i need to heat my one car garage.

i have unlimited use of electricity for free

i don't want to burn down with the fiberglass resin in the garage etc.

and it needs to be able to fit in there (its tight)

here's the garage

what do you recommend?

i would use a little propane torpedo heater.my girlfriend bought me one last year for my garage and it works awesome,it also has a thermostat and lets off no fumes

is propane safe? i mean really safe

I used it all last winter with no problems.I used my gas grill canister and it worked great.I will try and get you a pic:D

He could use a torpedo heater but it'll be tight. I've got a 150,000 BTU/hr torpedo heater for my 2 car garage when I work in it. He could also maybe get a propane powered or any type of kerosene powered heater. I've saw a propane powered heater installed up in the ceiling of a small garage the size of Expo's but I'm not sure how effective it was.

My torpedo is only 60000 :D

http://www.woodlandproducts.com/p258.asp

Mine is all the way at the bottom of the page:D

Originally posted by 88vert
My torpedo is only 60000 :D

Yeah I love my torpedo, I used last winter to melt some ice around the inner part of the garage door, damn thing froze during the blizzard. Best thing about the torpedo heater is the fact I only paid $100 for it. Down in the Baltimore city, a guy walks up to the bar my GF worked at and was selling torpedo heaters for a silly price. I've priced the heater at Home Depot for $250. Hopefully that guy will come around again, I need some more tools, maybe a 2nd air compressor, my old one is starting to go bad.

You seriously should just get an electric heater of some sort. If you dont pay the electricity, you might as well...Thats the problem with propane/kerosene, you have to keep it full of fuel...get a couple ceramic space heaters and leave em on all the time...

I have a torpedo heater also and it works great. It also heats the garage up real quick. In your case Id say go with the space heaters as mentioned and leave them on all the time, if you cant leave them on all the time id go with the torpedo.

i got a ceramic one for 35 at home depot. i left it on for four hours and couldn't tell the difference- how big of one do i need? i though that would eventually get the temp up. i learned that the heat ouput to the environment exceeded the input to my system from the heater...

I use an 85000 btu torpedo to heat my 24x44 garage, can work in a t-shirt in there when it's 0 outside. Since your garage is a single stall I would look at getting a kerosene or propane convection heater and use a small box fan to circulate the air. Also if you haven't already insulate your garage and put a lid in it to keep the heat down out of the attic space. the lid alone will make a world of difference.

Yeah, insulate the walls...that will amke a world of difference...even two electric floorboard heaters will work if is insulated well.

I just had this same question!

I've got a one car garage (that's fully finished with a ceiling) and the little electical heater I had didn't do squat. I had to come home on my lunch hour if I wanted to work on my car that evening.

So with the propane and such aren't there fumes to worry about?

I have never had a problem with the fumes. I normally crank it full bore til the chill is gone then leave turned up just high enough to keep the garage warm. There are enough air leaks in my garage that I don't smell any exhaust.

I've never noticed any fumes from a torpedo heater. But then again, I'll fire it up till I'm comfortable and when I get chilly, I just fire it back up.

I only run mine for about 20 min then shut it off.It heats up my two car garage just fine,and they burn real clean too:D

i think thats your prob buddy, you need some insulation :)

if you're gonna go with propane, get a www.mrheater.com

ive got one, and it keeps my 2car garage warm in the winter. although, its usually in the high 30's at the most here. the single burner unit will run you out of a 1car garage with it on high. also, they have a low O2 sensor that shuts it off before you suffocate, which is a nice feature.

http://www.mrheater.com/upload/item/mh12Twhite.jpg

there is a little problem with paying to insulate a garage i'm renting. sadly enough they'd probably get pissed at me for it at this place.

how cheaply you guys think i could insulate?

I believe that propane exhaust is C02 and water vapor, so there's no danger other than getting enough fresh air for you to breath.

Still, in such a small space, I think I'd opt for an electric, especially since you're not paying for it. The new oil filled radiator types put out a fair amount of heat. We used one in Colorado to keep our drafty Victorian livable. You can get them at Walmart.

Electic isn't going to heat as much as gas, but in such a small space, you shouldn't need much.

Okay, here is what I think I would do in your situation. I would get some sort of electric heater capable of running constantly and keeping the garage around 50 degrees or so at all times. Then get a small propane fueled heater, so when you want to work in there, you can fire it up and blast the place to 70 or whatever fairly quickly, and then hopefully the electric heater(s) will keep it somewhat toasty in there for ya. You might as well use electric heaters, you dont have to pay for them...Thats why most people dont use them, because they suck electricity like mad...but thats not a concern here...Thats just what I would do........

What do you want to heat if for, 1) heat only while your working, or 2) maintain heat all the time.

1) I would say small propane heater to heat quickly. Electric heater take awhile. You don't want to wait all night for it to heat up.

2) With free electirc I would get a electric oil filled radiant heater, or some type of larger electric heater, plug it up and leave it. Those small 8 in ceramic heater won't do it

It does look tight, maybe a couple feet on either side. The only thing with propane heaters you might either sinch the wood frame or burn your paint.

if i were you i'd go propane.

check here too...

http://www.heatershop.com/

electric is horrible. your only going to get a 5000 BTU heater running it off 110. they are all junk. we are running a Modine [off the boiler] but also have a 155,000 BTU forced hot air heater that runs off kerosene, a 75,000 BTU forced hot air kerosene, a 55,000 BTU forced hot air propane heater and several electric heater that are now in the garbage.

the kerosene heaters will blow you out with the fumes but the crank. the propane heaters crank too but less the fumes. go propane. :thumbsup:

as far as insulating goes, just go grab some from home depot, lowes oer whatever you have buy you... staple it up and your done. it's not permanent and not pricey if you do it yourself...