For whatever reason, you enjoy spending time in your garage, keeping your garage warm during winter months is very important. You will need to know the size of your garage and how much heat you need to stay warm during the winter months.
To determine the right choice for your garage door, calculate the square footage of your garage, and choose a heater that would be suitable.
Insulating Your Garage
The first step in ensuring your garage is ready for a heater is insulating your garage. Your garage door, if it is just a metal door with no insulation, will need insulating, as this is the surest way to lose any heat brought by a heater into your garage. You will want to ensure that any openings, whether around your garage door or windows, are sealed with weather-stripping.
One of the times when garage heaters can be dangerous is when people try to make them do more than they should. If your garage is insulated, the heater won’t have to work as hard. Ensuring that your garage is insulated enough helps to hold the heat in, and keep your utility bills down.
Before you invest in any kind of garage heating system, ensure that your garage has enough insulation. Insulate garage doors where possible, as well as walls and ceilings. Although insulation itself doesn’t warm the garage, it does slow the transfer of heat, keeping the warmth from escaping.
Propane Heaters vs Other Heaters
With an indoor propane heater, you can work on your car in the garage, do projects in a workshop, turn your backyard shed into a man-cave or she-shed, or enjoy the view from your porch year-round. Propane heaters warm a space faster and more efficiently with lower energy costs than an electric heater. Your indoor propane heater should have features such as a low oxygen sensor, a high-temperature coated safety guard on the front, overheat protection, and automatic shutoff in case of it tipping over.
Make sure the propane heater is installed on a non-combustible surface away from where people walk and is positioned safely away from combustible materials such as furniture, curtains, doors, bedding, and towels. If you use a wall-mounted room heater, make sure your wall material is non-combustible.
Never leave a propane heater unattended. Turn the heater off when you leave the room, or are not around. If the propane heater has a yellow or orange flame instead of a blue one, stop using it immediately because the heat is not burning properly, and the heater can become dangerous. Vacuum up any dust on the outside of the propane indoor space heater and on the grills of the heater.
If you use a natural gas heater, leave the garage door wide open to convert your space into a semi-open area. The ventilation in the working area should facilitate sufficient air circulation, proper ventilation in working areas help with avoiding excess carbon dioxide inhalation. A mounted electric heater is normally larger than a space heater and it will heat the garage easier. They are normally easier to install as well, and you may be able to install it yourself. A ductless heating system is great when you want to heat a single room, like a garage. With a ductless heater, you can warm your garage when you are using it, but will not waste money heating it when you aren’t in it.
Warnings About Propane Heaters
Propane heaters are versatile and they come in many different sizes. This is overall a great way to heat your garage, but there are several safety precautions that need to be taken.
- Keep the propane heater away from furniture and other combustible items
- Never leave anything on top of the heater itself
- Make sure that you have a carbon monoxide detector installed in your garage
- Do not leave the propane heater on or unattended when you leave the garage
- Keep area around propane heater free of dust and other debris
- Do not spray aerosols near the propane heater
- Make sure that you are able to get out of the garage safely if necessary
The best protection is to ensure that your propane heater is placed near a window or outdoor vent, install a carbon monoxide monitor in the garage. The propane heater you use should include low oxygen sensors, overheat protection, and automatic shutoff.
