How to Heat Your Garage This Winter
Insulation is a must when planning to heat the garage, otherwise heat will be lost which costs you money. Most garages are easy to insulate. You should also think about putting in a ceiling and covering the floor, especially in your main work area.
There are several things you need to know or decide on now. Will you be using electricity or a fuel, how much of the garage do you work in and need heated, do you want the system to be permanent or portable and finally how cold does it get where you live?
Below you’ll find some of the more popular heating choices and together with the questions above should give you a good idea of what type heater you need. The two type of heat are basically convection or space, which heats the air and infrared radiant which heats objects and people which then heats the air around it or them.
Electric portable convection heaters come in all size and types. Most of them are portable and work reasonably well. To get the best results match the BTUs to the area to be heated. Because they are expensive to operate they are best where winters are less severe or the area to heat is fairly small. They can be purchased at home improvement stores, such as Home Depot or Lowes. For large BTUs or special needs check with Grainger or Northern Tool. Of course Google is always a good choice for information and to purchase.
Propane or natural gas portable convection heaters are similar to the electric heaters but are more economical to operate. This is a good choice if you don’t have electricity although you will need access to fuel, either piped in or with a portable tank. These are also available at the same places as the electric ones.
Infrared radiant heater can be gas or electric and work different from the all the other heaters. They work the same way as the sun’s solar rays, directly warming objects and people which then warms the surrounding space. No heat is wasted and no fan is required, making this type of heater very efficient and economical. These are ideal if you will be working primarily in one place. Gas ones should be installed by a contractor. You can buy either gas or electric through Grainger or the contractor. Home Depot may also carry some.
Permanent wall or closet heaters can be either gas or electric and are ideal for larger areas or where you want to be heated all the time. A thermostat will regulate exactly the temperature you want. The gas ones are the most economical but if you don’t have access to gas electric will work fine. You should consider one of these if you spend a lot of time in the garage. A wall mounted one is not that hard to install but you probably should have a contractor do it if you’re using gas. Again these can be bought at the places named above. If you’re going to use a contractor he can help you get one or he may have a used one.
A Solar Plexiglas door is a good way of heating if your garage opening faces south and you get some sun. Its basically a clear plastic door insert which uses no electricity or gas. It can be portable and with a curtain can maintain privacy or temperature control. Here is a website that has instructions for building your own
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/SpaceHeating/SolarGarageCollector/HP117_pg26_Reysa.pdf. This is just one of a number of solar heaters that you can buy or build your self. There are number of homebuilt solar heaters of different designs listed on Google if you are interested in going green or saving money.
These are not the only ways of heating but are the most popular. Stoves that burn wood, coal, corn cobs or pellets, radiant floors and hot water registers are a few of the other ways. Go to Google to get examples and information about even more ways.
