Cheapest Way to Heat a Garage

Generally, a garage is used to store and protect vehicles from rough weather, theft, and vandalism. But some people treat their garage as a workshop, some use that space as a gym and some turn their garage into a personal studio! There have been instances where some people even convert their garage into a gaming space/room. Yes, you heard it right!

All this sounds very warm and cozy but trust me, it is all fun until winter arrives! If you do not heat your garage properly then it is most likely to turn into a frozen room with snow. Don’t worry about it, we got you covered. We have come up with the cheapest way to heat a garage in winter.

Install Insulation

It should not be considered the cheapest way to heat a garage, rather it is precautious that will help decrease the overall costs for you. Insulation does not heat your garage but it prevents the stored heat to remain inside the garage. So if your garage is insulated, it will make your work a lot easier to heat the garage since the heat will not lose due to the cold weather.

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In addition, insulating your garage will help you save a lot more on energy costs which a non-insulated garage will not. So, first, consider insulating your garage through the below steps.

Here Are Some Tips to Follow to Insulate Your Garage Properly

1. Seal Up All the Air Leaks

The very first step would be to seal all the air leaks. If the weather stripping in the garage has been damaged, go to your nearest hardware store and get it replaced. That would be the best way to seal all the air leaks.

Apart from that, if there are any holes or gaps, then get them sealed by applying expanding foam insulation to these holes and gaps. Do it before the tiny bugs or insects find a way inside your garage through them.

2. Add Insulation to the Garage Walls

This is a very simple and cost-effective step to insulate your garage walls. You may apply some batt insulation between the stud bay or the cavities between the studs.

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You may also add fiberglass to your garage walls but we would recommend not to do it by yourself. Professionals can have the proper equipment to do it with security. Fiberglass can really be irritating to the skin.

3. Add Insulation to the Garage Doors

If you are ignoring the garage doors, that is a mistake! A good amount of your garage wall’s space is taken up by the garage doors. So if you are keeping the garage doors uninsulated then a significant amount of heat can be lost.

The easiest way to insulate your garage doors would be to get a garage door insulation kit and do the rest. You may find the insulation kit available at most hardware or home improvement stores near you.

Figure Out How Much Heat You Will Need

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Before we hop on to the procedure of heating the garage, let us first determine how much heat your garage would require. If the cheapest way to heat a garage generates an excessive amount of heat, that will simply be a waste of your money. So, calculate the amount of heat that will be necessary to cover the area of your garage.

BTU (British Thermal Unit) is used to measure the amount of energy required to increase or decrease the temperature generated by any appliance. If your garage is insulated, then divide the square footage by 200 and multiply it by 6000.

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For example:- If your insulated garage is the size of 400 square feet, you would require 12000 BTU of heat.

In case your garage is uninsulated, then divide the square footage by 200 but multiply it by 9000 this time.

For example:- If your uninsulated garage is the size of 400 square feet, then you would require 18000 BTU of heat.

So, you can understand the difference in heat that will be necessary if you don’t insulate your garage first.

The Cheapest Way to Heat a Garage for You – Find the Best One!

Now that you have insulated your garage properly, it will be easy to conserve the heat. Thus, it will help you save money on energy costs. Let’s have a look at the cheapest way to heat a garage.

1. Electric Heaters

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Electric heaters are one of the safest and easiest solutions to heat your garage quite efficiently. They are, in fact, very easy to install. After plugging in these heaters, they will immediately start circulating warm air in your garage. You can place them comfortably anywhere on your floor, or you can have them mounted on a wall or a ceiling as well.

One drawback of the electric heaters is that they come with a fan that blows hot air. It may lead to dust particles in your garage settling upon a few surfaces in case you are finishing something.

2. Space Heaters

Space heaters can be considered one of the cheapest way to heat a garage. If you are planning to heat a specific area in your garage, it is indeed the best solution. These heaters are designed that way.

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There are 2 types of space heaters available:

1. Forced Electric Heaters

2. Infrared Electric Heaters

The first one simply blows hot air inside your garage. On the other hand, Infrared electric heaters heat the nearby objects and thus increase the heat in the nearby area of the garage.

The main drawback of space heaters is that they are not recommended for huge-size garages.

3. Gas Heaters

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Gas heaters are the cheapest way to heat a garage. The reason for this is that gas is relatively cheaper than electricity. Gas heaters require natural gas to run. You can attach it to the gas line that passes in your home or you can attach it to propane tanks.

Gas heaters can release gases like carbon monoxide as by-products which are harmful to health. So it is mandatory to have sufficient ventilation for these types of heaters.

4. Radiant Heat Ceiling Panels

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The above-mentioned techniques are temporary solutions to heat your garage. Let’s have a look at a couple of permanent and cheapest way to heat a garage.

Radiant heat panels can be mounted either on the ceiling or the wall as per your convenience from where they will radiate heat inside your garage area. This is relatively a safer option for someone who works with inflammable objects like oil in his/her garage.

5. Radiant Floor Heaters

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Another similar option to the ceiling panels is the floor heaters. The difference here is that in this system, tubes are installed underneath the garage floor and hot water flows inside those tubes. This way the heat is transferred to the floor. This is quite an inexpensive method to install and maintain.

One thing that is to be kept in mind is that the chosen floor should be able to transfer the heat properly in every corner. In addition, it should be ensured that the hot water tubes are not affecting the vehicles or any other object you keep in your garage.

Conclusion

It’s up to you of how you treat your garage. Maybe you work out there, use it as a gaming space or as a workstation, or just keep your vehicles. But make sure that you heat it in a proper way through the cheapest way to heat a garage. Select the method that suits your garage and budget to make your garage comfortable during a bitter cold.