garage heating

[jaymanek]

Hi all,

Well my new 46ft x 26ft garage is bloomin freezing..

The first time I have heard a lifter make a noise on one of my cars on a cold start... thankfully it resumed normal silence after a few seconds.

Anyway, I want to inhibit these sorts of issues and rust from forming so need some sort of heating.

I am dead against leaving electric things on whilst im not in a room... have heard of garage fires all too often...
but i need something to get rid of the edge with the weather we are having.

What do you guys think of having 4 of these for example:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1220mm-4ft-Tu...14&_trkparms=72:1301|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318

any other suggestions?

I want them to be as safe as possible... they need to be low voltage and have a safety cut out...

Do heaters affect alarm sensors? I have a fully monitored alarm with movement and fire sensors...

 

[maddog]

My mate had two of those in his 12x10 workshop , they kept it from freezing but it wasnt exactly warm in there

 

[kwakdonut]

They won't do much in a garage the size of yours!

My garage uses a 3kw electric heater set on frost setting overnight and I use a Calor Gas 3 bar heater when I'm working in there. I have no issue with the fumes as the garage is drafty anyway!

Depends if you need heating all the time or only when you're in there really.

Maybe a good quality space heater?

 

[jaymanek]

Im looking to keep them on permanently and im not going to be there 99% of the time... this is the reason im worried about safety of them...

 

[Dieselman]

My garage uses a 3kw electric heater set on frost setting overnight and I use a Calor Gas 3 bar heater when I'm working in there. I have no issue with the fumes as the garage is drafty anyway!

Which is why you need such a powerful heater.

Any gas heater is a bad idea as it creates water vapour which then condenses on the cold cars.

I understood heated garages to be a bad idea for cars as the warm air encouraged water vapour to settle onto the cold metalwork and cause corrosion.

A better idea would be to properly thermally insulate the garage but still allow some ventilation. This reduces the risk of condensation.

I wouldn't be heating a garage to stop knocking hydraulic tappets, I would flush the engine and fill with slightly thinner oil if necessary, or fit engine pre-heaters.

 

[kwakdonut]

What about oil-filled radiators? I had one of them in my first house (no central heating!) - kicked out loads of heat and not too expensive to run. You might need more than one in your garage. No fire risk either like a convector.

Plenty of choice here!

http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?pp=20&s=Price%3A+Low+-+High&storeId=10001&catalogId=1500001151&langId=-1&q=RADIATORS&x=17&y=12

 

[jaymanek]

Which is why you need such a powerful heater.
I understood heated garages to be a bad idea for cars as the warm air encouraged water vapour to settle onto the cold metalwork and cause corrosion.

A better idea would be to properly thermally insulate the garage but still allow some ventilation. This reduces the risk of condensation.

I wouldn't be heating a garage to stop knocking hydraulic tappets, I would flush the engine and fill with slightly thinner oil if necessary, or fit engine pre-heaters.

Really?

My single garage is properly insulated as its part of the house... it has an insulated door and two radiators in it and always thought this was the best environment for the car?!

 

[kwakdonut]

Which is why you need such a powerful heater.

Any gas heater is a bad idea as it creates water vapour which then condenses on the cold cars.

I understood heated garages to be a bad idea for cars as the warm air encouraged water vapour to settle onto the cold metalwork and cause corrosion.

A better idea would be to properly thermally insulate the garage but still allow some ventilation. This reduces the risk of condensation.

I wouldn't be heating a garage to stop knocking hydraulic tappets, I would flush the engine and fill with slightly thinner oil if necessary, or fit engine pre-heaters.

Don't have a car in mine, just bikes so no real problem re water vapour and corrosion. Just like to be a bit warmer when working out there!! Also, have a fridge freezer which doesnt like very cold temperatures so the lekky heater keeps it up slightly.

Garage is well insulated as I use the 'eaves' to store boxes etc so it is loft boarded with insulation all along the ceiling. Garage door also insulated and draft proofed (not brilliantly though!) - Makes a heck of a difference

 

[kwakdonut]

Really?

My single garage is properly insulated as its part of the house... it has an insulated door and two radiators in it and always thought this was the best environment for the car?!

Think what he's getting at is that burning gas releases water and thus this settles on cold surfaces and causes corrosion as burning gas also releases acids! Normal radiator or electric heating doesnt have so much problem although temperature differentials will play a big part in this.

 

[Dieselman]

Really?

My single garage is properly insulated as its part of the house... it has an insulated door and two radiators in it and always thought this was the best environment for the car?!

So you take your car out on a wet day, or just open the garage door, all the moisture either pours in or comes in with the car. Because the air is heated it can carry a lot more water as vapour due to the dew point being higher.
The car is cold and the air is warm so all the water settles onto the car metalwork.
If anything you want to heat the car, not the garage.

You would be better dehumidifying the air than heating it and keeping a close eye on humidity levels.

Heat also speeds up chemical reactions, including rust.

 

[jaymanek]

interesting....

 

[kwakdonut]

So in all fairness it's actually better to store your car(s) in a cold garage!

 

[Dieselman]

If it was me and I really wanted to heat the air in the garage, I'd install a passive solar air heater on the Southern side of the garage along with insulation.

 

[verytalldave]

Hi all,

Well my new 46ft x 26ft garage is bloomin freezing..

The first time I have heard a lifter make a noise on one of my cars on a cold start... thankfully it resumed normal silence after a few seconds.

Anyway, I want to inhibit these sorts of issues and rust from forming so need some sort of heating.

I am dead against leaving electric things on whilst im not in a room... have heard of garage fires all too often...
but i need something to get rid of the edge with the weather we are having.

What do you guys think of having 4 of these for example:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1220mm-4ft-Tu...14&_trkparms=72:1301|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318

any other suggestions?

I want them to be as safe as possible... they need to be low voltage and have a safety cut out...

Do heaters affect alarm sensors? I have a fully monitored alarm with movement and fire sensors...

Theses are not low voltage. They are 230VAC.
4 will only give you 1kw which has already been said wont do an awful lot in a garage of your size. However, up that to 8 and you might detect a rise in temperature. What you will get however, if you leave 4 or 8 on 24/7 in the winter months is a large electricity bill. With virtually no benefit to you or your car.
They wont affect domestic alarm sensors. Heat sensors require the combination of heat AND movement to trigger. For example, a pet or person walking past.
A static/fixed radiator shouldnt trigger a domestic alarm no matter how hot it becomes.
You would get a better return for your investment by insulating the door(s) well and sealing all gaps tight.

 

[Ted]

Definitely don't use a calor gas type or parraffin heater or they will chuck out loads of water.
And 'economy' electric heaters are a bit false - all heaters put out heat. You will never get MORE heat from one heater against another for less power.

I would consider a dehumidifier which would dry the air, and put out some heat, or one (or more) of these http://www.carcoon.co.uk/

 

[rf065]

I've used these heaters before, they do not give of a lot of heat. More usually they are found in greenhouses to keep the temperature above zero to stop frost killing the plants. No good for working in a garage.

Russ

 

[jaymanek]

Ok thanks all..

So i dont want to heat my garage at all!

Cool, saved some cash.

I have an outdoor carcoon that i used to store the SL in. Now the car is in the garage.
Carcoons are great but such a huge faff having to unzip them everytime you want to go for a drive.

Dehumidifier - How many of these would i need and any recommendations?

 

[kwakdonut]

You'll probably only need one dehumidifier - work out the cubic capacity of your garage and buy one to match!!

 

[Uberwagon]

You don't need a very big dehumidifier at all, I would just get a bigger tank for it somehow so you aren't emptying it all the time.

I was leaving my Barge for 2 months at a time for 2 years. Once I fitted the de-humidifier in the garage the car felt nicer when I came to start it again, is hard to explain why but it just did.

Dave!

 

[Dieselman]

You don't need a very big dehumidifier at all, I would just get a bigger tank for it somehow so you aren't emptying it all the time.

Just vent the outlet outside and forget the tank.

If you are going to use a dehumidifier you need to insulate and seal the garage as tight as possible.
Concrete garages are terrible for condensation as the concrete has poor thermal properties.