I am new!

jared6180 · 01-23-07, 03:47

Greetings,

I am new, and I have ALOT of questions, that I will need your help with. The first thing I want to address is heating my garage. I live in Kansas, and we get the extremes of all 4 seasons here. I have an attached 1 car garage at the house we rent. We plan to buy it, but the owner has not committed to anything yet. The garage is about 10x20 I think, and has no insulation except for the attached side. I really want to keep it warm enough to store detail supplies in it, and then be able to detail the car(s) when it is 20 degrees outside, yet sunny and dry...I dont have a big budget as most of our money is going into a down payment, so what would get me by?

Thanks,
Jared

jared6180 · 01-23-07, 06:31

actually measured the garage...11x17.5 at the door on the left, and then under the rack where the blue microfiber is hanging it goes to 11x20.

Here is a pic or two!

Kanchou · 01-23-07, 06:32

store the tools in there and the products in the house?

um... on the cheap, you could goto Goodwill and get a buncha old comforters to line the walls with...

Cleaning Fool · 01-23-07, 06:36

Well, I can tell you I tried heating my garage with a cheap 1500 watt ceramic heater ($25 from Home Depot as I recall) and it didn't come close to doing the job, although my ceiling is pretty high. Probobly going to have ta anny up a little more cash to get a quality heater, especially if there is no insulation..

Axtellboy · 01-23-07, 07:06

Jared- I'm from Wichita, and I recently bought a low-dollar ($40 or so) Honeywell heater for my 1922 uninsulated 2-car garage. I just wanted something to get the temp up a bit on the 25-35 degree days (running it just when I was working in the garage), and it works fine for that (it kept the temps in the high 40s or low 50s, which worked fine for the Zaino). This wouldn't be a solution if you were looking to constantly heat the garage.

jared6180 · 01-23-07, 07:10

how long does it take to heat your garage to working temps?

Axtellboy · 01-23-07, 07:16

Depending on the starting temp, maybe an hour or so. Really, anything over 40 or so seems pretty comfortable with a sweatshirt, given the activity level. I haven't used "regular" waxes at low temps, but the Zaino "dried" fine at the high-40s temp.

Juztang · 01-23-07, 07:23

Another option is to get a Reddy heater. I have a 30K BTW that runs on propane and it heats my 24x24 up to about 65 degrees in about 20 minutes.

BTW-Welcome to Autopia! You will realize that this site becomes very addictive!

MorBid · 01-23-07, 07:39

Jared:

Welcome aboard my friend.

Electric Heaters running off 115V are made to be used indoors where you have insulated walls and all. Experience has shown me that and I left one in my unattached garage overnight once during our Western NY winters (20 and below is no problem) and when I came out the next day the temp's in there barely budged.

If you something out there that is going to stay on (or come on) all the time like your furnace in the house, you would need to have it permenately installed (which will require some piping for fuel and maybe exhaust unless you go ventless).

That would be a total waste IMHO since your garage is un-finished (heat would be going right out the building and as such so will your $$$).

Best bet is to do what a lot of us here do. Keep your products indoors and only heat the garage when your out there.

For that you have a lot of options in portable heaters of all sizes that use either Kerosene/diesel fuel or Propane. Good price range and can be gotten at most any big box store.

STF on heater(s) and you can get some more info on what has worked for some folks.

MorBiD

Djkdkdsasd · 01-24-07, 12:01

Removed for spam violation.

Big Jon · 01-24-07, 05:11

Leave the door open to the house & use an electric heater near your work area. I would still insulate.

froll · 01-25-07, 05:51

I can't agree ENOUGH on insulation. I had a new detached garage built which I had fully insulated (walls and ceiling) and also have 2 4' electric heaters on either side (garage dimension 17 x 22) and can tell you that on the few really cold days we have had thus far, my inside temp without heat on is approx 45 degrees (but feels warmer then that). With the heat on for about 2 hoursI get over 50 and again feels much warmer. I really that that the insulation is worth the $$ even if you had to forgo heat right now.