Pantera Garage Heater

AJThree,
I'd recommend a properly sized natural gas fired overhead heater. Many of my friends here in Kansas use these & I have two large ones that heat my 5000 sq. ft. business just fine. More economical than electric heat in my area. Where are you located?

Bob Radefeld #5042

I am outside Chicago. I was thinking of going with an overhead gas heater. I need to hurry it is starting to get cold!

Amen Brother! Before we know it we'll both up
to our "you know whats" in snow.

Bob

If you plan to live there for a few years, check on a ground water heat pump. Operating costs should run less then 1/3 of gas, but equipment and installation may be expensive.

Jim,
I lived with a heat pump for 20 years after we built our house in 1979 before I switched over to propane (we're out in the country)& it did do a decent job until the weather got fairly cold. You definitely don't want the electric elements they build in to these units (to provide extra heat when the heat pump can't keep up with the colder temperatures)to come on or your electric bill will skyrocket. The main thing,however, that we didn't like about the heat pump was that the "heat" that you get out of the vents is never any more than 92-94 degrees. This makes it feel like the air conditioner is on since your body temperature is always in the 98-99 degree range. You & everything in your house (or garage in this instance) feels "cold" to the touch even though the thermostat shows the house to be "warm". If I put one of these in any structure I would definitely add some type of stove, etc. that didn't require any electricity to actually keep me "warm". Just my opinion.

Bob

Notice the GROUND WATER ahead of heat pump. A standard heat pump is not effecient below 40ºF. The ground water heat pump has a couple hundred feet of pipe buried 10 ft down in your yard and has a constant supply of 55ºF water to the heat exchanger instead of air. It will do both heating and cooling effectively.

I did see the GROUND WATER in front, Jim. And "Yes" this type of heat pump is much more efficient than my 20 year old model was for sure. You're also correct in your statement that this type unit can be very expensive to install initially. In my case, even if it had been available at the time I built our house,I would have incurred considerable expense getting the tubing in the ground since our three acre lot turned out to be VERY rockey ground (as well as a wooded jungle) that needed a backhoe to dig anything (septic lines, electrical & water lines,etc.)as there was not a trenching company that would touch the job with a hundred foot pole. However efficient these GW heat pumps are, the fact remains that they put out what my wife called "Cold" heat and I was threatened several times with being made a "Happy Single Guy" if I didn't replace it with the propane type we have now. FWIW

Bob

My recommensdation is radiant heat. 30% less fuel whether you use gas, oil or electric. You could put the loops in the ceiling and insulate over it or if the garage was new in the concrete like I did. The problem with overhead heaters is open flames. Fumes from gas and paint thinners ? well thats self explainatory. You can run the radiant off a water heater electric like I have done with a pump. There are many types of panels loops and such to fit your needs. Its the safest and most efficient. Why the water is only heated to 100 degrees. 1/2 the temp of a conventional hot water system. But if budget is the issue then overhead is it but be careful there are codes that prevent this.