Garage heating – electric vs propane

I purchased my first home this last spring and am getting ready to gear up for winter. It is in rural Duluth and has a 32×32 detached garage that was built 6 years ago. It is a nice garage and is insulated, but does not have a heat source installed in it yet. I want to get it heated for this winter so I have been looking at both electric and gas heaters and still am weighing the pros/cons of both. I was wondering what the general consensus as far as cost and efficiency goes in terms of electric vs propane. I live out in the sticks so natural gas is not an option. I know it all depends on the temp set and cost of fuel source, but I was curious about the general consensus on this topic.

I do a lot of wood working as a hobby, so I want to be able to crank up the heat to get it comfortable when I am working out there. Otherwise, I just want to keep it a little warmer than outside to keep the vehicles comfortable to get into in the morning. I’m not sure what most people do as far as setting a heating temp goes in a detached garage but I was thinking of getting a programmable thermostat and set it up only heat at night – something like 5PM – 5 AM – since it wont be used during the day. Can anyone offer some examples of what they have set their garage at in the winter? I’m trying to keep the cost down and heating it 24/7 seems like a waste.

Also, my experience from fishing in ice houses has taught me that fans are key in getting the most out of your heat. Do people typically install fans in the ceiling or is the fan in the heater typically sufficient?

Any insight/advice that could be provided would be greatly appreciated!

I have 2x electric heaters in my detatched garage. I keep them on the lowest setting unless I am working in there. Its expensive. I keep mine on 24/7 in the winter, don’t want your concrete to sweat and freeze constantly. I was too, thinking about installing a ceiling fan this year. The heaters themselves have fans that move warm air pretty far though.

32×32 is going to be tough and expensive to heat with electric unless you put in multiple 240-volt units. Which you’d have to have the wiring ready for, etc.

Do you have propane heat in the house? If so, I’d think propane would be by far the cheapest all-in solution when you consider installation and running costs.

Grouse

The previous owner wired the garage with intentions of it being a “shop”, so that is not a concern.

The house is small – only 1200 sq ft and has in floor electric heat. However, I do have propane running to the house for the hot water heater.

Do people ever put wood stoves in garages as a secondary heat source?

I would install at least 2 ceiling fans that run non stop. In my last house I had 2 fans in a 2 car (26×26 with 10′ walls) attached garage with 1 of the walls contacting the house and in the dead of winter if the ceiling fans ran non stop I would not have anything freeze in my garage. If I shut the fans off the temp at the floor would drop dramatically and things would start to freeze in half a day. I did have insulated garage doors also that sealed pretty tight and a heavily insulated ceiling.

Propane heat, no question about it. And depending on how big your current tank is you may need a bigger one if you don’t want to constantly fill it.

Also in regards to your wood burner question, best check with your insurance provider first. They may not like it.

I put 2 hanging electric heaters in my garage at the cabin. It is 26×28 and they heat it perfectly. I don’t mess with tanks, regulators, freezing parts, hoses… I get to the cabin, turn up the thermostats and forget it !!! No smells, easy to regulate with nice even heat. I am not looking back !

Have propane furnace and wood stove/furnace in out door shop 40 by 36 with 14 foot ceilings. Run propane at 40 degrees and fire up wood stove when using and it warms up pretty quickly when needing to work on it. Have ceiling fans and large blower on wood stove

Had to switch insurance carrier to have wood stove covered in detached garage. Wood heat feels very nice when using it.

Jake,
If you plan on doing a lot of woodwork stay away from a wood stove, they will suck to much humidity out of the air.
I set my temp at 40, and make sure you get a stat that goes that low, some don’t. Then I crank it up when I need to work in there, 24 x 24 up to 60 in 15 minutes.
Ain’t nothing better than a heated garage!

I would say propane is going to be cheaper in the long run.

Eelpoutguy wrote:

Jake,
If you plan on doing a lot of woodwork stay away from a wood stove, they will suck to much humidity out of the air.
I set my temp at 40, and make sure you get a stat that goes that low, some don’t. Then I crank it up when I need to work in there, 24 x 24 up to 60 in 15 minutes.
Ain’t nothing better than a heated garage!

Is your garage detached? Propane heated? Any idea of the rough cost incurred to heat it during an average winter month? Do you have any fans installed besides the one in the heater?

Also, does anybody have any suggestions on how many BTUs I should be looking at? It is 32×32 w/ 10 foot ceilings. I did a few google searches and found a few different websites that give you a suggestion based on the dimensions and intended heat level and I keep getting suggestions in the range of 36k-45k BTU which is a pretty large range. Does that seem sufficient?

I went thru this experiment a couple-3 years ago, and ended-up with a made in USA Beacon-Morris 45K BTU from Menards. BTU’s are like horsepower, how fast do you need the temperature to rise, and how much heat are you losing thru insulation and cracks?

How I determined my needs was to borrow a bunch of heaters, both propane & electric, and increase the total BTU’s until I found what I needed.

http://www.menards.com/main/heating-cooling/gas-kerosene-heaters/garage-heaters-and-accessories/vented/45-000-btu-direct-vent-garage-heater/p-2189170-c-6865.htm

I like this unit because it has a powered exhaust, so it can be vented out a sidewall, no chimney is required.

HRG

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Detached 24 x 24 10′ sidewalls R-11 fiberglass –
Natural gas – Couldn’t see the BTU’s on the furnaces but they are cayennes
Run box fans / air mover.- Actually I have a 24 x 48 that is split with workshop in 1/2 and garage in other 1/2 separated by an insulated wall, both areas heated with separate furnaces. only run fans and or air movers in the garage portion especially when the vehicle carries in snow. Haven’t needed to run a fan in the workshop portion.
Hard to tell the fuel cost, running most of the time at 40 degrees doesn’t seem to break the bank.

your insulation quality will probably impact cost as much/more than anything.

i keep my thermostat at 55 degrees day and night in my 4-car garage (hot dawg natural gas with powered side-wall exhaust) as do my in-laws in their 30×40 shed with a high peaked roof ceiling (modine electric). this keeps costs relatively low and it is plenty comfortable if you’re out there working in a sweatshirt. just turn it up a bit if you’re sitting around drinking beers. the addition of a ceiling fan definitely helps draw the heat around more evenly, especially on the really cold days.

any suggestions on who to have do the installation? I reached out to Como since they already provide my propane – waiting on a call back from the guy I left a message for. There are numerous heating/cooling companies in the Duluth area – I’m guessing most of them would do this type of work?

So did you figure what it cost you to heat the garage ? Any idea now that it’s been a couple years ? I just got a propane ceiling mounted heater in my garage this fall. I keep it around 45-50 with a ceiling fan running constant. My garage is only 22 x 22, insulated and just painted osb on all the walls & ceiling. Insulated doors & windows.

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The pain from the propane bill will easily go away once you walk into the garage on a below zero day. I bet you had a smile on your face this AM.

Nice on a morning like today at when its -20 and your garage is 50 lol. I have been doing painting in my garage so I have mine set a little warm.

I just installed a 7500w elec in my 30×26 garage due to the fact that i do not have gas ran to the garage and ill be moving in a year and a half and only need it when im tinkering around there. If i was going to be at the house longer no doubt i would have went with gas, the 7500w unit costs about 68 cents an hour to run.

Whoops just saw how old this was… sorry

I have a 24X24 with 10 foot ceilings and run a 50,000 btu Hot Dawg propane heater. Works great for me. I have to keep my garage between 35 and 40 all winter because I have appliances out there. 2 fridges and a freezer. I bought a garage thermostat that goes down to 35. Works great for me.

Anyone think about running a wood pellet stove in their garage? More maintenance I know, but might be a cheaper fuel?

Eelpoutguy wrote:

The pain from the propane bill will easily go away once you walk into the garage on a below zero day. I bet you had a smile on your face this AM.

Love it. Never going without a heated garage again. It’s a spoiler. Headed out there to assemble a couple Christmas bicycles today, for the grandkids. Just need a floor drain cut in now, for the roadway slop that melts off. Next week maybe I’ll get started on that.

Deleted wrote:

Just need a floor drain cut in now, for the roadway slop that melts off. Next week maybe I’ll get started on that.

Looking into a new garage and I was told that a floor drain in a residential garage now requires a flame proof trap or some such. The net result is $$$ added to the cost.

Have you looked into this and is it code in all areas now? Just wondering what you found if you had run into this.

Grouse

Grouse –

I am not a plumber (hate doing it) but my understanding is that all floor drain lines require a trap, in part to prevent backup of sewer gases. For new construction it is not a big expense or issue. Retrofitting a floor drain into an existing structure is a different deal. It requires more slab to be broken, a deeper line and is in general a pain in the rear.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

Looking into a new garage and I was told that a floor drain in a residential garage now requires a flame proof trap or some such. The net result is $$$ added to the cost.

Have you looked into this and is it code in all areas now? Just wondering what you found if you had run into this.

Grouse

Residential floor drain in a garage can go to daylight if approved by the jurisdiction. See section 418.7 of the state plumbing code. If they don’t approved that, typically a vented trap on the inside of the house is the way it’s been done for years in MN. If your on septic, daylight is the way to go. I live on a lake and the county (Scott) approved a day lighted drain in my detached garage.

I just put in a Reznor heater in my garage this fall, absolutely love it. I plan on adding a ceiling fan so it keeps the heat moving around the garage vs staying up in the 12′ ceiling, this should reduce the amount of times the heater kicks on…ceiling fan should be a requirement if your garage height allows it…

Depends on the price for electricity vs propane and efficiency of the propane heat source. If you figure electric heat at 100% efficient, you get 3414 BTUs/kwh, a gallon of propane has 96000 BTUs at 96% efficiency that is what is provided by 27 kwh of electricity. My electric utility offers a reduced rate for electric heat(6.8 cents/kwh) but it involves a second meter and separate wiring for the electric heat, propane is cheaper heat unless it goes above $1.56/gallon. The normal price here for electricity per kwh is 13.6 cents per kwh

Just need a floor drain cut in now, for the roadway slop that melts off.

Cutting in a drain sounds great, but unless you want to replace a large portion of the garage floor that slopes to the drain not all the water will run into the drain. Your existing floor is flat with a slight grade (hopefully toward the door) so even with a drain you will get pooling.

I have ceiling fans to distribute the heat. When I have a lot of slop I also run a box fan on the floor directed at the vehicle. This helps to dry up the floor a lot faster and prevents much of the pooling.

With a heated garage another issue to be aware of is the amount of moisture in the air when all that road slop from the vehicle melts. On colder nights the moisture will condense and the freeze on the inside of the garage door (even if it is a well insulated door). I have one door that is 20 years old and is now starting to rust because of the condensation.

When I was still involved a garage floor drain was considered a Class V injection well and could only be daylighted. Really I don’t know why anyone would it any other way. Gas and oil running into onsite or city sewer? Just a bomb waiting to explode.