bay. I'm really concerned with over-humidifying because, the only time I've used heat, so far, was to get the temps up high enough for body work & paint.

Both those previous attempts, and the current one, seem to be working out OK, but boy, what I wouldn't give for a thermostatically-controlled, automagic 70 degrees on demand. . . . Come to think of it, I'll tell you what I wouldn't give: Two weekends and two grand. That's more or less what it would take.

You're paying too much. A Modine Hot Dawg 45,000  btu unit heater retails for $599.

... as far as condensing from going from stone cold to really warm quickly: don't set the stat back so far. The ability to warm up quickly is a good thing.

To flesh out what is said above when I said a "ventless heater in a garage is just a bad idea", see Phil's post. Now, take that CO and make it logarithmically worse by exposing paint, solvents, etc. to an open flame with nowhere to vent the highly toxic byproducts anywhere but into the space.

Your lungs will do a great job of precipitating those chemicals out of suspension, and sending them straight to your bloodstream. I'm 99% sure any chronic health issues I've got can be directly related to my chemically saturated environment, back when I thought I was indestructible. 

A couple of homes ago I had a small-house oil burner in my 16 X 24 shop, but not only was it vented to the outside, it pulled in fresh air from the outside in a closed loop.  That way, the inside air got heated like an electric heater does, but without the moisture build-up in the shop.  Worked like a charm.

if I get a shop heater for my current shop, it will probably be a vented and closed-inlet propane job.  Like this:  THIS

Gordon Nichols posted:

A couple of homes ago I had a small-house oil burner in my 16 X 24 shop, but not only was it vented to the outside, it pulled in fresh air from the outside in a closed loop.  That way, the inside air got heated like an electric heater does, but without the moisture build-up in the shop.  Worked like a charm.

if I get a shop heater for my current shop, it will probably be a vented and closed-inlet propane job.  Like this:  THIS

This makes me smile-- see my above post. We linked to the same thing. 

I put one of these in my last place. The new place has a 100% sealed combustion (condensing) in-floor heat boiler and a 92% sealed combustion (condensing) furnace as back-up.

I (ahem) put A/C in as well.

Stan Galat, '05 IM, 2276, Nowhere, USA posted:

You're paying too much. A Modine Hot Dawg 45,000  btu unit heater retails for $599.

How much installed Stan?

Marty Grzynkowicz posted:

Stan Galat, '05 IM, 2276, Nowhere, USA posted:

You're paying too much. A Modine Hot Dawg 45,000  btu unit heater retails for $599.

How much installed Stan?

That depends on if you're ready or not. If there's gas and power close by, you can get it done for a couple thousand dollars total, if you pay a residential HVAC contractor.

Ed's a DIY guy. If he does it himself, it'd be less than half that much.

In our area all gaz fireplaces have to be vented outside and most are a closed loop with outside air in and combustion product vented outside the home/garage.  I know some guys use propane tanks and heaters on them but it is for temporary heat not a garage heating solution and that makes everything sweat and ultimately rust so for us car lovers NOT a solution.  I know some who have retro fitted using maxon cement their homes with a radiant water heated floor system not cheap but it would be better done in garages at the time you pour the floor itself. You have to heat all the time after though but the Pipefitter would know best. 

Marty - usually the largest part of the installation cost is running the natural gas line (if you go natural gas, rather than propane) from the closest source to your furnace.  In my case, the garage/shop is on the opposite, diagonal far corner from where my gas comes into the house from the street, so they have to dig and bury a new line around the back of the house, avoiding the circulator pipes for the pool and the sewer connection line, and then over to the shop - a distance of about 120 feet.  Local rough estimates were $3K - $6K just for the line!

That made a big, 100+ pound Propane tank at the shop look really good and the way I'll go if I ever go for heat out there.  If the connect line to natural gas was more reasonable, THAT is the way to go - NG is cheap!

Gordon,

Local codes vary, but the national gas code says you only have to bury your gas line 2 ft deep. You could dig a 120' trench by hand in a week of skipping bike rides, or rent a trencher from the tool rental place and do it in a day.

The material itself (poly pipe) is dirt cheap. You'll need two risers at about $75 each, but the rest of the material is only going to be a couple hundred bucks.

You guys working in the cold leave me scratching my head. As soon as I had 2 nickels to rub together, I've had a heated garage. It's just miserable in an unheated (or sort've heated) space, and no matter what @Tom Blankinship says-- it's miserable from Dec 1 until about May 15.

We've all got enough disposable income to drive around in plastic shriner cars. You wouldn't have an unheated house. Why have an unheated garage?

You guys love DIY stuff. A Hot Dawg is definitely a DIY thing.

We did the long trench to install the gas stove in the four season room.  

Question, my garage is close to the utility room in the basement.  Can we tie into the gas that feeds the furnace or the water heater? 

trombe wall

Marty:  You should be able to, but it's up to your local codes and building/gas inspector.

 

That trombe wall looks cool and the back of my garage does have sun exposure.  Wonder if it's big bucks to retro fit. 

Stan: Gas line run in mine is tricky. Gotta go through concrete basement wall into an inaccessible crawl space (less than a foot deep, I think) under a tiled floor, then either out to the garage (through another concrete wall, plus a second exterior wall) or up through a stud wall and over through the attic. Had a guy who plumbs tell me the attic rout is $1,000, more or less. I could probably do it myself but I'm not over-confident about fitting up gas lines. 

Accessories on the Hot Dawg (or similar) will push the price above $550. Probably another $100 for venting to the existing chimney in the garage. Finally, hanging that bugger on the ceiling won't be a cinch. It's too heavy for me to wrestle with alone. 

I was figuring another $100-$200 for a helper, at least...though, come to think of it, I could roll the four-post over to that corner and maybe get it that way.

Oh and one more thing: to be fire code compliant I need to go over the whole garage ceiling, at least with another layer of sheetrock. 

All done I believe I'll be in the $2,000 neighborhood, even including quite a bit of DIY.

We'll get 'er done tho.

Hence why I retired to NW FL --- 81 today.  Ask me in August and I'll be singing another tune.

SAT DEC 24	Partly Cloudy	68° 53°	10%	E 9 mph	65%	4 of 10
SUN DEC 25	Partly Cloudy	70° 50°	20%	ESE 10 mph	73%	4 of 10

So Stan, I am thinking of doing but would the temperature be better control &/or more economical using your Modine Hot Dog,  than getting an overhead radiant heat system (9 foot ) ceilings.  

Also can you go out of a house then back into the ground to get Nat Gas to a free standing garage or do you know of code limitations?  Of course I have to check local codes.  I have so many trees that I am thinking that maybe a 80 lb propane tank might be easier if it would last one season. 

@Marty Grzynkowicz,

Whether or not you can tie into your laundry room gas line is dependent on your line-size. If it's 1/2", then probably not. If it's 3/4"-- I'd say you're fine.

@edsnova,

I feel your pain. You may want to look into track-pipe, or some other flexible gas line. Local codes vary (we can't use it in Morton, but could in unincorporated Tazewell county), but if you don't pull a permit-- all bets are off. It's easy enough for a monkey to do, and made to run across irregular attic spaces, etc. There's nothing cheap about the fittings, but every home improvement big-box in America sells it, and it works great. You'll get this done one way or another, or I don't know you very well.

@IaM-Ray,

Infrared radiant is OK for warehouses, but it isn't really all that comfortable for garages. If you are under the car, it produces zero heat on your skin, which makes it a bad choice (IMHO). Regardless, 9 ft is pretty low for one. The gas line from the house to an outbuilding should be no issue. The best place to tie in is at the meter. The underground service is poly pipe, so what you are doing with low pressure is exactly what the city is doing with high. You'd be good. As for LP: 80 lbs of propane might last a month, but probably not. An entire season in Canada is out of the question unless this is an outhouse insulated with 12" of closed cell foam and no windows or doors.

@WOLFGANG,

You warm weather guys are all the same. Transplanted northern guys living in the sun-belt are the worst for gloating. All I can say is: enjoy it. We're freezing up here (we're back to -2*F now).