Hello everyone. I was wondering if someone here could give me some ideas on how to go about warming up our garage during the winter months (in Pennsylvania). Our garage is roughly around 500 square feet. We own a split level home, and we have central heating. Our garage has one heating vent in it, but it's not quite enough to warm the garage up to a comfortable level.

My wife and I were talking about the different options we could use. She's not big on the idea of kerosene bc of the fumes etc. I'm not huge on the idea of using propane bc I've never used propane before, and would be afraid of doing something that would lead to an explosion So, we are looking to go with something that's electric.

The main problem we're running into with our electric heater search is that most of the ones we've seen all require a 220v outlet. We have 220v in the house bc of our dryer and stove, but no 220 outlet in the garage. Are there any good heaters that we could use that don't require 220v? It wouldn't be something we'd be running 24/7 either. We just need something to warm up the garage while we're out there using the exercise equipment.

Any advice is definitely appreciated, and thank you in advance.

 

It's easy enough to run a 220V line. Is the breaker box in the garage? Is the garage insulated?

 

That is because of the limits of a 120 volt circuit. As Pulpo suggested you are going to need a 240 volt heater for any significant heat.

Terminology: Your house has a nominal voltage of 240 volts not 220 volts. The so called 220 volt heaters are intended to work on 240 volts.

 

You currently have a supply vent from you home's HVAC to your garage and you're looking for supplemental heat to keep the garage warmer? And it sounds like you want to keep it as warm as the rest of your home ... possible with electric heat?

Depending on how insulated your garage might be and how often the garage door is opened and closed, a gas heater might be the best option. If it's out because of your fear of gas, maybe a mini split is the way to go. A mini split will give you AC in the summer too and there's DIY systems available now.

 

Yes, our breaker box is in the garage. The garage is insulated as far as I know. It retains some warmth out there, but it's still cooler than we'd prefer.

In regards to the other questions asked, yes there is currently a supply vent from the HVAC to the garage. However, it doesn't seem to have as much heat coming out of it as the other vents inside the house do. For example, when it's cold outside, the inside of our house is nice and warm (usually around 73-75 degrees on the thermostat). The garage is cooler than the inside, but not extremely cold as though you were standing outside. We weren't really looking specifically to have it as warm as the rest of the house. We were just looking to heat it up enough to take the chill out of the room while we were in there. Oh, and the garage door isn't opened very often as we keep both cars outside all year.

 

If sounds like you use the garage as a room. If it's not used frequently, then I'd get a propane heater. If you plan on using it often, I'd do a mini split which would allow you to keep that space as a separate zone. I don't know how handy you are or if you want to try, but a DIY mini split will cost around $1100 and the hardest part is probably drilling the hole for the line set and drain, and possibly the electrical connection, if you already don't have one available. And being it's a heat pump, over all, it would cost less to run than any electric heater.

 

Shamroxx81
Since the breaker box is in the garage, install the proper breakers & outlet. I don't know what your electric bill will look like but it's the easiest thing to do.

 

You should not have any vents from your homes HVAC system going to the garage. This is a life safety issue. It is also against code. This should be removed.