Garage Furnace: Radiant heat or Blower Furnace?

[deagle]

I am putting heat in my garage. It is insulated and drywalled, not sure how well done. I have had a gas line installed. Ceilings are 10 foot. Want to heat oversized one car garage (3 car garage split into a single and two car garage). What are the opinions of using radiant heat or a blower furnace? Will radiant heat damage the motorcycle at all? Do blower furnaces build up condensation?

I've heard rumors. What do you guys use and recommend? Thanks in advance.

Don.

 

[Panman]

When you say radiant heat, do you mean in floor or one of those glow type. I don't like the glow type as you have a hot spot and most of those don't vent out. You don't say if you have natural gas or propane, propane will have condensation.

I personally would go with a furnace hung from the ceiling that I could have a couple of heat vents one at each end of the garage so the heat would circulate.

I wouldn't put any kind of heat in the garage that didn't have a blower that took the exhaust out to the outside just like the furnace on the inside!

I am currently building a 34 X 52 shop living quarters that I'm going with in floor water/radiant heat in the concrete floors and the upstairs will have radiators with blowers.

 

[DesignFlaw06]

I suspended a blower heater from the ceiling. I don't have much floor space, so the heat needed to be hung. The main reason I chose the heater I did was because the neighbor sold it to me for $50. But I also have it wired up to control the fan separately. I can have a breeze in the garage in the summer if I choose.

It'll be my first winter with heat. I'm excited about it. Everything works, just with the small side effect of carbon monoxide. I don't have it vented yet. I just turn it off when I get sleepy (Kidding).

 

[MrZappo]

Every garage I have had has had a Reznor or Modine hanging furnace ... I have one in a box in my new home waiting to be installed right now ...

They work great, heat fast, and I keep the garage at 50 degrees all winter ... Melts the snow off the cars and I rais it when I work in there ... Never a problem ... No condensation etc ...

The hanging infra red ones do well as well and are used in airplane hangers a lot so if they caused a problem you can bet the wouldn't be used where 10 million dollar planes are ...

Either would work .. Infra red are more work and space to install and cost more ...

I have always had forced air ..

Love it and would never be without one .. And the bike loves it ...

 

[scubatech]

My friend had a radiant style heater and it always had a smell to it. I have a Janitrol forced air type and it's perfect. Mine is a 75,000 BTU and it heats my 20 x 40 garage in about 15 minutes. I would recommend it.

 

[deagle]

The radiant heat would be installed on the ceiling. The forced air furnace would be installed in the corner up at the ceiling. Both would be professionally installed and vented. Using natural gas.

Up until now I've used a torpedo heater and put up with the noise and fumes. I don't think my garage is insulated very well as it seems to cool off quickly in the Winter with the heater off. But maybe that's normal. I did insulate the garage door so maybe that will help some.

Thanks for the replies so far. I'm pretty excited to finally get heat in the garage. The first quote seemed to push me towards forced air (blower).

 

[deagle]

Your replies are making me feel better about the forced air. The radiant heat is about $1000 more, but I'd do it if it was that much better. Have a couple of guys here at work that used radiant heaters and they say they are awesome.

It's good to know the forced air is liked so well here. The first quote (made by the owner of the furnace company) heats his garage with forced air (Harleys stored) and said they work great. I think room also plays a part in the radiant heat. I have the garage door opener and a ladder that folds down from the attic in that garage, so it's not as open for room as it could be.

 

[garyahouse]

Have you checked out the insulation and possible air leaks yet? This can save you 20 percent on your heating costs easily. As you know, heating ANYTHING ain't cheap. It will be time well spent while you're waiting for furnace install day...

Gary

 

[deagle]

Well, the walls are drywall. Not sure of how well or much insulation is behind them, but I did see insulation behind a damaged area (that was fixed and painted). The ceiling is finished and painted. I put a Menards insulation kit on the garage door. So the garage seems sealed off, just don't know how much insulated. One weak area I would guess is the ladder that folds up into the ceiling. That is just plywood and the ladder sits on top so can't insulate that area.

 

[deagle]

And I didn't plan on leaving it on all of the time. Just turning it on to work on projects here and there. But the furnace guy said once I get it going to just leave it at 40 degrees and it wouldn't cost much. But that I would then use it more than I am planning on.

 

[Panman]

Insulating the ceiling can be done easily by blowing more insulation in and makes a big difference.

 

[SacramentoMike]

Insulating the ceiling can be done easily by blowing more insulation in and makes a big difference.

Yeah, but . . . We had a new roof installed in the house a couple years back and had more insulation blown into the attic. You have to have it everywhere except over the ladder and pull-down door or it just falls down inside every time you pull it down to open it. I still get loose insulation falling into the hallway. Maybe you could cut a big square of insulating material and fit it over the ladder (larger than the pull-down door) and then push it out of the way like a trap door when you go up there?

 

[Harald]

I'm in the same quandry with my newly completed 30x45 shop with upstairs living quarters. I currently have no heat in the garage portion except for a small Cadet heater in the 1/2 bathroom wall. I'm leaning toward the infrared radiant heat because of how it works.

Apparently it heats like the sun. Think of a 70 degree day out side that might feel a little chilly if it's cloudy, but as soon as the sun comes out it feels much warmer. The radiant heaters work like the sun in that they heat objects and not just the air. Compared to a regular furnace, when you open the door to the shop the hot air leaves but the radiant heated shop will recover much quicker because the cement floor and other objects are immediately radiating heat. That's the theory, but I have no experience to verify how good it works.

 

[Panman]

I'm in the same quandry with my newly completed 30x45 shop with upstairs living quarters. I currently have no heat in the garage portion except for a small Cadet heater in the 1/2 bathroom wall. I'm leaning toward the infrared radiant heat because of how it works.
Apparently it heats like the sun. Think of a 70 degree day out side that might feel a little chilly if it's cloudy, but as soon as the sun comes out it feels much warmer. The radiant heaters work like the sun in that they heat objects and not just the air. Compared to a regular furnace, when you open the door to the shop the hot air leaves but the radiant heated shop will recover much quicker because the cement floor and other objects are immediately radiating heat. That's the theory, but I have no experience to verify how good it works.

That is why I'm doing the radiant floor it stay warm.

 

[Gnirtsnod]

Insulating the ceiling can be done easily by blowing more insulation in and makes a big difference.

Yeah, but . . . We had a new roof installed in the house a couple years back and had more insulation blown into the attic. You have to have it everywhere except over the ladder and pull-down door or it just falls down inside every time you pull it down to open it. I still get loose insulation falling into the hallway. Maybe you could cut a big square of insulating material and fit it over the ladder (larger than the pull-down door) and then push it out of the way like a trap door when you go up there?

Or counter-hinge it so it rises as you pull down the ladder. My neighbor went a little more extravagant than that. He connected an old garage door opener to a hinged, insulated cover. Before going up to his attic, he hits an opener which raises the cover up and out of the way. Too much time...and money for me.

 

[Knifemaker]

I'd go with the forced air furnace. Especially if you're not going to have it going all the time. As you can point the blower towards the particular area you work in. We had a ceiling mounted unit in a shop I worked in, which was pretty much a poorly insulated 3 bay garage. Walls and doors insulated, but no ceiling, open rafters that someone had filled between the joists 1" styrofoam.

We made a movable baffle we could use to get the unit to blow to opposite parts of the building when needed.

If we kept the doors closed it would be comfortable in there on a below freezing day.

 

[airboss]

It;s not my dime so I vote for infra red.

Had it at work (120'X75' garage). Kept the garage nice and warm even with those 16' over head doors going up and down.

 

[FJRay]

I have the Reznor ceiling mount in a 40 X 40 shop with 14 foot ceilings. I use two ceiling fans to move the air around. I can keep it plenty warm with outside temps in the minus numbers but it sure does like it's Propane so I use it carefully.

 

[PhilJet09]

Insulating the ceiling can be done easily by blowing more insulation in and makes a big difference.

Yeah, but . . . We had a new roof installed in the house a couple years back and had more insulation blown into the attic. You have to have it everywhere except over the ladder and pull-down door or it just falls down inside every time you pull it down to open it. I still get loose insulation falling into the hallway. Maybe you could cut a big square of insulating material and fit it over the ladder (larger than the pull-down door) and then push it out of the way like a trap door when you go up there?

Here's the low-tech solution...see it all the time. Your pull down ladder should be box framed out. Cut some cardboard the length of each side about 4" taller than the height of your insulation. Staple the cardboard in place to hold the insulation back. Simple.
Then for even more thermal efficiency, buy a sheet of styrofoam to place on top of that opening before going all the way back down the ladder. Kinda like a cap that sits on top of the cardboard walls.