Garage gas heaters: selection criteria for a practical and safe option

Self-repairing a car in winter is still a pleasure. In the cold, change the oil or wheel in the garage, if it does not heat up, any motorist does not really want to. The frost bites, therefore it is difficult to do without a good heating device.

However, you must admit that main gas today is the cheapest fuel for such equipment. At the same time, the range of devices for heating with blue fuel in stores is huge.

To simplify your choice, we have collected detailed information about which gas space heaters for the garage exist. We examined their features and characteristics to make it easier to understand which of the devices is more practical. Based on our tips, you can easily determine the best option for yourself.

Is gas heating suitable for a garage?

Often, a private garage today is not just a place to store a car, but also a small personal workshop, a warehouse of spare parts and a room for minor car repairs. It is usually connected to the mains, but far from always to central heating.

It is too expensive to lay heating pipes along a street to a similar building. Moreover, in this case, heating is needed not constant, but only seasonal.

Most often, a gas heater for a garage is chosen with a gas supply from a cylinder (propane or a mixture of propane-butane), pipes with methane are expensive and irrational to pull due to the inconsistent use of the heater

If the garage heating is organized on electricity, then huge electricity bills will ward off any desire to often turn on the heating. And not always existing electrical networks are able to give out the necessary current for a good powerful heater.

In the case of your own plot and private house, special problems with the required voltage, most likely, will not arise. But in a situation with a garage in the city, you can’t even dream of additional kilowatts.Electrical networks for such rooms are usually designed only for a couple of bulbs and a socket for a low-power electric tool.

And cheap gas remains here virtually the only alternative to electricity. The diesel heater is too environmentally dirty.

A wood or charcoal stove for a garage is also not very suitable because of the increased fire hazard, the abundance of soot and the short duration of use. Wood stove it takes too long to use to heat a small garage for a couple of hours of work.

Gas cylinder gas heaters are good:

• compactness and mobility of the heater;
• low cost equipment;
• fuel availability (a cylinder of liquefied gas can be refilled at any gas station);
• ecological purity and lack of soot;
• relatively low fuel price;
• ease of use of the heater;
• long service life of the device in 15–20 years;
• high speed of heating the room.

Their only drawback is the explosion hazard and a high risk of fire. However, if you follow the basic rules for handling gas equipment, then such a device is completely safe.

During operation, the gas heater burns oxygen in the room, so before turning it on, care must be taken to ensure sufficient air exchange and good ventilation in the garage

Gas heaters explode extremely rarely. It is necessary to try hard to bring the situation to explosion and even fire during their operation. Electrical analogues due to short circuits burn much more often.

At the same time, an autonomous gas device in a closed room is dangerous by the gradual burning of oxygen inside the garage. If the ventilation is poor and there is no street air flow, the gas in the burner may go out. And then, in the absence of a heater shutting off the fuel supply from the protection cylinder, not far from an explosion, fire, or burning.

Types of gas heaters

All varieties of gas heating appliances for garages are divided into two types of models:

• wall mounted;
• mobile flooring.

The first option is usually performed in the form of a powerful convector for main gas, or rather a mixture of gas produced and transported through a gas pipeline, in which methane predominates. He needs to bring a pipe with fuel and make a chimney.

Such appliances are rarely installed in garages. A compact mobile analog, designed to work from a cylinder, is cheaper, more simple to install and does not require approvals for connection.

A private garage usually has a small area, so small and cheap propane appliances are most often chosen to heat it

According to the device and the principle of operation, gas heaters are infrared and convection. To stimulate the movement of heated air, convection models may or may not have a fan. Each of these species has its own advantages.

Option # 1 - Infrared

The operation of infrared heaters is based on the principle of "thermal radiation" of electromagnetic waves with a length of about 9.2 microns. Such infrared rays calmly pass without delay air in the room and heat the surface opposite the heater. And already from walls, ceilings and various objects, heat disperses further along the room.

The radiation from a gas infrared heater in a garage is absolutely safe for a person, it is not capable of causing damage to a car even with prolonged exposure

The source of radiation in an infrared gas device can be a directly exposed flame or a ceramic heating element that receives energy from combusted fuel. Further, infrared rays are sent in the desired direction using a reflector.

Infrared gas equipment for space heating:

• does not require electricity for operation;
• differs in compact sizes;
• economically;
• silently;
• does not create convection and does not raise dust.

The basic disadvantage of gas infrared heaters for arranging a garage or garden is a narrow heat ray. After switching on, the infrared emitter heats in the treated space only those surfaces where it is directed.

At the same time, walls and objects outside the range of the device remain cold without direct heating. As a result, a situation is possible when one corner in the room is heated and comfortable for repairing the machine, and it draws cold from the other.

Gas infrared heaters in stores are found in the form of heating pyramids. For a garage, you should not take such models, they are designed to heat open spaces and spacious rooms

For small garage spaces, they are most suitable infrared devices on propane in the form of ceramic furnaces with a cylinder inside or compact radiators-panels. Both options typically have an oxygen and gas leak detector, as well as fire protection. The power of such equipment is designed for heating garages ranging from 4 to 40 square meters. m

Option # 2 - Catalytic

In catalytic infrared gas heaters, heat is generated due to the effect of catalysis - gas oxidation on a platinum-coated heating surface. An open flame as such does not form. But propane as a result "burns out" much more fully than in the case of a classic burner.

In terms of efficiency and power, catalytic and infrared gas heaters for garages are similar, but the former are much superior in safety and environmental friendliness to the latter

During operation, the heating element of the catalytic device heats up to 200 ⁰C. At the output, ordinary COs are formed₂ and H₂Oh, however, oxygen is consumed several times less than with open burning of gas fuel. Plus, propane as a result burns out almost completely and without the formation of carbon monoxide CO.

Catalytic infrared heater:

• economical in fuel consumption;
• does not form carbon monoxide when heated;
• fireproof;
• good for breathing, oxygen in the garage burns to a minimum.

The main disadvantage of such a device is its short service life. The catalyst in it is designed for continuous operation in the region of 2–2.5 thousand hours. This is about five to six months, and after the heater can be thrown away. For one winter season it will be enough, but no more.

Option # 3 - convectors

Gas convector heaters for garages have a ceramic or steel heat exchanger inside, which is heated by an open flame, and then transfers heat to the garage using natural air convection. The bottom of such a device has openings for the intake of cold air, and on top for the exit of hot air.

Convectors warm the garage room for a long time, but after that they maintain the set temperature efficiently and with a minimum of fuel consumption

Among the advantages of gas convectors:

• gas burning in a closed chamber;
• lack of release of combustion products into the room;
• high fuel efficiency.

Installation of a gas convector is usually done on a wall in which a hole is made under coaxial chimney. For short-term heating of the garage, this option is ineffective. But if inside you need to maintain a temperature of 5-10 for a long time ⁰C, then this is the most suitable choice.

Some convector-type models are equipped with an additional fan for forced air flow through the heat exchanger. Such heaters are characterized by increased performance, capable of heating large areas. However, they require power supply to operate, while a conventional device does not depend on the presence / absence of power supply.

Option # 4 - heat guns

The fastest of all gas heaters in terms of garage heating speed are heat guns. They can have a fan inside or work only due to draft from the burned gas.The former are more powerful, but the latter does not require an electrical connection.

The combustion chamber in the heat gun is open and closed. In the first case, all gas combustion products, albeit small in volume, are blown into the garage

The heat gun allows you to quickly heat up the cubic meters of air entrusted to it in order to create comfortable conditions for car repair. But if the garage is not insulated, then the heat as quickly came into the room, so instantly and will leave it on the street when such a heater is turned off.

Among the minuses of the "gun" is also listed elevated garage dust. During operation, the device creates a powerful stream of heated air, lifting even small debris from the floor and racks in the garage. The rest is efficient and powerful heating equipment.

Choosing the best appliance

Choosing a gas heater for the garage, it is necessary to proceed from specific needs. If you work in a garage room on a regular basis and for a long time, then it is better to purchase a convector. And if you need quick heating of the air for half an hour, then the heat gun is most suitable.

IR heaters heat surfaces and objects indoors, they are ideal for long-term maintenance of comfortable temperatures indoors during the day

Catalytic heating appliances are expensive, but absolutely fireproof and burn an order of magnitude less oxygen in the garage. And ceramic models are cheap and have a long service life.

Mobile household cylinder propane heaters in stores are offered with power from 1 to 15 kW. Find the best garage option any area will not leave much work.

At the same time, you do not need to take a powerful device for a small room. It will burn excess fuel, and the sense of generated heat at the output will be zero, since the garage building will have to be aired more often.

Conclusions and useful video on the topic

Overview of gas infrared heater:

Pros and cons of a heating IR panel on gas:

Calculation of gas costs for a heater in a garage:

There is no ideal gas heater model for all garages. In each case, you should choose your own version. The range of such heaters is huge, finding the most suitable equipment in terms of power and operation principle will not be difficult.

And most importantly - when choosing a gas device, you should not save on protection elements, otherwise it is not far from the tragedy of a fire or explosion.

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