If there’s one thing that unites all garages everywhere, it’s that they’re almost always cold. The reasons for this are pretty simple: most houses don’t have finished (or insulated) garages, and the central heating system doesn’t extend out to the garage in any case. So what are you supposed to do when you want to practice the guitar, work on your car (or clean up the mess your husband left when he worked on the car), and it’s only 30 degrees out? A good garage heater will take care of the problem for you. Let’s take a look at what makes for a good garage heater and what you should look for if you’re thinking about buying one.
Garage Heaters
The number one thing that you want to look for in a garage heater is a heater that can heat your garage quickly. You’re not going to be running the heater when you’re not in the garage, so you don’t want a heater that you have to wait to get warmed up before it really starts working. This means that you’re going to be looking for a specific type of heater called a radiant heater. Allow me to explain what that means and why.
There are two basic types of heaters: convection heaters and radiant heaters. Convection heaters work by using the thermal properties of air to heat a room. To put things simply, they heat the air, the air circulates around the room, and in doing so, moves the heat all around the room. This is effective but slow. Convection heaters take a while to get going because the air takes a while to move around, even if a fan is involved.
Radiant heaters, on the other hand, emit heat via infrared waves that travel through the air until they contact a solid object, such as a human body or a piece of furniture. These waves are not absorbed by the air; they travel through the air and send the heat directly where it is needed. This means that radiant heaters, or as they’re sometimes called, infrared heaters, start working the second they’re turned on, and you can feel the effects almost instantaneously. This is great for heating your garage, because things start to get warm very quickly, and you don’t have to wait for the air currents to move the heat around. This type of heater would also be great for many similar situations. For example, if you were doing a basement remodel and were working long hours in a cold, unheated basement, a good quality radiant heater would go a long way towards making that room more comfortable.
Types of Garage Heaters
The most common type of garage heater is an electric garage heater like the one pictured to the right. The horizontal bars behind the grate will heat up and emit the infrared waves (the bars are a bit hard to spot in the picture, but they’re in there behind the grate and the wire mesh). The bars get very hot so the grate is there to keep you from accidentally burning yourself or setting something on fire.
That actually brings up an important safety point. Radiant heaters get much hotter than convection heaters do. You can pick up a small bathroom heater and touch pretty much any part of it without getting burned. Radiant heaters, on the other hand, get extremely hot in places and you will get burned badly if you touch them when they are on. You need to be aware of this not only for yourself, but for any children or pets that will be around when you’re running your garage heater. They won’t know not to touch the heater and could be badly injured. Another thing to watch for is potential fire hazards, such as oil or gas in your garage, stacks of newspapers, or anything else that’s flammable. Make sure to keep the area around your heater clear.
Other options for these heaters are a propane garage heater or a gas garage heater. These heaters will work much the same way as electric garage heaters but will generally be a little bit bigger. The propane garage heater to the right is a good example of this. Not only is the heater itself bigger, but you have to factor in room for the propane tank as well. A natural gas garage heater will work much like this propane heater.
Buying a Garage Heater
When you get right down to it, just about any small, portable heater would work as a garage heater. They’ll all get your garage warm eventually, even if it takes them a couple hours to get the job done. However, if you want a dedicated garage heater, then I suggest you look for the things I mentioned above. Get a small, powerful radiant heater – I recommend electric just for the convenience, but you can go with whatever is easy and available for you – and you’ll be happy you did the next time the weather is cold.
Price is always going to be a factor in what heater you end up getting. Prices for garage heaters start around $100 and can go as high as $1,000+ for the high end models. If the heater you’re looking at costs more than $750 then you’re really looking at an industrial warehouse heater, and chances are good that you don’t need anything near that powerful. I would recommend going for something in the $200 range for most people. That will get you a great heater without breaking the bank. If your garage is unusually large or small, then you can adjust your price range accordingly.