Shop heater Options

[Cal]

I'm looking for advice......I'm wrapping up the renovations to my man-cave / shop and will need to heat the space. The area is 650sf in size, constructed with cmu and is uninsulated.....its part of a large 5-car garage / barn structure. I'm not sure if I should go with a propane or electric heater.

[skeates]

The idea that a gas heater will heat up a space quicker than an electric heater isn't exactly correct. What decides how fast (or slow) the space heats up is the BTU/Hr output of the heater you install. Now, the air temperature that is coming off of the electric furnace can be a bit lower than what's being pushed by the gas furnace so people generally 'percieve' gas furnaces to be warmer when standing in the air stream, but the reality is that both do the same job. My preference for garage/shop space is radiant heating as it is much more comfortable to work in and much more efficient. Note that it works by heating up the surrounding surfaces rather than the air. So opening and closing the doors for short periods won't affect the temperature of the space! Check out something like the spaceray infrared tube heaters, a bit more upfront cost but cheaper in the long run becuase you'll be using less fuel to run the thing.

That said, what you install is really going to depend on your use/needs for the space and your budget. Looks like you are in Philly, so you have 'real' but not crazy winter temperatures. Your best bang for the buck will be insulation and weatherization. It's amazing how much just a little insulation will do! Once insulated then look at heating the space, and when you do ask yourself the following questions:

1) What temperature do you want the space to be? Are you Ok wearing layers or does it need to be T-shirt territory? Is this just to protect the stuff inside the garage from large swings in temperature?

2) What are the outside temps going to be when you are hanging out in there?

3) If you are comfortable with numbers then you can calculate the size of your heater on your own (if interested I can throw some equations your way and I'm sure many other here can do the same), if not then I suggest you find someone who is or talk to folks in your area who have garage heaters to see what sizes they are running. Climate and your specific garage (namely insulation, draftyness, and total area) have major impact on this! 80,000 BTU's may be overkill for one space and barely enough to maintain 55 degrees in another.