Garage Furnace: Radiant heat or Blower Furnace?

[thewrenchbender]

Worked under 3 different radiant systems (tube type) in large buildings that periodically lose an entire wall to move stuff in and out. Mr Philjet knows where I am coming from.

Only issue I ever had was one section had a low ceiling and the tubes were in the corners (sidewalls to ceiling). Working at the edges in mid 40s-50s you would get too warm.

Radiant floor, radiant ceiling (tubes) then forced air would be my preferred order.

 

[Nanahanman]

I have worked in shops with both the forced air and the radian tube type heaters. However, both cases were higher than 10' ceilings.

For me, the noise of the forced air systems gets annoying and I find the radiant very quiet and effective.

In my experience, the effect of the radiant is felt more quickly than the air blowing around a cool room.

If I were building a shop, radiant would be worth the extra expense.

 

[LittleJon]

This is where a guy I know would pipe up to say that radiant is the way to go. Forced air warms the air. Radiant warms the surfaces, which in turn warms the air. It does a much better job warming the floor, which in my personal experience, makes the biggest difference in the overall comfort of the space.

 

[lnewlf]

I have a wall mounted radiant heater [Mr.Heater][email protected] vent or blower. It has a thermostat and easily heats my 500 square foot garage with 10 foot ceiling which is well insulated. Upside...cheap, easy to install, economical, quiet. Downside...takes a couple of hours to completely heat the garage and everything in it after a cold soak...

 

[PapaUtah]

Gets really cold in Michigan...gets really, really cold here in MN...I prefer forced air... things toasty in about 20 minutes on the coldest days in my 800sq ft garage.

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200577751_200577751

 

[bigjohnsd]

I have a ceiling mounted tube type infrared in my 3 stall garage, out of sight, out of mind, have had the system for 12 years with no issues. Great heat. Warm floor- warm vehicles, no problems

 

[RichDoyle]

Once upon a time I was renting part of a home in New Jersey that had a garage. I didn't normally use it but I was working on my car or bike (don't remember which) in November. It had no insulation but it did have --- wait for it --- a pot-bellied stove.

It had been raining, so the firewood (which was stacked outside) was thoroughly wet. So I did what any red-blooded male would do. I poured a little bit of gasoline over the wet wood and threw a lit match into the stove (cleverly standing aside of the open door). This produced a most excellent flame blasting out the door

This did the job. The fire caught. The garage got warm. The garage didn't catch fire. And I went about my appointed task without getting toasted by the special-effect produced by the stove.

Did I ever tell you about my experience with getting my hands on a chunk of pure sodium and threw it unto a jar of water in my bedroom? No? I'll leave it to your imagination

 

[Hudson]

My 30x50 shop uses a 300k BTU heater like MNFJR's. It heats the shop in no time at all, but inhales natural gas. Was free to me, so not crying, but the shop could use insulation.

 

[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?

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.

Thanks, Phil. I did something like that but used the same sized boards and screwed them into place. Cardboard would have been easier, but I suppose easier to knock down when I step off the ladder. Somehow, some of the damn stuff still manages to fall downstairs anyway most of the time.

But I like that styrofoam idea, since that door's the only place not insulated at all.

 

[PapaUtah]

I will add I have a fully insulated garage including insulated doors...mine runs for awhile to heat up the garage and then cycles 2 or 3 times an hour to maintain the temperature...

 

[deagle]

Just to update:

Last Friday had the furnace installed. Had two different heating/cooling companies come quote and both were pushing the forced air. One quoted a Modine Hot Dawg 60,000 btu for $2260. The other quoted a Reznor 45,000 btu for $2700. The gas line was there, but labor included everything else (hanging, duct work, digital thermostat, electrical wiring, etc). Guy was there about 5 hours doing the work with another guy there a little to help with the hanging. They placed it a little farther out from the corner that I would have liked, but I'll get used to that. Overall the furnace is larger than I would have thought, and quieter than I would have thought. It's not crazy cold here yet, but so far the garage is keeping warm better than I thought it would when I turn the furnace off. Maybe I will leave it on all Winter after all.

Overall very excited and happy with the outcome. So much quieter than my torpedo (salamander?) heater and much less smell and toxic fumes. Warmed up the air very quickly.

Thanks for all of the comments and suggestions!

Don.