Heated Garages??? - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

chitowndad · 01-13-2009, 06:20 PM

How many of you have a heated garage? I want one so bad!!! I like the Hot Dawg but it's like $700+ for a gas heater. Any advise you can share?

-Steve

jmatta · 01-13-2009, 07:05 PM

My 911's in a nice heated building in Wisconsin, whilst the Boxster is frozen in my home garage. Going to need to bring the beer in tomorrow, as day time highs are supposed to reach a whopping -3* on Thursday, after another snow storm.

Hold on for the ride, Steve.

The gas bills are going to kill me this month; I can only imagine if I did heat the garage.

9eighty6 · 01-13-2009, 07:06 PM

I have a non-heated garage and it works wonders to keep the car inside through the night. Maybe not as good as with a heater but to get out of the wind chill is good stuff. My cost is $50/month for the garage space.

944boy · 01-13-2009, 07:50 PM

My garage is not heated normally, but If it's cold and I am working down there, I will fire up a kerosene 'salamander' heater. works great, not too expensive to run, but it is a really big open flame (jet exhaust basically).

Grizzly · 01-13-2009, 09:42 PM

My garage is heated and air-conditioned and it's the best thing ever! I also put in a floor drain and hot and cold water, so that all winter I can wash my cars in seventy degree comfort. I highly recommend it. I did mine with a 1.5 ton heat pump. Sounds expensive, but the whole set-up cost me about $1,800. Actually, the 1.5 ton is way overkill for my 20x50 garage. You should be able to buy a smaller heat pump and still heat your space for much cheaper.

chrisdridley · 01-14-2009, 03:42 AM

I built my garage onto the house in such a way that it is cooled and heated with the HVAC from the house. I love going from the house to the cars and never having to go outside. I keep the duct dampers adjusted in the winter to keep the garage in the 60s and in the 70s in the summer.
I wish I had that floor drain......that's a good idea.

chitowndad · 01-14-2009, 03:49 AM

Grizzy,
Now that's the way to go! I was also thinking about putting in a drain pipe and hot water but I was puzzled on how to install a shutoff valve in the garage but the seat is in the house, otherwise it will freeze...

Yeah I've considered the costs to heat the garage as well - On a bad month I already spend up to $400 a month to heat the house... My master bath is above the garage and it gets really cold so I'm thinking that I can heat the garage for the Porsche and also help heat the bathroom floors. The real problem is that the ceiling in the garage isn't insulated properly. Anyone know a good insulation guy in the Chicago-land area?

-Steve

coreseller · 01-14-2009, 04:01 AM

I looked over all of the options a couple of years back; electric ceiling hung (220 Volt), natural / propane gas wall mount, infra-red, craigslist sourced furnace, etc., if $700 is causing you pause your options will be very limited. I ended up buying a simple 23k BTU Kerosene heater (remember to crack a window), it heats a 3 car garage up in no time. Cost was about $100 and I can (and have) use it as a backup in the house in case of furnace problems. Also my garage is very well insulated; doors, walls and ceiling. I wasn't adverse to spending the money, it was just the aggravation and time invoved with install of the other options, running 220 service or a gas line. Good Luck.

01-14-2009, 05:45 AM

I have a heated garage. Love it.

Burg Boxster · 01-14-2009, 07:53 AM

After going thru the whole evaluation process and trying little torpedo units, etc, I decided to go with this and finally have a heated garage!

Reznor UDAP45 - 45,000 BTU Nat Gas unit:

I looked at the Hot Dawg (too much $ for what it is), Mr. Heater (can buy thru Northern Tool - great value - but read more than a few complaints about fan noise and mis-fires/no heat) and Reznor (known leader in industry w/ great warranty on unit - parts/labor and heater core/burner unit). Picked it up for ~ $530 + tax (since it was local). I almost bought it from an outfit in IA which had a special of $518 but w/ frt to me, it would have been same/more than local. Since your in IL you might want to check them out: http://www.denniscoinc.com/special.pdf

I looked hard at IR units but the recommended min height was 12-14' and mine is only 10' and w/ 700+ sq ft, it would have required multiple tube runs which I did not want.

Good luck!

chitowndad · 01-14-2009, 05:09 PM

Thanks for the idea, I'll look into the prices here and ask my heating buddy.

How many square foot is your garage? Mine is 30 foot wide by 24 feet deep and 13 foot ceiling.

-Steve

Burg Boxster · 01-14-2009, 05:34 PM

There are a # of online calculators but cubic feet is the # you need (not sq ft) as well as type of construction. Your buddy will know and should be able to calculate your needs based on avg temp and the temp rise you want. Anyhow, mine is the same as yours except I only have 10' ceiling. At 13', you should look into and consider radiant heat. Cheaper operating costs and "instant" recovery from door openings.

Paul · 01-15-2009, 03:37 PM

I don't like any fire in a garage. A sealed combustion chamber with an outside air intake is the only type of gas or oil unit that I would use.

I installed a $399 Electric unit that hangs from the ceiling. I installed it myself on a 30 amp 208V circuit. Quiet, safe, and 100% efficient.

My garage is small (about 400 sq ft with a 9' ceiling) and is fully insulated including the door.

70Sixter · 01-16-2009, 08:47 AM

Last fall I asked my HVAC provider to estimate adding a third heat pump to service my 1200 sq garage with 12 ft ceilings. $4500.00 complete with exposed ducting and elevated outside unit was the answer.

I will do this when I can afford it, just not until I finish insulating the walls. Already installed insulated and hurricane resistant garage doors.

I want cooling and dehumidifying in warm weather, not just heat in cold weather.

chitowndad · 01-16-2009, 02:56 PM

I'm going to stick to the natural gas units... I'm thinking of starting to plumb the gas and electrical this weekend and if my taxes forecast ok and I don't owe anything I'll pick one up in Feb.

Rick V · 01-17-2009, 04:16 PM

My house is heated with an oil fired boiler, I had it replaced a couple of years ago, when the old one exploded, not a joke, exploded. Well I requested that the smoke pipe be a single layer type, like what is used on a wood stove. Between the heat from that and a small electric heater at the other end, my garage stays nice and warm. It was 70 this morning while the outside temp was 4. Makes a very nice place to hang out. I also have cable tv and internet down there. I should mention it is a one car garage with an 8 foot ceiling so it is easy to keep warm.

chitowndad · 01-18-2009, 04:19 PM

My buddy came over today and we ran a natural gas line to the garage! I thought it was only going to take 30 minutes but it took like 4 hours! Dang. Next I'll run a new electrical line to the garage (that's easier).

We did manage to put a dent in my kegerator, perhaps that's why it took 4 hours... I have blue moon on tap and it's almost empty... Next on tap is Leinnies Red, my favorite!!!

-Steve

chitowndad · 05-21-2010, 02:10 PM

Can you believe that it took me 2.5 years to finally buy the ceiling mounted 75,000 BTU heater - other priorities keep popping up. Now I've got a fun summer project!

RandallNeighbour · 05-21-2010, 03:53 PM

You guys need to move to Houston, Texas.

We get FREE garage heating all year long (almost). The house too!

I guess we're just lucky that way.

941MXVET · 05-21-2010, 05:50 PM

Well we've been working on getting a varience so we can build a two car garage, in addition to our single, and we were awarded it and signed the contract to have it built!

We will be plumbing natural gas to the garage, and will plan to install a heater similar to the Reznor listed in a previous post.

Can't wait!