4dr orphan
Well-known member
We have a 28' X 28' garage with a walk up second floor. It's detached from the house. It is soon to be insulated. It is wood construction, vinyl sided with a 10/12 pitch roof. The walls are raised off the cement floor the heighth of one row of cinder blocks. I have a 9' floor to truss distance with an additional 18" in heighth of the trusses. At this point, I am only out there for a few hours in the evening and a lot of hours on the weekends. At this point, no vehicles are driven in/out of it. Now that I got the basics out of the way, here is my question.
I am looking for suggestions for heating. I refuse to go with a wood burner because it's more work than it's worth and (from a safety standpoint), you can't shut it off. We have natural gas and that leaves me with two choices: a "Big Dog" (box) style of forced air heater that hangs from the ceiling, and a down draft forced air furnace (80,000 BTU) from a mobile home. If I opted for the later, I figured I could construct the ducting that would run through the second floor trusses that would spread the heat evenly. The latter furnace is free, so I figure that ducting would set me back about $400. The Big Dog (or some competitor brand) would cost me about the same about of money as above, but require no ducting other than chimney,
A third option is a 15' or 20' infa red heater that hangs from the (second floor) trusses. This would set me back almost $850 just to purchase it. I want the best in efficiency PLUS the lowest operating cost. mind you, this is a hobbiest garage, not a fully functioning work shop environment. I value everyone's opinions, good or bad. Please give me some input.
I am looking for suggestions for heating. I refuse to go with a wood burner because it's more work than it's worth and (from a safety standpoint), you can't shut it off. We have natural gas and that leaves me with two choices: a "Big Dog" (box) style of forced air heater that hangs from the ceiling, and a down draft forced air furnace (80,000 BTU) from a mobile home. If I opted for the later, I figured I could construct the ducting that would run through the second floor trusses that would spread the heat evenly. The latter furnace is free, so I figure that ducting would set me back about $400. The Big Dog (or some competitor brand) would cost me about the same about of money as above, but require no ducting other than chimney,
A third option is a 15' or 20' infa red heater that hangs from the (second floor) trusses. This would set me back almost $850 just to purchase it. I want the best in efficiency PLUS the lowest operating cost. mind you, this is a hobbiest garage, not a fully functioning work shop environment. I value everyone's opinions, good or bad. Please give me some input.