Lots of people use their garages as workrooms, playrooms or as an additional living or seating area. The trouble is that most garages have concrete floors and are relatively cold during the winter months. This may make them impractical for most uses except for storage of extra items or cars. To address this issue, people may purchase a garage heater to help provide some extra warmth.
There are numerous things to consider when selecting a garage heater. Many of them require electricity to run, though some run on propane or tap into a home’s natural gas line. The way heaters are installed also represents some differences. There are wall mount, hanging, or free standing types.
Larger heaters and the ones that use propane or natural gas usually require ventilation, and wall mount and hanging heaters need to be installed carefully. Free standing heaters don’t have to be installed. However they tend not to be as effective and need to be placed carefully in order to avoid potential accidents or fire hazards.
Many people prefer to use wall mount heaters when the garage heater employs propane or natural gas. They can be installed by cutting a segment of the garage wall out and won’t require ventilation through the roof, which makes installation more complicated. People don’t have to know how to perform this installation. Lots of companies that sell garage heaters offer installation services for an extra charge.
Other options to consider are the way the heater operates. Some produce radiant heat, which means they won’t blow air all around the garage. This can be important to minimize blowing dust or sawdust around workspaces. When this is not a concern, forced air heaters are available too.
Most garage heaters aren’t particularly effective if a garage is not insulated. If a garage is in frequent use, people may want to consider insulating it to help their garage heater work better. The garage may retain more heat if the concrete floor is covered with durable carpeting, since concrete is very cold and difficult to warm.
Even in an insulated garage, heaters must be able to produce enough heat for the space available. Check the recommendations on any heater to see if it will adequately heat the square footage of the garage. Very large garages, like those capable of storing three or more cars, may be too big for the average garage heater to provide adequate warmth. In this case, people may want to look for industrial or shop heaters instead.