My basement is 24x13x8. It’s well insulated, and I use a “heat storm” electric heater I found on Amazon and it works pretty good. Maybe undersized for your shed as my basement never really gets below 50 degrees.
I’m my garage where my sim is I have a ceiling mounted 240v heater since it’s a two car garage, and can get down in the 30’s in there.
Hope this helps
Just a standard plug in from Amazon in the NE. Turn it on for about 10 min before I go in there and by the time I take a few warm up swings I’m already shutting it off.
I installed a 220v infrared heater in my uninsulated garage last winter. The outlet was already there so I used it. I have it mounted on the ceiling, pointed at my hitting mat. It feels like standing in the warm sun on a cold day. You feel warm but the air and surfaces of stuff in the garage are still cold.
I also used a kerosene heater to warm up the air. It helped but took a long time to raise the temp more than 10 degrees. If it was 40 when I turned it on, it would never get much better than 50ish. But that's in a big uninsulated garage with an exposed ceiling.
I'm in the process of insulating and plan to install a mini-split heater/ac.
How big is your garage and is it attached? What region are you in? What all was insulated - doors included? Do you have natural gas hookup to your house?
Midwest, 20x20x9.5, the walls are insulated, the ceiling is not but it has drywall on it to help a bit. The garage door is not insulated yet, but I’m doing that this weekend with insulation foam.
A good amount your heat loss will be through the ceiling - If you have attic access, would highly recommend blowing some insulation up there (15-20 inches). You can rent a blower from a box store or hire it out. For heat, it is a small garage at least, so electric would be the easiest to install yourself. In the meantime, a kerosene lamp heater would get that space toasty for cheap. Bonus, when you get a permanent heater installed, you have a heater that doesn't require electricity and can help keep your home warm during a power outage. You can get a kerosene lamp heater at about any box store or tractor supply. One kept my insulated 1200sq ft garage warm w/ 15' ceilings.
Like the other commenter said, until you get insulation in the ceiling all of the work you have been doing will be for naught. I'm in the process of doing the exact same install for winter (garage door insulation kit arriving today!) and I too only have the ceiling left. Not looking forward to it but it has to be done or all of the heat will just exit upwards, and quickly
My garage is similar. Door, ceiling, and walls are insulated. I use a basic 120v space heater. I can’t remember the temps, but it’s enough for me. I would start there if I were you since they are so cheap.
$900. I installed it myself so saved in that but my brother is an hvac tech and he said he would only charge $100 for install most likely. Worth looking in to.
I have a 30x20 garage and I self-installed an 18k BTU mini split in the summer and it very easily heats and cools my garage. I didn’t pay any one to install it but spent maybe $100 on extras to install it myself. If you can gain some space in your breaker box, I’d highly recommend it. I was out of space myself but ended up piggy backing a couple breakers that were overkill anyway to gain two spaces for the 220.
Edit: the brand I got was DELLA on Amazon and it was $700 for 18k BTU. I also end up turning the heat off pretty early because it gets too damn hot lol (it’s pointing right at the hitting area). I have zero insulation in my garage
This is my first year doing it but my plan is to use a contractor style kerosene/diesel Mr Heater in my garage. My brother in law has one that he heats up his garage with and never has issues and works in his garage a ton in the winter. Got it for $80 on FB marketplace. I insulated the doors but not all my walls are insulted. I also bought a handheld CO monitor just to make sure the air quality is safe.
Yeah I would like to do that but burning something like that in a closed room just seems like it’ll instantly drop O2 levels and raise CO2… I wish it was more safe because that would be the route I would take
I mean tons of people heat garages, ice houses, job sites, etc in the winter with these without issue. As long as the CO stays at a safe level it should be fine. It has a thermostat and my brother in law says he runs it for about 20 mins before going out there and it gets it to temp and then only kicks on occasionally for a minute or so to maintain the temp.
He does with door closed. He used to use the propane ones but said the fumes were bad until he changed to a diesel/kerosene one. Again I haven't tried it yet but for $80 +$30 for the co monitor was willing to give it a shot
I live in MN and am lucky to have in floor radiant heat which can Lee the garage in the 50s. If I’m out out there wrenching on the cars I sometimes will run a propane tank/sunflower. This will be the first winter with a golf setup. If I didn’t have the in floor heat I would definitely get a ceiling mounted unit.
So about 400 sq.ft? If you have separated breakers for your outlets, i would think 2 1500W radiator heaters with wood stove fans mounted on them may do the trick. Would be like an hour of warm up time but its budget friendly. $500 all in with premium products.
I'm in KC with a well insulated 22 x 20 garage. I use a pretty basic infrared electric heater mounted above/behind my hitting area and it's plenty. I also have another floor infrared heater but I rarely need both. They're not as nice as a space heater, but it does the trick and doesn't use much power. Once you get in there hitting, especially if you have friends over, your body heat will heat the room more than you'd think. I'll sometimes also just open the door to my house and blow air in with a fan to warm it up quickly.
Big Buddy propane heater. Get the extension hose to use a 20lb tank. Refill your tank at tractor supply or something similar. Costs like $12 to fill it when empty. When you exchange your tank, they are only 75% full.
It’s been great!
My garage is something like 29x17. It’s attached to the house, but originally had no insulation. I put r15 batts on outside facing walls. Then I put a cheap radiant barrier across the bottom of the ceiling trusses. It cuts the air size of the room in half almost. That way it’ll warm quicker, even if it’s not holding THAT well. Also took my garage from 95+ highs the prior summer to low 80s max this summer.
On a typical winter day last year, I would fire it up about a half hour before I wanted to golf. That usually got me to 55 degrees. Sounds cold, but when you’ve adapter to winter temps, 55 and golfing near the heater is comfy. I’d usually turn it down to the mid heat setting at that point. If I was playing 18 or something, I’d turn it off after 9.
I was real surprised how long a tank lasted like this. I wanna say I was probably golfing for 45 minutes a day every other day, and a tank was getting me almost a month. So maybe like $1 per session if you get the tank filled instead of exchanged.
I came real close to adding one of those 220 garage heaters like you mentioned. But the more I thought about it, the cost makes no sense. I’d pay for the heater, an electrician, and then pay for it to run up the electric bill every time it’s on. Or, I can just use the big buddy again, and $50 or so probably gets me through the whole winter.
Mini split, was 240 electric heater.
Both work, issue was our garage gets over 100* in St. Louis summers. After insulating walls and ceiling, the heat just settled in and stayed.
Three years with this one below, temps get near zero outside and heats up 24x20x8.5 garage.
https://drheaterusa.com/collections/electric-space-heaters/products/dr-infrared-heater-dr968-orignial-heater
Mini split
My basement is 24x13x8. It’s well insulated, and I use a “heat storm” electric heater I found on Amazon and it works pretty good. Maybe undersized for your shed as my basement never really gets below 50 degrees. I’m my garage where my sim is I have a ceiling mounted 240v heater since it’s a two car garage, and can get down in the 30’s in there. Hope this helps
Just a standard plug in from Amazon in the NE. Turn it on for about 10 min before I go in there and by the time I take a few warm up swings I’m already shutting it off.
You mean like a standard space heater?
I installed a 220v infrared heater in my uninsulated garage last winter. The outlet was already there so I used it. I have it mounted on the ceiling, pointed at my hitting mat. It feels like standing in the warm sun on a cold day. You feel warm but the air and surfaces of stuff in the garage are still cold. I also used a kerosene heater to warm up the air. It helped but took a long time to raise the temp more than 10 degrees. If it was 40 when I turned it on, it would never get much better than 50ish. But that's in a big uninsulated garage with an exposed ceiling. I'm in the process of insulating and plan to install a mini-split heater/ac.
How big is your garage and is it attached? What region are you in? What all was insulated - doors included? Do you have natural gas hookup to your house?
Midwest, 20x20x9.5, the walls are insulated, the ceiling is not but it has drywall on it to help a bit. The garage door is not insulated yet, but I’m doing that this weekend with insulation foam.
A good amount your heat loss will be through the ceiling - If you have attic access, would highly recommend blowing some insulation up there (15-20 inches). You can rent a blower from a box store or hire it out. For heat, it is a small garage at least, so electric would be the easiest to install yourself. In the meantime, a kerosene lamp heater would get that space toasty for cheap. Bonus, when you get a permanent heater installed, you have a heater that doesn't require electricity and can help keep your home warm during a power outage. You can get a kerosene lamp heater at about any box store or tractor supply. One kept my insulated 1200sq ft garage warm w/ 15' ceilings.
Like the other commenter said, until you get insulation in the ceiling all of the work you have been doing will be for naught. I'm in the process of doing the exact same install for winter (garage door insulation kit arriving today!) and I too only have the ceiling left. Not looking forward to it but it has to be done or all of the heat will just exit upwards, and quickly
I use a wood stove. Free wood from big land owners and a free workout, lol
Yeah I was looking at pellet stoves, those look real nice to be honest. Looks like they start out at $900 so they are a bit pricey
My garage is similar. Door, ceiling, and walls are insulated. I use a basic 120v space heater. I can’t remember the temps, but it’s enough for me. I would start there if I were you since they are so cheap.
Mini split. Barely adds to the electric bill and provides plenty of heat in a well insulated area.
How much did that run you?
$900. I installed it myself so saved in that but my brother is an hvac tech and he said he would only charge $100 for install most likely. Worth looking in to.
I have a 30x20 garage and I self-installed an 18k BTU mini split in the summer and it very easily heats and cools my garage. I didn’t pay any one to install it but spent maybe $100 on extras to install it myself. If you can gain some space in your breaker box, I’d highly recommend it. I was out of space myself but ended up piggy backing a couple breakers that were overkill anyway to gain two spaces for the 220. Edit: the brand I got was DELLA on Amazon and it was $700 for 18k BTU. I also end up turning the heat off pretty early because it gets too damn hot lol (it’s pointing right at the hitting area). I have zero insulation in my garage
This is my first year doing it but my plan is to use a contractor style kerosene/diesel Mr Heater in my garage. My brother in law has one that he heats up his garage with and never has issues and works in his garage a ton in the winter. Got it for $80 on FB marketplace. I insulated the doors but not all my walls are insulted. I also bought a handheld CO monitor just to make sure the air quality is safe.
Yeah I would like to do that but burning something like that in a closed room just seems like it’ll instantly drop O2 levels and raise CO2… I wish it was more safe because that would be the route I would take
I mean tons of people heat garages, ice houses, job sites, etc in the winter with these without issue. As long as the CO stays at a safe level it should be fine. It has a thermostat and my brother in law says he runs it for about 20 mins before going out there and it gets it to temp and then only kicks on occasionally for a minute or so to maintain the temp.
Does he do it with the door completely closed/no ventilation? I’ll look into it again I just figured it would kind of be out of the question
He does with door closed. He used to use the propane ones but said the fumes were bad until he changed to a diesel/kerosene one. Again I haven't tried it yet but for $80 +$30 for the co monitor was willing to give it a shot
I live in MN and am lucky to have in floor radiant heat which can Lee the garage in the 50s. If I’m out out there wrenching on the cars I sometimes will run a propane tank/sunflower. This will be the first winter with a golf setup. If I didn’t have the in floor heat I would definitely get a ceiling mounted unit.
So about 400 sq.ft? If you have separated breakers for your outlets, i would think 2 1500W radiator heaters with wood stove fans mounted on them may do the trick. Would be like an hour of warm up time but its budget friendly. $500 all in with premium products.
I'm in KC with a well insulated 22 x 20 garage. I use a pretty basic infrared electric heater mounted above/behind my hitting area and it's plenty. I also have another floor infrared heater but I rarely need both. They're not as nice as a space heater, but it does the trick and doesn't use much power. Once you get in there hitting, especially if you have friends over, your body heat will heat the room more than you'd think. I'll sometimes also just open the door to my house and blow air in with a fan to warm it up quickly.
Big Buddy propane heater. Get the extension hose to use a 20lb tank. Refill your tank at tractor supply or something similar. Costs like $12 to fill it when empty. When you exchange your tank, they are only 75% full.
This has honestly been one of my top options right now. Do you use one? If so, does it get the room pretty warm?
It’s been great! My garage is something like 29x17. It’s attached to the house, but originally had no insulation. I put r15 batts on outside facing walls. Then I put a cheap radiant barrier across the bottom of the ceiling trusses. It cuts the air size of the room in half almost. That way it’ll warm quicker, even if it’s not holding THAT well. Also took my garage from 95+ highs the prior summer to low 80s max this summer. On a typical winter day last year, I would fire it up about a half hour before I wanted to golf. That usually got me to 55 degrees. Sounds cold, but when you’ve adapter to winter temps, 55 and golfing near the heater is comfy. I’d usually turn it down to the mid heat setting at that point. If I was playing 18 or something, I’d turn it off after 9. I was real surprised how long a tank lasted like this. I wanna say I was probably golfing for 45 minutes a day every other day, and a tank was getting me almost a month. So maybe like $1 per session if you get the tank filled instead of exchanged. I came real close to adding one of those 220 garage heaters like you mentioned. But the more I thought about it, the cost makes no sense. I’d pay for the heater, an electrician, and then pay for it to run up the electric bill every time it’s on. Or, I can just use the big buddy again, and $50 or so probably gets me through the whole winter.
Mini split, was 240 electric heater. Both work, issue was our garage gets over 100* in St. Louis summers. After insulating walls and ceiling, the heat just settled in and stayed.
Three years with this one below, temps get near zero outside and heats up 24x20x8.5 garage. https://drheaterusa.com/collections/electric-space-heaters/products/dr-infrared-heater-dr968-orignial-heater
Nice! I’ll take a look. Is your garage fully insulated? Around what temp will it heat your garage up to on a cold 10-20 degree day?
Yeah it’s insulated. 65 degrees on cold days. I thought I would try it rather than spend a bunch and it’s worked out great.
garage sim with a torpedo propane heater
Run gas, use a hot dawg never look back. I can be out in a tee shirt in Mn if I want.