Anybody heat an uninsulated garage with propane or natural gas?

I have an attached 1 car garage and am tempted to get one of those non-vented 30,000 btu wall heaters if it won't cost me a fortune to keep it at about 45 degrees. I do have an insulated garage door for whatever that is worth.

I'm also not sure if 30,000 btus is enough. This is the upper midwest where it gets down to below 0 fairly regularly in the middle of winter.

 

I have a 2 car garage that has a outside wall and double garage door wall that is uninsulated. I am in the process of trying to get a 220 volt single phase forced air electric heater that is my first choice since I am in the middle of body and paint. I don't think I will be able to secure what I want fast enough, so I will get a 27,000 btu kerosene (ventless from home depot for $119) this weekend so I can at least do some bodywork w/o paint. I think your heat requirement should be enough.
ED

 

The first thing that I'd do is to insulate and cover the walls. I did this just this past summer to my 2 car attached garage and the difference is unbelievable. I also caulked around the garage doors (on the inside) to make sure that all of the framing around the doors was air tight. Between insulation and sheetrock, I think the investment was about $300 between the insulation and 18 sheets of drywall. I wanted to use flakeboard on the walls, but I just couldn't see paying $17 a sheet.

Matt

 

Agreed. I work in an 30x28x10H uninsulated, detached garage and tried a 30K BTU kerosene heater in it... didn't even make a dent in the cold... Insulation makes A LOT of difference. The cost of the insulation will be repaid faster than you think in saved fuel costs. Plus, it will heat up faster.

 

I think I will insulate the ceiling this winter (where most of the heat loss is) and the few stud cavities I can easily get to without taking down pegboard or moving big stuff. Eventually I will insulate the whole thing. I'm thinking about spending a bit more and getting a modine hot dawg forced vent type heater as opposed to the unvented wallmount.

 

Is it really safe to use open flame (kerosene) heaters in the garage? I would think that fumes from paint, gas, or solvnets would flash.

 

As a rule, no. But in reality, it depends on what you're doing in the garage. I don't paint and don't keep open solvents around. At the time I was doing suspension work, which other than the occasional squirt of WD40 is relatively free of flammables. Had I been doing something involving the gas tank, I wouldn't have used an open flame heater. Regardless it didn't work very well...

 

I have a three car attached garage that is unheated and has been sheetrocked. I had insulation blown in the walls, 1/2 of the ceiling is insulated because of the room above it. I would like to insulate the other 1/2 some day. It never get below 40 degrees in there now. Even when the temps here in OK drop into the single digits. The next house I build will have a garage that is heated and air conditioned.

 

Have a 2 car garage that I got up to 75 degrees when it was 4 degrees outside. I have a propane heater that I put a pan of water on top of. Humidity makes it feel warmer.
As for dangerousness (not a real word) I have a digital Carbon monoxide detector and have yet to even get a reading. Only when i start my vehical.

 

I had a 26x28 uninsulated garage with open eave and ridge vents here in MIchigan down to the single digit temps. Could get by with a 40K BTU propane heater there, just had to move it a little closer in January. Kept the digital CO detector going all the time and always figured I was safer with the extra ventilation, even if most of the heat was going right up and out the ridge vent.

For serious use though, I'd go with the insulation and no torpedo heaters. Even with the CO monitoring I can do without all the fumes.

 

in north carolina I have used a recirculating oil heater with a box fan behind it on low to heat a 2 car attached garage. I helped rescue a doberman and didnt want to take a chance on CO. It kept the garage warm enough to work in through 15-20 degree weather

 

Spend the time and money and insulate, You'll be able to use a smaller heater and keep warmer. Then drywall or plywood up your walls as well.

 

I have a 20x24 uninsulated garage space. Its detached. I installed an 84,000 btu house furnace with 2 duct runs down both sides of the space. It also heats the small workshop that is on the back of the garage. It can warm the space in about 30 minutes, and will turn on and off with a wall thermostat.

 

I've got a 28x32 "uninsulated" garage here in maine I did use some sheets of styrofoam to do the ceiling which made a huge difference. All I have is this old franklin woodstove that I fire up and before you know it you can be working in a t-shirt

 

A few years ago when I lived in VA, I had and insulated 2.5 car unisulated garage. Previous owner had installed a wood stove and it kicked butt. Plenty warm and that was with a broken window at less than 20 degrees outside.