Garage Insulation/Heating

Coledavis01 · Nov 4, 2011

Hello All,

Planning on upgrading my 2 car garage for the winter. I plan on replacing all the seals around the door and from there, install insulation on the door as well as a heater of some type.
My question is what has everyone experience both positive and negative with the insulation and heaters?
Garage is attached with an insulated attic & walls and I'd say roughly 4,000ft3.

I've seen kits to do a garage door but they seem a bit pricey, have read that using the pink insulation boards just as effective but not to mess with the batting style as the moisture will quickly make a mess out of it.

As far as heaters go, I do have a natural gas line available but am a bit concerned on any health effects that may have as opening the door is going to defeat the whole purpose. There is current ac ducting running to the very front of the garage but the flow is terrible and I just leave it shut, could potentially remove the ducting for the ac and use this existing inlet as an outlet and tie into a bathroom vent unless that is a bad idea? Goal is to not have to cut a hole in the house.
Other issue with the heaters is what type to go with? I like the idea of the wall mounted radiant heat type but would a convection type be a better way to go? Would like it to be as efficient as possible is the only reason I've ruled out the electric and with a 10' ceiling I don't want to have the large bulky convection if possible.

Thanks for any feedback you guys may have.

FridayGt · Nov 4, 2011

I'm really interested in hearing everyone's response's to this as well. I recently bought a space heater specifically packaged for garages and utility rooms. Well, I can barely feel any heat coming off of the thing standing 2 feet in front of it.

65hemi · Nov 4, 2011

I have a Lennox natural gas overhead space heater in my 2 car garage. Works on a thermostat. I turn the heat down when not working and turn it back up when I am in the garage. Works great. Blows warm air the entire length of the garage. You can see it on the back wall over the tool box in the photo.

kdtjb · Nov 4, 2011

Get a Lennox LF24-30 (30,000 btu,s) they cost about 700 bucks. It will heat your garage just fine. They hang just 1" from your ceiling, and are 13" high for a total of 14".

gremlinsteve · Nov 4, 2011

my garage is attached. i just made outlets in the ceiling and ran the ducting from my heating/ac system in the attic for the home.
works like a charm and not really tough to do.

used a fiber type insulation in the garage door pannels also. mine was more or less for the cooling as it gets hot around these parts. but the heat works just as well.

steve-o

MoparBill · Nov 4, 2011

I use a wood pellet stove to heat my garageduring the winter. I have natural gas ran into the garage but I want to keep my garage expenses separate from the household expenses. I am very happy with the pellet stove, I've been using it for 7 years with zero complaints.
My garage door is an insulated type, but I would guess a closed cell ridgid insulation would be the way to go for your application.

Budnicks · Nov 4, 2011

Insulation in the ceiling, walls & on the inside of the garage door will help wonders for hot summer or cold winters, a gas heater is great if you have a gas supply to tap into, if not an electric space heater is junk, you can get electric heaters that have a fan assist, you need to move the air along with the heat... If you have the room a ceiling fan will help to circulate the hot air off the ceiling in the winter & the cooler air in the summer, just switch the direction of the fan, some garages will benefit from an evacuation fan also i hot months...

dla4567 · Nov 4, 2011

I would go with a 60,000 btu 2 stage downflow furnace. The 2 stage will heat the garage alot faster and not be oversized when the garage is up to temp. The down flow will blow the heat across the floor instead of up in the air. If you go with a 90%+ eff. furnace you can vent it with pvc pipe and bring in outside air for combustion, the sealed burners will keep vapors from being sucked into the furnace and there are no flames open to the garage. If you use a 90%+ furnace you will have to keep the garage above freezing because the furnace will freeze. good luck

Deleted member 214 · Nov 4, 2011

Mr. Heater radiant gas heater. I had a 2-car attached that was nicely insulated except for the overhead door. I added rigid foam to it. The pilot light alone was nice, and when I fired up the heater I could work in January in a light jacket. My new garage is detached and 24x32, I got the same heater but haven't tried it in the dead of winter yet.

wannadrag · Nov 4, 2011

Does it even get cold in Kansas?lol My workshop is 30x40 and i kept the old LP house furnace when i upgraded and used it in the shop.I set it as low as it goes and keeps it 40 degrees all the time and goes though about 200 gals of LP in a winter.But i also have a wood burner that i fire up when i am out there and gets it up to t shirt weather in no time.

zyzzyx · Nov 4, 2011

Toasty Garage

I recently insulated my garage and drywalled it. I have R-13 in the walls, with 1/2" Thermax foil faced insulatin board on the inside with 1/2" drywall. The 16' door is an insulated unit with no windows, and I have a 45,000 BTU
Hot Dawg power vent hanging Heat tube heater. For a two-car garage, this works great! The heater is on a thermostat, and is set @ 55 when not working in the garage. Heating bill is negligable.

Ron 73 · Nov 4, 2011

Last winter i got one of those kerosene turbo heaters and it worked great being not to big, but my garage is small...

detmatt1 · Nov 5, 2011

I insulated my very old 20' x 36' with 1.5" rigid foam in between all of the studs and did the garage door with it as well and it worked great! Spread a bunch of fiberglass insullation in the attic which has a wood floor throughout. Sealed around all of the windows and anywhere I could see light coming through the 85 year old wood lap siding with caulk and Great Stuff. Ran an underground gas line from the house and hung a small wall mount heater on the wall, I think less then $200 at the Home Depot. Built a shelf for a $10 box fan above it. I keep my shop heated at all times during the winter by keeping the heater on low as with the box fan above it for around $60 a month. Never gets below about 45 degrees out there and easily heats it up well into the 50's when I turn it up. Got most everything I needed to do it off Craigslist, even the rigid foam, gas line and the heater. The only thing I paid full price for were the proper gas line risers for the underground gas line.

Coledavis01 · Nov 7, 2011

Thanks for all the input guys, sounds like insulating the door is step one, I'll get pics up of whatever I end up doing.

rlsbee · Nov 7, 2011

I have a 24x30 block garage that is detached. I bought a used house furnace for $100 a number of years ago and it's still doing the job. Didn't put in ductwork, just built a plenum with a couple of registers to direct the air and it works fine. Sometimes you can pick up a heater like this when people are remodeling or adding central air (and need a lower profile unit for the 'A' coil).

EV2 GTX · Nov 8, 2011

Mine's a 36 X 22 with R 20 in the walls and R 40 in the cieling. I installed a radiant tube for heat as they are reasonoable in price and are efficient and easy to install. I have a standard 10' ceiling in half of the garage and a vaulted ceiling (12' 1 1/2") in the other half so I mounted the tube along the front wall of the garage at a 35-40 degree angle.

The actual Corning pink insulation board will give you an R 10 rating which is about as good as it gets for doors. Of course the other option is to price out an insulated door which are available in R 10.

What size is your door?

Coledavis01 · Nov 10, 2011

EV2, That is one nice looking garage! I've got a standard 2 car w/ a single door 16' x 7' & no windows . Going to go w/ the rigid pink foam insulation on the door I believe and cover in the white vinyl sheeting so it doesn't look like a sorority house when I shut the door.
For the heater I like the idea of the convection units but not looking to spend more than $300 or so if at all possible so leaning towards the Mr. Heater units like Greg is using.
It can definitely get chilly here in Kansas but may see what difference I get by just insulating it better and using the heater off the house if the gas bill doesn't get out of hand.

EV2 GTX · Nov 10, 2011

Coledavis01 said:
EV2, That is one nice looking garage! I've got a standard 2 car w/ a single door 16' x 7' & no windows . Going to go w/ the rigid pink foam insulation on the door I believe and cover in the white vinyl sheeting so it doesn't look like a sorority house when I shut the door.
For the heater I like the idea of the convection units but not looking to spend more than $300 or so if at all possible so leaning towards the Mr. Heater units like Greg is using.
It can definitely get chilly here in Kansas but may see what difference I get by just insulating it better and using the heater off the house if the gas bill doesn't get out of hand.

Thanks Coledavis, I just built it this year and it was a long summer.

My doors are 16 X 8 and were about $1400.00 with an R 10 rating. I used the pink board for my retaining wall and it seems to work fairly well so far, but not very cold yet. I think I paid about $ 25 a sheet (4X8) for the insulation, so that would definitely be the best option from a cost perspective. I haven't tried it, but I wonder if you could paint that stuff instead of buying vinyl sheeting. If you have some paint kickin' around it might be worth a try before spending the $....just a thought.

Anyway, good luck and let us know how it works out!!:beerchug:

goose69 · Nov 18, 2011

I think insulating the door is a must for sure. We used many different heaters in a buddy's garage but he bought a used gravity fed pellet burning heater/stove off craigslist for CHEAP. It used NO electricity to run which is nice and makes it portable and if needed he places a small fan by it do direct heat. Wouldn't suggest it for a large shop or such but a standard garage it seemed to work pretty good.

shag766 · Nov 18, 2011

apparently heat rises. mine is 16ft to the ceiling for my big trucks. i put in a 110,000 btu furnace with 4 cieling fans. if i had to do it again, it would be in-floor heating.

Garage Insulation/Heating

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