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Thread: Will 1500W heat my garage?

  1. #1
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    Default Will 1500W heat my garage?

    Do you guys think a 1500W electric heater with a fan would heat my garage? It is detached, but appears to be very well insulated (during the recent -35C week, the coldest it ever got was -7C). I believe it's a standard double 20X20ft or very close to it. Ceilings are pretty low, maybe 9-10 feet. There is one large window as well but it doesn't open.

    Originally the plan was to heat it 24/7 with Infra-red or a gas unit, but if the coldest it's going to get is -7C, that really isn't needed. What I do want is temporary heat for when I am working out there. Doesn't have to be a balmy 25C, I would be fine with 15-18C or so while I'm out there.

    So, I think what I want is a powerful portable space heater. The "Mr. Heater" units look good, however I want to avoid gas if I can and buying/filling 1lb propane tanks all the time would be very annoying. Also, they removed the fan in 2018 so those models no longer blow air. I looked at the 'bullet' style heaters too but again they are all propane, and I don't know if you can even use them in a confined space since they would deplete all the oxygen.

    I have an electrical panel in the garage, but no 240V as far as I can tell, and 1500W seems to be about the limit for electric 120V heaters. Would something like this heat my garage since its insulated, or am I wasting my time?: https://www.amazon.ca/Honeywell-Prof...0402794&sr=8-3


    Plan B is to just get a full blown natural gas or electric heater installed on the ceiling but if I can get away with something more suited to temporary use and avoid any potential fire hazards associated with a permanent install, that seems to be the better choice for me.

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    I would think the concrete would continuously draw out a lot of the heat, as well as look at if your garage door is insulated per panel

    Check if you have 2 circuits running and maybe you can run 2 x 1500W.
    I would be your best bang-for-buck is oil filled radiators.

    One year when it was -10Cish i was out in the garage after I had left one oil radiator on high out there for an hour to warm the space up. I was still not ok with taking off my jacket to do my car work. Didn't do an exact temp measurement.

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    At - 30c outside, after you have the overhead door open from driving in, 1500w will NOT get interior temps above 0c within a few hours. No way.

    Might make the garage a little better overnight, but it will be subtle.

    1500w is about 5000 BTU. That's less than 1/10th as much as a small home furnace.
    Quote Originally Posted by killramos View Post
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    You realize you are talking to the guy who made his own furniture out of salad bowls right?

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    From my experience with a 24' by 24' garage and an 1500 watt electric heater, having it run 24/7 is the only way to make any sort of noticeable heat specially when it's really cold out. I would say no way my heater got the garage to 18 degrees but probably just above freezing. Also increased my electricity bill by probably $100 a month. Went to a 45,000 BTU gas heater and never looked back.

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    1.5kW running 24/7 would cost ~$5/day... not sure I'd pay $150/m for a slightly warmer garage.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Super_Geo View Post
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    1.5kW running 24/7 would cost ~$5/day... not sure I'd pay $150/m for a slightly warmer garage.
    The heater wouldn't run 100% load 24/7

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    Quote Originally Posted by Super_Geo View Post
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    1.5kW running 24/7 would cost ~$5/day... not sure I'd pay $150/m for a slightly warmer garage.
    yeah, my boiler puts out 110K BTUs and costs maybe $20-$30 a month to run to keep the garage at 15C. good luck with 1500W.

    Don't know what the specific heat capacity of a car is, but remember that you need to warm up the car from outside ambient to 15C. That's 1.5 Tonnes of metal to heat up that is cold soaked (except the engine).

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    Thermal mass of the slab is the issue.

    My old garage - basically a 3 car with 2 single doors. We ran a 2000w oil filled radiant heater. When it was cold it barely kept it above 0°, turned a fan on it when working out there to keep it warmer.

    If the options there - winter heat I went solar, two windows got air to air solar heaters. Not pretty but got the garage toasty by noon for no real cost (small solar panel + PC fan, window gets light fan starts circulating) had an air to water too for a while but it was more headache.

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    I have a 5000w 240V electric heater in my garage and it runs sparingly most of the time, keeping the garage at 7-9 degrees. During the recent cold snap it was running every time you opened a door, lowest it got was 3 degrees, after opening the garage door. Haven't noticed a large dent in the electric bill. It was going to be pricier to run a gas line to the garage since it's no where close.

    They go on sale at Princess Auto very often and running 240V electrical line is not that pricey if you have the main panel in the garage already.

    1500w would likely run constantly and probably will not keep pace in the colder weather. Ceiling mount is a lot safer as well as you can mount it away from anywhere it may cause a fire hazard.

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    20’ x 8’ office sea-can construction trailers have 4500 - 6000w electric heaters for a tiny space that’s very well insulated and zero air leakage.

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    Yes, if I kept the doors closed it would stay at 9 degrees even in the extreme cold. Just my attic access is the only thing letting air escape. I hooked up a temperature sensor to my weather station and have long term temp data on it.

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    Thanks guys - sounds like I might need a bit more power.

    And for clarity in case I was rambling too much in my OP, this is for temporary heat when I am out there working - not something I want to leave on 24/7 and not something I want to use to keep the garage at a certain temperature 24/7. If I know I am going to be working out there, I just want something that will warm it up for me for the duration I'm working. I don't care if it's running constantly for a few hours while I'm out there - power is pretty cheap. Using an online power calculator, if I am doing it right, says 2hr a day for an entire year, 1500W is only $75/yr which is way more than it will ever get used, especially since it would be off in the summer. If I bump it up to 5000W it says $244/yr which still strikes me as extremely cheap, but I imagine I'd need 240V for that much power.

    The panel looks to be a sub-panel routed through the main 100 amp panel in the house, and there are a few 15 amp breakers pre-installed. The garage itself is finished & primed with an insulated door and attic and I imagine it's fairly air-tight.

    Further research on the big infra red heaters like Calcana suggests they are more suited to much higher ceilings and warehouse applications than a small residential garage, and some people say they can damage car paint, but I haven't seen any evidence of that. It would be nice to just flip a switch on the wall and get instant heat though.

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    I think you will never truly be satisfied with an electric heater like this. Do it right with a proper garage heater especially if you're planning on staying there a while. I believe they can be had for around $2000-2500 fully installed.

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    I have an attached, finished, insulted 2 car garage and used to run a 1500W electric heater. To answer your question, no it’s not enough. I went to a 5000W 240V unit from princess auto for like $89 on sale and it’s amazing. Running 240V to the garage was super simple too. Haven’t even noticed a jump in my power bill, and I run it a lot so that when I’m working in there it’s a nice 21*C
    ...

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    Quote Originally Posted by pheoxs View Post
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    The heater wouldn't run 100% load 24/7
    Wanna bet? It will definitely on days where it is sub zero. The only thing those spaces heaters are good for is bringing small rooms up a few degrees. Relying on one in your garage will just end up with you being broke. Payback on a gas unit vs electric is just over 2 years. Sooner if you do most of the work yourself.

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    Just buy a Tesla and leave it’s heat on with the windows down. Bam, free garage heat! Payback in a quick 962 years.

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    Maybe I should just mine some bitcoin out there

    Anyway, sounds like a ceiling mounted 240V heater might be the way to go both in terms of cost, and not having to worry about natural gas.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Darell_n View Post
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    Just buy a Tesla and leave it’s heat on with the windows down. Bam, free garage heat! Payback in a quick 962 years.
    This would work as the Tesla has an 8KW heater.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Maxx Mazda View Post
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    I have an attached, finished, insulted 2 car garage and used to run a 1500W electric heater. To answer your question, no it’s not enough. I went to a 5000W 240V unit from princess auto for like $89 on sale and it’s amazing. Running 240V to the garage was super simple too. Haven’t even noticed a jump in my power bill, and I run it a lot so that when I’m working in there it’s a nice 21*C
    Did you do it yourself or did you have an electrician come by? I would need an electrician haha.

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