Thoughts on a garage heater?

[jaedaliu]

I still think the solution was posted in his last thread about the issue: rent a FLIR thermal camera, and figure out where to fill in and bulk up insulation.

It doesn't really matter that much if his temperature is 3 degrees or 10 degrees when it's negative 40 outside.

 

[Paperdoc]

I agree the heater seems rather higher-powered. BUT it is still controlled by a simple thermostat (I assume) that turns it either on or off. So it's running full power for a time while on, and then NO power when off. The thermostat ensures that, over a long time, the on-vs.-off time is such that a target temperature is maintained. Thus the long-term AVERAGE power consumption is NOT determined by the heater's MAXIMUM power rating. In fact, in such a design, the heater's MAX power should be MORE than needed to provide adequate heat in the worst conditions. That way it CAN be turned off by the thermostat when enough heat already has been delivered. It's when a heating element is too SMALL for the worst conditions that problems become apparent as the temp falls and things start to freeze up and crack!

 

[TwiceOver]

I have one of these:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/caspar_v/349086223/

Gas isn't cheap but it's cheaper than electricity.

 

[Scouzer]

I still think the solution was posted in his last thread about the issue: rent a FLIR thermal camera, and figure out where to fill in and bulk up insulation.

It doesn't really matter that much if his temperature is 3 degrees or 10 degrees when it's negative 40 outside.

I thought I had posted this before, but I could not remember. I was too lazy to look.

In any event, a FLIR wouldn't tell me much--one wall faces a neighbour, one wall is entirely underground, the other wall is 2/3 underground and the front door is an insulated garage door. There's just nothing to measure.

I don't think pellet/coal is viable--I go out of town too often and explaining the system to somebody watching my house seems difficult.

I think the only real solution is natural gas. My preference was to figure out some sort of electric solution that let me keep it around 3 degrees, and set up the heater right by the water so if the rest of the garage got colder, it would not matter. But there's just no electric heaters that aren't massive and cost $$$ that seem feasible for such a job--which returns me to the heater I already have.

 

[MichaelD]

Stupid question: Are the pipes running through your garage well-insulated? Can you insulate them further? It doesn't make sense that an area as allegedly well-insulated/protected as yours gets that cold. There's a leak somehwere and cold air is getting in. Heck, find a plug-in lamp timer that handles 1,400 or so watts and plug a small heater into it. Set it for 10 minutes on every few hours or so. Gotta be cheaper than what you have now. That should keep the temp slightly above 0C/32F and avoid your freezing pipe worries.

 

[Scouzer]

Stupid question: Are the pipes running through your garage well-insulated? Can you insulate them further? It doesn't make sense that an area as allegedly well-insulated/protected as yours gets that cold. There's a leak somehwere and cold air is getting in. Heck, find a plug-in lamp timer that handles 1,400 or so watts and plug a small heater into it. Set it for 10 minutes on every few hours or so. Gotta be cheaper than what you have now. That should keep the temp slightly above 0C/32F and avoid your freezing pipe worries.

It gets cold when we open the door to let the car in and out silly