Home, Workshop, Utility, Patio, Garage and Portable Heaters - Garage Heating Question

I would like to install an occasional-use heating system in my garage. The garage measures 23' x 35' x 12 feet high and will be insulated. We live in northeast Massachusetts. I only intend to heat the garage if I'm out there working on a car, snowblower, etc. So the operating costs are not a big factor. And I don't really need to heat the whole garage. If I were to heat two of the three bays that would be fine. Also, I'm not looking to heat that area to 70 degrees. If I can get the temperature to 50 or 55 degrees that would be fine.

Since we already have propane for cooking and heating the house it seems like I have three options to consider: a fan-forced gas heater like a Modine, a fan-forced electric heater like a Dayton, and a gas powered radiant strip heater. Setting aside cost, I don't think I'd see much difference between the first two, but I'm not sure of that. I expect the radiant heater would heat objects within its field very quickly. But if I'm underneath a car or blocked by an up-raised hood I don't expect I'd feel much benefit of the heater. I know the least about radiant heaters since I've never used one.

This probably isn't an original question. Can someone provide a link to an article that compares the three types of heaters I mentioned above. I'm most interested in heating performance (how long after the heater is turned on is there a significant warm up, heating uniformity), installation complexity and cost (gas vs. electric), and reliability for a system that is used only occasionally.

Of the options given, I would go with the Modine or similar. You are correct about the radiant. They work well but not fast. We have them in the engine bays at the fire house & once the bay doors are open for a few minutes it takes a while to recover the lost heat. Your biggest problem could be gas pipe sizing.

I agree with Grady, I'd lean towards the Modine or Reznor option. Besides bieng eff. you may be hard pressed to find a qualified tech to work on radiant or infrared space heaters.:thumbup:

If you are going to use an air heater (as opposed to a radiant heater) in a space where you normally do not keep it warm then the usual rules of proper sizing may be ignored in favor of a unit two or three times larger than would normally be used. The reason is that you will want the extra capacity to heat the area quickly and since it is normally not heated, the efficiency of the system is of lesser importance than the ability to quickly bring the area up to the desired temperature.