Hey I have a 21ft by 34ft detached garage with 12ft ceiling. How many btu heater should use or what would you recomend to use for a heater? I’ve seen wood stoves, L.P. heaters and natural gas. I dont want to use a bullet/Kerosene heater. Any help would be great.
How well insulated?
Do you want to keep it heated continuously and at what temp?
How quick do you want to bring it up to temp and how warm?
How much do you want to spend?
My garage is somewhat insulated and I keep it at about 40 degree’s, I use a 75,000 BTU 80% house furnace to heat and run temps in the 60’s when I’m in the garage.
Takes a bit less than a hour to get the garage up to comfortable temps and a bit longer to get all the metal and such warm.
Al
I have a 32 x 48′ x 10′ ceiling and I have a 75,000btu Hotdog brand propane heater hanging from the ceiling and vented outside. It works great, not sure of the efficiency. I believe it takes air in from the back of the unit and puts it out the front with a 10 degree differential but don’t hold me to it.
Forgot to mention, 2×6 insulated walls and R30 blown in fiberglass in the ceiling.
For your size garage a 60000 BTU would be about right. Also, having a vented model helps get moisture out of the garage. I compared alot of brands and came up with the Modine Hot Dawg heater as the most reliable/best reviews.
The Mr Heater BigMaxx has had problems with the circuit board getting fried do to location.
Not sure about the heater type but I would add in a cheap ceiling fan or 2. Really helps push heat down with the taller ceilings plus will dry a boat out in no time weather the heat is on or not!
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For your size garage a 60000 BTU would be about right. Also, having a vented model helps get moisture out of the garage. I compared alot of brands and came up with the Modine Hot Dawg heater as the most reliable/best reviews.
The Mr Heater BigMaxx has had problems with the circuit board getting fried do to location.
The Modine is the one I have. My Buddy has the Mr. Heater BigMaxx and the fan speed is less than half of mine.
I have close to the similar dimensions of a detached gargage and I have a Reznor 60,000 btu (I believe). In the winter I keep the thermostat set at 55 degrees as my lab has her kennel in the garage so I keep it comfortable. No complaints with the Reznor as I have it vented out the roof.
Mine is hooked up with to the house gas line. Not Propane
So it sould like a 60,000 to 75,000 btu is were i need to be. Is L.P. or natural gas better?
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So it sould like a 60,000 to 75,000 btu is were i need to be. Is L.P. or natural gas better?
If you already have Nat to the house, that’s what I’d use.
Al
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So it sould like a 60,000 to 75,000 btu is were i need to be. Is L.P. or natural gas better?
Natural Gas is at decade low prices and should continue for many years so it would be my choice. For what its worth i have a 24’W x 40’deep garage with 10′ ceilings and my Reznor 60,000 btu works awesome. Cost was $1,200 for heater including install this last fall.
I have a 28′ x 34′ x 9′ ceiling attached garage with insulated walls & ceiling. I Put a Modine Hot Dawg 75,000 Btu nat. gas heater in this past fall. I love it. Did most of the install myself, pretty easy. I would definately do nat. gas, it is so much cheaper than propane. I would definately go with a name brand like Modine or Reznor. That way if anything goes wrong with it you should be able to call any heating guy and he should be familiar with it and be able to get parts easily.
my garage is about the same as yours, its a 2.5 wide x 30 ft deep. I did not build it, so i’m not sure whats in it for insulation, but the walls are insulated and boarded, 10ft ceiling, insulated ceiling, two single doors, both solid core, cheap single pane garage windows, 2 entry doors.
I have a modine hanging natural gas heater. it is the “typical” size i see. I will get the BTU count off of it tonight.
i keep my garage at 45 all winter, and turn it up if need be. it will warm my entire garage within an hour to 60+, and keeping the heat at 45 maybe costs me like 10-20 bucks a month.
I’m not sure the exact price, because its such a small difference, i’ve never really noticed it.
Consider a high efficiency gas furnace, like in your home. I have 24’x 30′ (10′ ceiling) room heated with a 75K BTU 92% efficient Goodman furnace. Paid $1000 new. Some duct work will be required, but you can use your imagination and set it up how you like it. It’s very efficient!
I have a 26×26 (676 sq ft) insulated garage. I keep it at 40 then heat up when needed or wanted. I have a 45,000 Hot Dawg. You are looking at 21×34(714 sq ft)…you really don’t need a 60K or 75K furnace to maintain or heat it to what ever temp you desire.
If you don’t need it immediately keep your eyes on Craigslist. They appear there quite often. I picked up a 75K for another garage for $250 a couple years ago.
BTW…the Hot Dawg is 10 years old and I just replaced the main circuit board for the second time. So they have a board issue also. You can get parts from the Modine website.
LAST WORD: When you install the furnace also install a CO detector! You don’t need to have it on all the time as car exhaust will trip it, but always have it on when you are in the garage for any extended period.
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