riltri
Husk & Steinhatchee
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Does anyone put a small heater (thinking about a radiator heater) in their garage. We will be spending this winter in an area that regularly sees temps in the 20's. I don't want to drain the lines every time we are away for a few nights on short excursions and don't like leaving the propane furnace on.
Opinions/ideas??
* This post was
edited 10/19/22 06:00pm by riltri *
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spoon059
Just north of D.C.
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Opinions?
You will likely pay more money in electric to keep your garage warm than it would cost to put antifreeze in your lines.
ideas?
it takes 5 minutes to run antifreeze. Just winterize and don't worry about it.
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riltri
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spoon059 wrote:Opinions?
You will likely pay more money in electric to keep your garage warm than it would cost to put antifreeze in your lines.
ideas?
it takes 5 minutes to run antifreeze. Just winterize and don't worry about it.
Thanks for your input.
Winterizing does not keep the water-soft drinks-IPAs that we keep in the garage from freezing. It's also a matter of convenience not cost.
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Grit dog
Black Diamond, WA
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I'd heat my whole shop with a big IR gas fired heater....if it was insulated and finished inside and I had one of those heaters. Lol
Not really understanding the question...Yes many people heat their shops for different reasons, including keeping things from freezing.
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wa8yxm
Davison Michigan (East of Flint)
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I would blow the lines out.. Weather is getting wilder (This is climate change) Winters can get colder, and more suddenly colder. Summers likewise Much hotter. Ok enough environmental talk.
Imagine the following: You put your electric heater in the garage to keep warm.
Hop in the 4-wheel ride and off to the airport. hop on a plane and go visit your darling daughter (ok so MY DD lives like a kilomile from me) and about the time you land a sudden and unexpected hard freeze hits your town. Temps in the ZERO range.. On top of that it shows and Mr. Idiot driving his big 4-wheeler thinks he can go like the wind on slick roads.. and so he can.. But what stopps the wind? When it hits somethign.. Like the Utility pole that supplies power to your house.. LIGHTS OUT.. Lines frozen.
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opnspaces
San Diego Ca
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Is your garage insulated? If not will a small source heater even be able to keep up with the cold?
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Matt_Colie
Southeast Michigan
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Riltri,
Without looking at the garage with my ASHRE guide under my arm, I really cannot answer your question. I don't believe that anybody else can either.
If the space is insulated and relatively tight, it just might work. It also might not.
If you are worried about the contents of the garage freezing, then put them in the coach with your little heater also inside the coach. Leave the reefer running to contribute to the heat and there is a real good chance that everything will work.
If you think that there is a real good chance of freezing the drinks, put them all in a secondary containment so that if they do break there is little to clean up.
Matt
OH, and an experience.... If your IPL looks frozen, don't pour it out and drink it. What you have there is just the alcohol that froze out. You really don't want that. It sounds good but the next morning you will know it was a mistake when you look at the half-full bottles you emptied.
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BCSnob
Middletown, MD
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This article suggests 10 watts of heater output per square foot of garage space.
https://www.bobvila.com/articles/best-electric-garage-heater/
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Lantley
Ellicott City, Maryland
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While a bit more insulated than a toyhauler garage I put a space heater in my bathroom to keep things from freezing when temperatures plummet. THe space heater allows me to keep my RV ready to go into December.
I also use a space heater to heat the bunkhouse area which is similar to the garage area. Very little insulation. The heater keeps that area very liveable.
I don't think my bunk house area would get below 32 with heater running
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Fisherman
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Depending on the size of your garage, what about a direct vent wall heater? My 20x22' insulated garage costs about $150 to keep at about 45F from mid November until about mid April. It's plumbed into the NG line although propane in big 110lb tanks is an option.
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