Portable heater for garage?

[Realtree]

I am looking at purchasing a portable heater to use mainly in the garage and workshop and am looking for suggestions from anyone who has one.

I have a double garage with a 15' X 15' workshop addition built onto the back of the garage and it is open to the garage. I want something that will warm the garage enough to take the "chill" off on a cold day if I need to be out there working on something, melt the crud off the vehicles, etc..

What brand, model, size heaters do you have that you really like and why?

Thanks for the help !

[jkcmj]

A friend of mine just put in a heated floor in his shop that uses a ground source heat pump.  His cost about 5,000 to install, but the electric co-op paid for all but $1200 of the cost.  For less than the cost of a 100 watt light bulb, he can keep it heated to around 50 degrees.  If he's working out there he can turn up the electric heat to 70 or whatever he wants.  The heater is on off peak so he gets lower rates on the electricity.  He normally just lets the ground heat go and it costs almost nothing.  Of course if you have the cement floor in I'm sure the cost of installation would be higher.  It's worth looking into for someone building new.

I heat my shop with an LB White and it only runs about $20 a month average in the winter to keep it 50 degrees.  Of course being attached to the house makes a difference. 

[Randy Kaar]

not a portable, but i got a small house furnace in the garage.
i just hooked up some duct work and pointed it where
i needed heat. i have a porch on the back of a double
garage. keep it at 70 all the time. pretty cheap to run.

randy aka bh

[Realtree]

Thanks for the info guys. I am actually looking for a "portable" propane or other type heater for right now until i get to rewiring and refinishing the garage hopefully this next summer and then I will purchase a larger heater to hang in the corner of the garage on a thermostat. The garage floor is already in, so that eliminates the in floor heat options for me based on the cost for installation. The garage is attached to the house.

I am planning on totally rewiring the garage to suit my needs, hopefully this coming summer. I have not changed anything out there since we bought the house 2 years ago and the previous owner did not have the woodworking and other power tools that I do to figure into how things were wired previously.

Just looking for something for a couple hundred bucks or less to get me through til then, and something that I can still get some use out of after I finish the garage or something that would fetch a little $$ back to me on resale at that time if I find I don't need it.

[Spinach]

Fleet farm carries a nice wall mount heater for a garage in both Propane or gas. Last I checked the 10,000 BTU's were less than a hundred bucks for the propane model. They are somewhat quiet heaters too. The next bigger model was something like $150, around 15,000 BTU's.

[mopho]

Thanks for the info guys. I am actually looking for a "portable" propane or other type heater for right now until i get to rewiring and refinishing the garage hopefully this next summer and then I will purchase a larger heater to hang in the corner of the garage on a thermostat. The garage floor is already in, so that eliminates the in floor heat options for me based on the cost for installation. The garage is attached to the house.

I am planning on totally rewiring the garage to suit my needs, hopefully this coming summer. I have not changed anything out there since we bought the house 2 years ago and the previous owner did not have the woodworking and other power tools that I do to figure into how things were wired previously.

Just looking for something for a couple hundred bucks or less to get me through til then, and something that I can still get some use out of after I finish the garage or something that would fetch a little $$ back to me on resale at that time if I find I don't need it.

look into a torpedo heater   they are the billy goats of heaters.  you can get them from small  all the way up to  huge size they burn anything from  and in between kerosene to  jp-8 ( jet fuel)  if you decide to keep it  it will  be handy to have  and  they have a great resale on craigs list ect.  the downside is they can be a bit loud but on the up side the huge amount of  raw btu's coming out of them  makes  up for it.. 

[GRIZ]

Ditto what mopho said

I've had 4 of them. They give ya heat and where ya want it. Like he said the down side is they can make a bit of noise. The positives are many like he mentioned many different fuels can be used.

The first 2 I've had I run on fuel oil (diesel without the road tax) The next one was a propane model and now I have one that runs on diesel again. By burning kerosene in them you will get a cleaner burn meaning less fumes to breath but it is a bit more $$. One other plus is if you know what ur doing you can triple the BTU's simply by hooking it up to ur air compressor (Don't do this unless u know what ur doing as it could be dangerous).

These heaters are great and relatively cheap but also versatily and handy. If you do get one temporarily you'll want to keep it.

[Realtree]

Thanks guys for the great info and feedback. After looking around a little bit and talking to/hearing from people I believe I will be going with a torpedo type model.

Now I just have to figure out if I go with LP or Kerosene and how many BTU's I need..if 15,000 is good I would think 60,000 would be better right ?! 

[Randy Kaar]

the kerosene one i had did burn a little dirty, worse
before it warmed up. the propane ones caused some
eye irratation after a while so you would have to have
some fresh air coming in. when coates building was
being built, we had the propane models. it wasnt real
fun being in the building after a while.

randy aka bh

[mopho]

i'd go with  the billy goat model  (any type of fuel)   if you need to to run clean use kerosene  if you want it cheep run diesel at the airport    run jet fuel    I've heard  you can even  mix used motor oil  in with the diesel  and get rid of it that way..  propane  can be a bit more expensive  unless you buy bulk   

[GRIZ]

They are nice just make sure an get what you want. Some have thremostats or timers, some don't. Either way as with anyother heater make sure you have enough ventilation as they are not a vented heater. Another plus to them is warming up a vehicle out in the colds if your rig doesn't have a heater u can still warm them up, just don't get it too close.

[GRIZ]

i'd go with  the billy goat model  (any type of fuel)   if you need to to run clean use kerosene  if you want it cheep run diesel at the airport    run jet fuel    I've heard  you can even  mix used motor oil  in with the diesel  and get rid of it that way..  propane  can be a bit more expensive  unless you buy bulk   

You might be able to run used motor oil but I think that might be a problem with some fouling in the fuel ingnition system. I'm not an expert on it but I think that is something along the lines what my buddy did in his mechanic shop by adding air from the compressor as a way of boosting the heat and getting rid of his waste oil. I guess I never asked him what he was burning when he tripled the BTU's on his.

Also I don't know of one that can use propane and/or diesel they maybe can but I ain't seen them. Some specify Kerosene only but will run on the other diesels. If burning the cheaper fuel u might need to have them cleaned more often? I burn kerosene in mine. It cost more but don't smell as bad and someone told me the life of the heater is cut to 1/3 with the other fuels. I don't know but thats what I've heard.

[mopho]

 there  are 2 types  from what i have seen,   lp,  or fuel oil  ( kerosene, fuel oil, diesel #1 & #2 jp-6 jp-8  )

[GRIZ]

there  are 2 types  from what i have seen,   lp,  or fuel oil  ( kerosene, fuel oil, diesel #1 & #2 jp-6 jp-8  )

Why the heck didn't you say that to begin with. Would have saved me a bunch of time but you splianed so much simpler.

[mopho]

that would have made it toooo easy

[GRIZ]

that would have made it toooo easy

Not fair you type faster than me. Takes me time with my 2 fingers.