Gas vs Electric Garage Heat

[Pulleye16]

Looking for advice on propane vs electric heat for a garage.

Tearing down a garage this spring and building a bigger one. I want part of the garage to be heated...rough estimate would be 24' x 12'???? 

In order to get propane (from the tank) out to the garage, they'll need to poke a line under my driveway and run roughly 150'. (cheaper fuel source but how many free years of electricity would I get just from the cost of running a gas line?)

Second propane option would be to run off 20 or 30 lb propane tank. (simple and cheap start-up, but would be a pain filling bottles all the time. Plus, is more expensive than bulk propane. Not sure if filling 20lbers is cheaper than electric).

Third option is going electric. (Easy and cheap set up. But gonna cost a lot more to run...well, that's what people say anyways.)

Fourth option...yeah, I'm not doing wood or pellet so let's not even go there. LOL

Food for thought. I won't be keeping this heated during non-use times. It will be used when tinkering and/or limited weekend use. Cabin requires propane delivery. I will have ceiling fans installed. I could also supplement the electric with propane heaters during the initially warm-up process to keep costs down...

-Does propane or electric seem to "heat-up" quicker than the other?

-Is electric "really" that much more expensive? (cost to install and maintenance of gas)

-The hassle of turning on gas and lighting pilot, for intermittent winter use (ok-slightly joking, it wouldn't be that big of a hassle but there is some truth to it vs electric)?

I'm talking myself into electric...is it a big mistake????

FYI...Cabin life rocks! Wife spends more time up there as she can work from home. I spend just about most my free time up there. I'm starting to see why people love WI. Shake-A-Day, meat raffles, 2 dozen bars within 5 miles of the place, breakfast bloodies everywhere, more deer, cheaper gas, cheaper beer, fresh cheese, fireworks, ATV friendly, snowmobile for days...if only the damn Packers moved out of state, I'd consider it home!

[glenn57]

from my experience.......depends on electric company to start with.

i dont have an insulated garage....i'd lose a whole lot of storage space!!!! when its cold enough in my garage that i want to do something out there i use a nipco heater with a fan pointed up inro the ceiling to move the air......works for me!!

regarding the turning off and on the pilot light on a gas furnace..............DONT....leave it on all the time. why you ask???? when my parents installed the propane furnace in the cabin.......its what they did..pain in the  to always light. AND the furnace guy thatcame out cause it wouldnt light recommended keeping the pilot light lit to keep bugs and crap out of the line. no issues since.

your place is in Wi......so your a cheesehead!!!!!!!

[mike89]

why not put a propane tank by the shed??   a 250# sounds about right for you.. 

[Leech~~]

Looking for advice on propane vs electric heat for a garage.

Tearing down a garage this spring and building a bigger one. I want part of the garage to be heated...rough estimate would be 24' x 12'???? 

In order to get propane (from the tank) out to the garage, they'll need to poke a line under my driveway and run roughly 150'. (cheaper fuel source but how many free years of electricity would I get just from the cost of running a gas line?)

Second propane option would be to run off 20 or 30 lb propane tank. (simple and cheap start-up, but would be a pain filling bottles all the time. Plus, is more expensive than bulk propane. Not sure if filling 20lbers is cheaper than electric).

Third option is going electric. (Easy and cheap set up. But gonna cost a lot more to run...well, that's what people say anyways.)

Fourth option...yeah, I'm not doing wood or pellet so let's not even go there. LOL

Food for thought. I won't be keeping this heated during non-use times. It will be used when tinkering and/or limited weekend use. Cabin requires propane delivery. I will have ceiling fans installed. I could also supplement the electric with propane heaters during the initially warm-up process to keep costs down...

-Does propane or electric seem to "heat-up" quicker than the other?

-Is electric "really" that much more expensive? (cost to install and maintenance of gas)

-The hassle of turning on gas and lighting pilot, for intermittent winter use (ok-slightly joking, it wouldn't be that big of a hassle but there is some truth to it vs electric)?

I'm talking myself into electric...is it a big mistake????

FYI...Cabin life rocks! Wife spends more time up there as she can work from home. I spend just about most my free time up there. I'm starting to see why people love WI. Shake-A-Day, meat raffles, 2 dozen bars within 5 miles of the place, breakfast bloodies everywhere, more deer, cheaper gas, cheaper beer, fresh cheese, fireworks, ATV friendly, snowmobile for days...if only the damn Packers moved out of state, I'd consider it home!

Watch to many of those bloodiest, your blood pressure will shoot through the roof from all the salt! 

[mike89]

Watch to many of those bloodiest, your blood pressure will shoot through the roof from all the salt! 

say what!!!   

[Rodwork]

By bother was in a similar situation when he built his shop. He went with gas and x2 100 lb tanks. Another buddy built a shop and went with electric heat because of the rebates and cost of install. 5 years later he installed gas and left the elc as backup. Said the elc cost way too much. I went with infloor heat off a gas boiler and they both are jealous.

[glenn57]

By bother was in a similar situation when he built his shop. He went with gas and x2 100 lb tanks. Another buddy built a shop and went with electric heat because of the rebates and cost of install. 5 years later he installed gas and left the elc as backup. Said the elc cost way too much. I went with infloor heat off a gas boiler and they both are jealous.

my brother put in infloor heat in his new house he had built.....house and garage........when i was out deer hunting by him in nov he hadnt turned it on yet in his garage......... he's south of Wausau Wi.

[Dotch]

Depends on how intermittent you plan on using it I think Pulleye. Once in a blue moon & really don't have a reason to keep it heated, electric is probably OK. Going to use it with any degree of regularity then LP is a better option. And I agree with glenn. Odd, I know....lol...but leave the pilot light lit if it has a pilot. Doesn't burn that much gas and will save you hassles.

No doubt, floor heat is the bomb. A lot of geothermal went in around here to heat shops, garages, etc. Not always an option and expensive upfront but it's inexpensive to operate until you have to replace the pump anyway. 40' x 30' attached garage here with choice of LP or off-peak electric floor heat. We set the thermostat at 50 and leave it there. Have running water in it so no need to get cute by seeing how cool you can keep it. Sump & and an exhaust fan with a humidistat to take the moisture out when cars drip off overnite. Takes a few hours to heat it up to 65 if there's a gathering. Getting too much of the wife's junk in there now for that to happen for a while. Build her a she shed or need my own shop space with enough clearance so I can work on tractors, equipment, vehicles, etc. Geothermal floor heat might be the ticket for the latter. She shed? Her crap can freeze!           

[HD]

For years we ran propane on a 20x30 cabin with two 150#'ers and a regulator. Full-time, I would need to fill once a month....if you're going smaller and only heating when needed I would think going with separate tanks would be a hell of a lot cheaper than electric. I guess it depends on how much hassle you want to do...... and some propane companies will fill 100 pound tanks on site.

[roony]

I have in floor heat in my 4000 sq ft shop. I use an 80,000 btu wellsmcklean lp boiler. I keep it at 50. I also have a wood stove to bump the temp up when I'm out there

[Gunner55]

We have in floor heat in the garage & the basement at the lake. It is heated from an on demand electric boiler as we're dual source so we get the 1/2 price electricity. The garage is spray foamed & sheetrocked so we keep it at 50 but the cabin is set at 55.

[LPS]

Whatever you do do not even think about a non vented propane heater.  A guy talked me into putting one in his garage for him even though I didn't want to.  Turned it into a super wet sauna.  He quit using it.   Mike's 250 tank is a good idea. 

[Pulleye16]

Great points. This will probably be our forever home someday so I guess at a minimum, I’ll run a gas line out to the garage.

Keep the pilot light running huh??? I guess. I leave the water heater and furnace going.

Regarding buying a 250 tank. We currently rent ours but it’s free if you use X amount of gas/year. Not sure I’d hit the minimum requirement for a free tank.

First step I’ll need to see what running a line will cost.

Everyone else I talk with agrees with you guys…

[mike89]

buy the tank!!!! 

[Jerkbiat]

Boy, tanks are so expensive now I just don't think the payback 8s there anymore. Unless you can find a good used tank for a good price. All I can say in make sure you put in in floor heat. That is the best thing ever. We have it in all of our buildings.

[glenn57]

that buy the tank thing is kinda odd. back when my parents put in the propane furnace and such, i dont recall how it was set up. not sure if buying a tank is worth its while or not???

shortly after my dad passed away mom showed me a letter from Cenex about the tank. i dont exactly recall the letter but thye were going to raise the price because we didnt use enough, or buy the tank. the letter said due to the price of steel and making the tanks....

well f^&&* me runnin........we already had the tank so the price of steel wasnt in the program  as far as i was concerned. i sent them a letter.......never did get a response. mom ended up buying the tank...think she paid $500.00.

now there's something about having to get it recertified if the tank gets to low.....or something on that line! 

[Jerkbiat]

When we had our house in Becker we ended up buying our tank after we put in a wood boiler. I paid $600 dollars for a 500 gallon tank. Sure wish I would have kept it when we moved up here. But never gave it a thought.

[mike89]

this is the 2nd tank I have purchased...   $600 here too...   

[LPS]

Then you can buy propane from whoever has the lowest price.

[mike89]

yup

[Dotch]

Agreed. Always wished we'd bought a 1000 gallon tank when we got kicked off the natural gas line. That happened back in Feb. '98 when a leak developed on the line to the house from the tap. They shut the gas off & told us we had to switch over to LP. Old furnace, not able switch it over. We sat in the cold waiting for a new furnace for 3 days. Would still like to punch someone over that deal but I digress. If I'd bought the 1000 gallon tank it would've allowed us to take advantage of lower priced LP from whoever was cheapest & have the flexibility for the shop when that happens.

[Scenic]

Great points. This will probably be our forever home someday so I guess at a minimum, I’ll run a gas line out to the garage.

Keep the pilot light running huh??? I guess. I leave the water heater and furnace going.

Regarding buying a 250 tank. We currently rent ours but it’s free if you use X amount of gas/year. Not sure I’d hit the minimum requirement for a free tank.

First step I’ll need to see what running a line will cost.

Everyone else I talk with agrees with you guys…

. Ceiling mount propane furnaces come with electronic ignighter.   No need to keep it on.  Pipe it out through the wall or the roof.   They are fairly cheap comparing to furnaces and stove pipe.  I have a small one in my two car that does just fin in there. 

[LPS]

That's what I thought.  Must be a pretty old unit to have a pilot light.  40% of all the propane used in the older kitchen stoves was burned up by the pilot light.  Hence electronic ignition.

[Gunner55]

this is the 2nd tank I have purchased...   $600 here too...   

We got a similar letter, glenn, but it was from Ferrell Gas in GR. Turned out that another company had bought them out & they were going to try to charge people that didn't use so much a year rent. We told 'em come get your tank & we'll do business with Cenex instead. The Mn State AG later came out & said that they couldn't do that as it was illegal. When we built new in 2013-2014 we upgraded to a 500 gallon tank that we own. My brother said he thought it was ~ $500 back then but you still had to buy the regulators too.

[markn]

I put a 500 behind the garage from Cenex here in Alex. Rent is free if you have them fill it once a year. $718.00 for the first fill. Hope it lasts awhile.

[Scenic]

https://www.menards.com/main/heating-cooling/heaters/gas-garage-heaters/mr-heater-reg-big-maxx-dual-fuel-forced-air-garage-heater/f260550/p-1444441200665-c-6861.htm?exp=false

[Gunner55]

It probably won't get used much since the garage is heated up north but just in case we have to do some wrenching in the new shed we bought my brother a Nipco type heater that runs off propane for Xmas. It can be plugged in or will run on a 18 V lithium ion battery as well. It came with a 15" hose & a regulator so it can be hooked it up to 20# tank too, instead of the 1# that it was designed for. https://www.homedepot.com/p/RYOBI-ONE-18V-Cordless-Hybrid-Forced-Air-Propane-Heater-Tool-Only-PCL801B/320570732#ratings-and-reviews

[mike89]

looks like a good one Gunner...   

[deadeye]

Same heaters available at Northern Tool for less than Menards. That is unless you can stuff it in one of their 15% off bags. 

[Scenic]

Well up here the closest Northern is 100 miles away,