If space is a priority, you have no choice other than a wall-mounted gas heater or one of those box type gas or electric jobs that hang from the ceiling.

 

Abe,
I work in my shop in Maine all winter long. I built the barn with a heated shop within the barn 23 years ago. I installed a 100,000 btu/hr ceiling hung oil fired hot air furnace and have never regretted it. My heated workshop is 22' x 28'. The hot air furnace is in the upper right in the photo. In my previous shop in Massachusetts I bought a used floor mount hot air oil fired furnace that I bought for very light money. My oil tank is a 275 gallon tank which is located in the "cool" part of my barn. If it was necessary to have the oil tank outside I would have to burn Kerosene (at least here in the northeast). I believe that if you don't have heat you will not work in the workshop, not an option for me.

 

My 24x30 garage has a small electric heater hanging on the ceiling joist and I use a torpedo heater that is on wheels. I had a 125,000 btu but it quit so I replaced it with a 50,000 btu and made a cart from the old heater. I just run it long enough to take the chill off and keep the electric heater running. My garage is detached and well vented.

 

Abe, this is whst you want. Hangs from the ceiling so takes up no space. It can be natural gas or propane with conversion kit. It is also direct vent so you shoot it out wall with thimble and z vent. Will heat your garage in less than 5 minutes

 

Abe, I put in a Hot Dang suspended furnace with semi-isolated combustion last fall--just before I broke my leg. As a result, I haven't used it very much yet. My unit is oversized for my building to compensate for a lack of insulation, and puts out an advertised 60,000 BTU's. My garage is 24x30 and it has a story and a half of usable space. It is not insulated. I really do need some insulatation, however, as my unit is running a lot just trying to maintain 50 degrees in comparatively mild outside temperatures. My only complaint so far (other than the amount of running time required to heat an uninsulated structure) is that the unit was expensive to purchase, and the installation wasn't cheap either. The fan is a little noisy too.

Life is short, Abe. You can't afford to let three months of winter slip away without making progress on your trucks. A heated garage is handy for other things as well. Good luck with your decision.

Jim

 

Thank you for all your great advice. I think it has helped me but more importantly helped lots of others.

Perhaps I wasn't explicit enough when I posed my question. I do not want to heat my garage full time all winter. I just wanted some heat to take the edge off when I am out there. I also have a basement workshop for small stuff but I can't paint there as the fumes filter upstairs. Don't ask me how I know....

Last winter I hung tarps and used 2 electric heaters in the room part of my garage to get it up to 40°F in order to paint exhaust Manifolds and a crossover pipe.

I don't have the money now to put in a heating system like some of you guys have, nor room, as I said earlier, for a cheaper solution like a wood burner or pellet stove. And I need it to be portable.

So yesterday i bought a propane tank top heater. Rest assured, I will not paint while it is on. My garage is not airtight and I will not leave the building while it is on.

With all the great suggestions maybe in a year or so I can come up with better plan.

 

One last suggestion I can come up with is a Military M2A Field kitchen burner. Gasoline or White gas fueled 100K BTU output can be found quite cheap surplus and will heat a small or medium sized garage to room temp in no time at all.
Again ventilation is key for their use. The approx 2 gallons of fuel capacity will give about 4 hours run time at full bore it's cheaper than propane to run given the total heat out put.
I actually used one and an old automotive radiator as an impromptu heater for the 1000 gallon portable pool for the kids years ago. It would heat that 1000 gallons from under 40F to over 90F in about an hour. Made for a nice hot tub also. They can be converted to propane (guys have done it) quite easily.

See below pic of the unit and video of one running.




www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGIqPmI6mJE

 

Abe, I just heat my garage up when I am working in it is all I do so I understand where you are coming from. My heaters just take the chill off. I couldn't afford to keep it warm enough to work with out a coat.

 

Wow! That is a "blast from the past". Those heaters worked great outside in Korea at -30 deg F. 😱