Well, the weather is cooling off now... what do you use to heat your garage? I'm thinking about putting some styrofoam insulation in the metal garage door, and getting some kind of heater to run while I'm in there...

Check this out... http://www.ultimategarageheater.com/
CCLINHOTDAWG

i glued egg-crate foam to my door and it works well. your results may vary.

C'mon Todd, Oregon's not that cold! I heat with wool...but my fingers hate me sometimes.

I have heard of someone using an Eberspacher heater to heat their garage. You can get one of these units used for anywhere from $80-250 usually. They sip gas. I may be using mine to heat my garage if my bus is not complete by then

I think its cold enuf when I'm trying to wet sand my car and the water in the barn is solid!!!

My shop is 38x60 but I can close off 20x38 of it. I have a 3ton electric heater out of a house I redid but it really cost a lot to heat it with electricity. I put a wood burning barrel type stove in it and added a motor oil burner. I put a couple dry juniper logs in it and a couple of oiley rags and maybe a couple of green juniper logs and light the rags. Then I set the oil dripper to drip oil enough to burn the green stuff.
The oil burner is just a 5 gal paint thinner can ( that I cut the top out of and found a lid for) on a elevated stand with a petcock in the bottom with a 2 inch piece of 3/8 nipple sticking up inside the 5 gal container to stop crud from stopping it up. It stands beside the barrel stove. It then has a screen wire filter/funnel assembly under the can, but not fastened to the can, on the bottom with a 5 inch long piece of 2.5 exhaust tube as a funnel with a 3/8 pipe sticking up in the bottom about 1 inch. The screen wire basket can be removed and cleaned as it's far enough below the 5 gal cont. that it will clear the petcock when it needs to be removed and cleaned. The 3/8 pipe comes down from the exhaust tubing to a elbow and goes over to the top of the stove and tees to two 90 degree elbows that dump into the barrel about 14 inches apart but centered down the center of the barrel. The 3/8 piping and the tube that holds the screen filter are welded to the stove with a brace to support it. Sometimes before you light it off you need to knock the burnt crud off the nipples in the roof of the stove or on might be stopped up.
I later added a hardware cloth basket with a wire handle to the inside of the 5 gallon can to catch any leaves or trash that might also stop up the works.
I have lots of oil, grease, paint thinner and so forth so It's easier to burn it than dispose of it plus I get free heat. It also helps to burn green juniper which I also have plenty of.

I have a 44x22 foot garage with a 10 foot ceiling. For now I use a natural gas fired Hot Dawg, fairly quiet and heats up fast. Eventually I will plumb a pair of large hydronic radiators to keep it at a constant 60 degrees during the heating season. For a smaller space you could look into electric IR heaters (they heat people and objects instead of the air) Costco is selling them now. They claim to heat 100 sq. ft. per unit... btw that UGH link is pretty neat...daveyboy

What is your environment like Todd? City, Country, Suburbia? Natural gas available?

For heaters you should probably look at radiant of some sort - they heat things (like you and the car) first and then the air. It means you get comfortable more quickly as you try to bring the space up to temp.

If you are in the country and have some southern exposure a black exterior wall can work a treat (neighbors might object in town). There is a guy in town that did that and he has a toasty garage on most days without heat. The blackwall has a little air gap between it and the garage wall. Duct work and fan at the top connects the air gap to the garage. Return duct at the bottom. Thermostat turns on the fan when the air gap temp is higher than the garage temp. Free heat.

I just use a 50K BTU kero torpedo heater. Warms up real fast but also fills the area with fumes. I don't like to be in the garage during initial warm-up. I'll open the person-door to the outside every so often to get some fresh air inside. 70-80 degrees is no problem. Also have a thermostat to contol the heater.

Move to Mississippi.
I have A/C in my garage. Heat???? are you serious? it's like 1milliion degrees here in the summer. Get down right nice 65 in the winter.

I lived just south of New Orleans for 17 years. I can handle the heat, but not the humidity... I still have Scandinavian roots and Minnesota blood.

That's all I'm looking for... I'd like to be able to feel the parts that I'm working on... and standing on cold concrete hurts after a while. I'm just looking to get the garage up into the high 50s. It is insulated, but only one wall is common with the house. The furnace is in the garage, so it does stay a bit above ambient during the winter.

I'm looking at radiant, because I plan on doing some carbon fiber work, and I'll need to keep the epoxy warm so it will cure properly.

Todd,
If your furnace is in the garage, I would just cut a opening on the duct that leads from the furnace to the house. Then put a door that you can open/close to allow heat into the garage. Then you just open it before or while your in the garage... You can get ready made access panels for duct work. Complete with a door and latch. Just make sure it seals up good when you have it closed. Cost you less than 25 bucks!

Jake

I have a small propane radiant heater that puts out a lot of heat for the size/fuel consumption. It doesn't have a thermostat though, and I wouldn't leave unattended for very long. I've got central now though

Jake's idea is good, if your units in the garage.

Wood stoves are old skool......oh wait that's another forum We just had this discussion on another forum I frequent. Me I've got a wood stove my neighbors removed a few years ago. Keeping it loaded is the only hassle. Here's a link someone posted in the other thread if your feeling adventurous

http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_librar...rearth/me4.html

http://www.backyardmetalcasting.com/oilburners01.html

Woodstove here.

Only thing is I have to wait till spring for paint...
Aside from that, its nice a cozy.
There is nothing as warm as a wood stove.

Rich

Happy to say the garage in my building doesn't really get that cold. If your doing alot of moving like when I am waxing my car it's pretty comfortable even in the dead of winter. They don't heat it so I don't know how it stays relatively comfortable.

I would put in sky lights and paint the garage door black

Yeah. I admit I have one of those Costco electric radiant heaters to warm myself. With an insulated 2 car garage it never really gets below 50°

If it's colder than 50°, I find something else to do

It does warm up pretty well if the other car has been driven and parked inside -- there's a lot of heat energy in an engine!

All bets we off if there's a strong North wind though.

These are all great suggestions... so does anybody have any for an uninsulated garage, such as is my new one?

I don't expect to keep it super summer warm in there or anything like that, but there's no insulation or drywall or paneling of any kind, so the roof is wide open too, which will make it easy for the heat to just ride up to the top of the rafters and leave the cold hanging down where I'm working.

And I suppose I should probably get some electricity in there for a good start....

In my old shop (built in the 1930s) I have no insulation and never have.. In that building I have an Agricultural heater from a company called "Hired Hand" that makes 325,000 BTU. This heater has been in the shop for 10 years and has always amazed me as I have had that shop to 100F when the temp outside was 25F. This unit is awesome to get the shop hot immediately and keep it that way all day, but it is not very good on propane.

In the Assembly and Type 4 Store area that I built 4 years ago I hardly need any heat because I constructed it with 8" thick insulated metal panels from a company called Perma-Therm. I found a really good deal on these and constructed the entire building in 3 days, in 4 years I have spent less than 800 bucks on heat for the shop! Even the roof is made of panels as well as the interior walls. The shop is easy to keep clean because there is little dust as the building is sealed up so tightly.

I am now expanding our capabilities, adding a performance center with a chassis dyno, two lifts and service bays and I have yet again decided to go with the Perma-therm panels. I will take delivery of the panels next month and be finished with the shop by the end of the year 100%.
This time I used them because of the insulation more than anything, but also because I needed a super clean area for Boxster and 996 engine assembly, just like we do for the air-cooled engines.

Insulation and making the building weather tight has proven to be the biggest key... Insulation is worth it's weight in gold.

In the Perma-Therm building I run the heater for an hour in the morning and it stays warm all day long with just the flourescent lights keeping it a comfortable temperature.

Here is how sweet the panels finish off the shop.. They simply screw together!

An uninsulated space is a killer. At a minimum, if you just have stud walls and rafters, staple some plastic or Tyvek to provide some trapped airspace in the walls, and keep the warm air from rising to the roof. If you can afford some insulation, at least do the door; pink or blue Styrofoam is many times better than the white.

As for a heater, please be very careful. If you use combustible solvents, be sure to consider the risk of explosion in the presence of an exposed flame or even hot heater elements. Also, consider the way to vent exhaust fumes so that you do not die from CO poisoning. I'd even consider a vent to allow fresh air in to feed a heater directly rather than depending on air leaks. I had a friend store his 914 in my garage once, and he used my kerosene heater in there one day with the doors closed, he almost did not make it out alive.

I use something like this.

http://www.heatershop.com/forced_air_propane_heaters.html

It heats up rapidly and blows warm air to wherever I may be working. My garage is uninsulated with open rafters, which is great for storage but lousy for heat in the winter time. I also have 3 propane tanks (for the grill and the brew kettle / Cajun cooker) so I always have propane on hand.

I do remember working on Babydoll in 20 degree weather once, though... I had the fuel lines open and I didn't want to take the chance on having an open flame. Other than that, it serves my needs... if it's too cold I'd probably rather go indoors and play computer games anyhow.

Jake do you still build a normal timber frame and then attatch the panels to the frame or do they provide their own structure? They look really nice and have me thinking about something

Scotty's new pimp pad perhaps

I'm with Dave here. Back in the late '80's i did the same thing with a kero heater. I wa using a lot MEK to clean parts too. A fricking wonder that I survived being burned to a crisp. Explains a lot why I can't carry on a decent conversation.

I was lucky. You probably wont't be.

Whay were we talking about?
Pat

You could put in a dropped ceiling with tile and lay rolled fg insulation on top. It's real easy to work with. Also there are all thicknesses of foam 4x8 sheets with foil on one side.
If I'm really moving around and working about 58 is all it needs to be for me. Also when you are welding metal fuses much easier when it is welded warm.

I stripped the tub on my car on the coldest day of the year 2 years ago (<0) and I neverr got cold! I guess having the garage surrounded on 2 sides by house helps!

Black garage door won't do any good... garage faces due north, on the north slope of a hill. The only common wall with the house is the south wall.

Tapping into the existing ductwork is a great idea, but the ductwork is too close to the ceiling.

I've seen some great ideas, but I'm running on a tight budget... every $ spent on heat is one less $ spent on teener parts. Foam insulation in the garage door is a gimmee. Anyone seen a cheap(er) radiant heater that hangs from the ceiling? The ones that I've found are $400+

Todd in Waco there is a salvage place that brings all the stuff he has left over or takes out of the jobs he does. Several years ago I got some dented double metal doors real cheap to put in my shop to close some of it off.
Look around for a builders salvage place and see what they have.

Scotty, The panels are structural.. Just screw down a base channel and then zip the panels together with sheetmetal screws and structural trim. It's really strong!

No frame or wood is needed at all.

Thanks Jake

I am installing 2 to heat my home as we speak. Keep your eyes out for wood on the side of the road and its almost free!

...or I could just ask my landlord to provide some paneling for the walls and ceiling.... I'd be fine without insulation so long as there's a more enclosed space to trap the heat

I'll add to the list that insulation is key.

I have a 25x16 garage that I heat with just a small 240V heater. 6" insulated walls and insulated ceiling. I do not have a problem getting that space up to a workable temperature with this small 12" square little heater.