What size kerosene heater?

[bgilbert]

Looking to keep from freezing this winter in my uninsulated 24 x 24 foot garage. I would like to know what size forced air kerosene heater would work good for me, btu, price range, brand etc? Figure plenty of circulation, frequent fresh air, 1-2 hours at a time out there etc. Thanks.

 

[Greenleaf]

Do Not Do It

Go propane. I never thought I would but I posioned myself too long with the K1. I took a sledge hammer to the last one and invested in a forced air PROPANE heater with a couple of bottles.



You'll be happy you did... ... ... ..... trust me when I tell you!!

 

[JLEONARD]

Whatever you get, find one that is controlled with a thermostat, especially if you go kerosene... those things really make a racket and they cook you out in no time.

How about waste oil? Might be tough finding one small enough, but waste oil is easy to get a hold of... . and cheap!

www.energylogic.com for example... . this is what my son has

 

[bgilbert]

What about you Mr. Miller??? I'm still waiting on your input... don't give me this, do your own R&D:-laf.

 

[daledozer]

Dont they have home depots in the sticks, I would go with natural gas or propane myself. My dad has a 30x40 insulated garage with 2 hanging radiant heaters, way overkill only needs one, and it cost around 150-200?. Also try E-Bay, spend the money and keep warm, your girlfriend wont always be there to crawl into a sleeping bag with you on the floor!

 

[MMiller]

Spend your money on insulation. It will save you money by the end of the winter. Also do it right and get a LP or propane heater with a thermostat.



I don't own my house, the garage insulated walls(previous owner), I may do the ceiling this winter, and I heat it with a torpedo heater on diesel. Its real new, so there is not a fume problem. I also have a LP heater out of a house(read very old heater, you know the ones in your grandma's living room), I plan on hooking up too, and then not running the torpedo.



You'll find when you have a heated garage, you will do more work over the winter. Its easier to to maintence and mods.



Either that or buy a chainsaw, wood splitter, and a wood burning stove. It will heat you up 3 times, when you cut and load it, when you unload it, split it and stack it, and when you burn it. This is my least favorite form of heat. Very labor intensive. Might be good for you though, Mr Truck driver... .



Oh yeah, do your own R&D and report back later on how it turns out... ... . :-laf



Michael

 

[Philip]

Bill throw some insulation in those walls.



I have a 90k BTU gas suspended heater. My garage is 22 X 26. You all ready have natural gas. I would use it rather than go find LP bottles.



A 100k suspended looks to be around $750 at Grangers. I bought mine from there a couple of decades ago.



The torpedo heaters make good foot warmers. But inside a closed building even using K1 it can get a little rank at times.

 

[AMink]

I used to use a forced air heater in my garage. Worked well, but it was so loud I couldn't hear myself think. I got a kerosene heater last year and it keeps the garage comfortable. No smell until shutdown. It is similar to this one. Now if I could only get my truck in the garage to work on it!

 

[Darmeisner]

You might talk to a place that installs gas furnaces for people replacing their old oil furnace. sometimes just a little tune up is necessary for the old furnace and you can get it cheap. I did that and picked up a used burner assembly, removed the draft blower portion, made a waste oil drain tank that feeds the pump and filter, and pump the waste oil into the fuel oil storage tank. This system handles all of my waste oil needs and I save money on heating oil. I also use this blend (< 20%) in my tractors and excavator. Solves two problems at the sametime.



Do yourself a BIG favor and insulate or you will be wasting money on any heating system.

 

[duckcarvr]

i have a 28x32 shop that i heat with a used pellet stove. its clean,safe and warm but my shop is insulated. robert

 

[rdodd]

I have a 24x26 garage and heat it with an electric furnace that i got cheap out of a mobile home. It is nice clean safe heat but a little costly to run.

 

[Nate]

My Dad's shop, don't remember the size I think it's around 25x30... we use a wood stove and also an oil furnace from a trailer.



The woodstove is fine if your in there for most of the day. The garage is very well insulated and it will hold the heat from working in there during the day to the next day even when it's -15* outside.



We use the oil furnace once in a while if the garage temp needs to stay above a certain temp, like while painting or something like that.

 

[Dieselman359]

K-heater

Please do yourself a favor and DO NOT buy one of those noise-makin' things. First off, you need earplugs when you have one running, then you need to plug them in, and if you get too close, you'll probably catch your leg on fire. My buddy has one, don't get me wrong, I'll put out the heat, but after a while the nosie gets to me, and since you have a muffler now... . :-laf



Take a look in the paper, there is usually a few regular Kerosene heaters for sale. Last winter my buddy picked up two of them for I think $50. They are quiet, just turn it on a few minutes before you get started.

 

[Nate]

I remember when I was a little kid my Dad used to heat the garage with one of those. I was convinced it was a rotor motor and I was deathly afraid of the thing :-laf

 

[Moab4x4]

I had an uninsulated 40x20X 12' ceiling shop that I heated with an old oil burner heater. The kind that just used heating oil and regulated the output by raising the float level on the oil. You lit it and when the flame heated the input fuel oil the heat really started. No forced air, just convection. I burned waste oil, sometimes with diesel mix to get it going faster. That heater would glow red if I turned it up and mixed in 20-25% diesel



The thing was rated at 200,000 btu and when it was below freezing outside the heater would maintain a usable temp if you started the heater before it got really cold, but would not warm the place up.



Current shop has no insulation and no heater. Needs both. All $$ went into the truck though.

 

[bgilbert]

Well I'm still looking. Sorry guys, but it's either gonna be a regular home style kerosene heater or a 'salamander' forced air kerosene heater. The cheapest salamander with a thermostat is $169 and 40k btu's. A regular heater is ~$100-$120 and only 23k btu's. I'd really like to do some work this winter in the garage, but sure ain't gonna get anything done in the cold.



Question, will a 23k btu standup kerosene heater keep the garage or the area I'm working in comfortable (24x24, uninsulated)?



And, same question on the 40k btu forced air unit.



BTW, I appreciate all of your input. I'd like to do it on the cheap and keep it mobile. I can wear earplugs if necessary and vent a window for fumes.

 

[PToombs]

IMHO, neither one of those throws enough heat to heat that area, uninsulated. My garage is 16 x 30 with a 15 foot ceiling, insulated. I have a 115k kero salamander that I use for heat when I work. If it is 30* out, it's

42-3 in. I heat it up to about 65, (15 - 30 mins. ) shut the thing off, then wait about 15 minutes before I go out. It's about 58-60*, and stays for about 2 -3 hrs. Depending on wind, etc. Buy the big one, save the hassle, you can always sell it later if need be. Use clean fuel, keep the heater clean. I wipe mine down, and I cut the bottom out of the box and put it over for storage, helps a lot.

So much for being humble! :-laf

 

[Philip]

Bill you will want something with forced air. One of the stand up heaters without a fan will not do much inside that garage. Your ceiling is open. So what heat it puts out will go straight up into the rafters.



Go for a torpedo with a thermostat.

 

[Duluth Diesel]

I have two forced air kerosene units and a 24x32 uninsulated garage. My first one, a 40k btu unit, couldn't keep up in the real cold. My second one is 115k btu and keeps up much better. A thermostat is a must, and most cheaper ones don't have that. Get a good one the first time around. 115k is the smallest I'd go. They aren't that loud, seriously guys.

 

[daveshoe]

If you get a thermo controlled unit,make sure that the thermo shuts off the oil flow only and the spark electrode continues to run for a little bit. If you get a thermo unit that shuts down the whole shebang at once,the smell is awful--with unburned fuel passing through. If it cycles often,it is that much worse.