Winter can be a great time to focus on projects in your workshop, but the space won’t be usable unless you heat your garage. Even if you don’t spend a lot of time there, you may need to keep your garage warm in order to protect your investment in paints, finishes and other chemicals. Here’s a quick look at the options for heating your garage:
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Infrared Heaters
Infrared garage heaters are efficient because, like the sun, they warm up objects instead of heating the air. You can power them with propane, natural gas or electricity. Electric heaters are simplest, because they don’t need a gas line or have to be vented.
Space Heaters
These units work by blowing hot air into your space. They range in size and price, and can be fueled by either gas or electricity. Small forced air space heaters are a great solution if you just need a quick, short term source of warm air. Larger ones require a 240 volt electrical outlet.
Wood Stove
The advantage of relying on a wood stove as your heat source is that it can produce more heat than other appliances. Of course, the tradeoff is that you have to buy wood and find a place to store it near your home.
Radiant Floor Heat
If you’re building a new home, you may want to add radiant floor heat to the garage. This involves a running water pipes through the walls or floor, and then warming the water with a heat pump. This heating system costs a lot up front, but ends up being economical to run int he future.
Gas Heaters
These heaters can produce a lot of quick energy without needing an electrical outlet, but you will either need a stand-alone gas tank or a dedicated gas line. As with anything that runs on combustion, this type of heating system needs venting to the outside in order to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning.
This Handyman video gives you an overview of garage heating solutions and a close-up look at the NewAir G73 Electric Garage Heater.
