Home Improvement

A typical two-car garage represents approximately 20% of space that can be used in the average home. In addition, there are currently more than 40 million single-family residential garages in the U.S. But in fact, the garage is simply the most underutilized room in the house, especially during winter months. Why? There may be various reasons, but one of the most obvious is that garages are usually left cold during the winter, making them uncomfortable to use for any purpose other than parking cars and storing tools. In the last 10 years that the negative view of the garage has changed dramatically. Climatizing garage has become much more than an afterthought.

In fact, isolation and provide some type of heat source in the garage has become a priority for many homeowners. “There is encouragement of their residential building contractors to offer customers the option to provide heat to the garage, a new homebuyer,” says Matt Workman, of Infra-Red Products Supply, Inc., located in Draper, Utah. “Even when given a choice by the builder, homebuyer will almost always choose to have the contractor to protect the garage along with the rest of the house during the construction phase. Furthermore, if given a choice, homebuyer will at least choose the gas line connection and / or electrical connections required to handle a heater – with the idea to have heaters installed later. Now more often than before, garage heaters installed in the final stages of home construction. That’s a home owner wanted the convenience and extra incentives for builder’s profit.”

“There are many practical reasons for heating the garage” states Mr. Workman, “including mechanical maintenance, freeze control, hobby, recreation (table tennis or exercise), pet comfort, wood working or simply to be able to ride in the car on a warm day bitter cold. For men more than women, the garage is a sanctuary – a place to go, tinker around and do minor repairs. For women and stay at home mom, can become a haven for exercise or just a place to send kids to bounce the ball or playing games. “Many homeowners even struggled to make the garage feel like a residence hall in a house with hidden lighting install, closed cabinet storage and even drowning. Painting walls and floors and adds a little touch of decoration can also create a more inviting garage – a place where there are people who want to spend more time.

For existing homeowners as well, there seems to be an increased interest in upgrading and improving the “livability” of the garage. One reason is that house prices rose sharply throughout the nation, making the move to a bigger house is not practical or unobtainable for many families. Instead of moving up to larger homes, many choose to stay and maximize use of space in existing homes. In this case, a small investment in upgrades to the garage is quite practical, especially when considering the cost of new loans and the associated relocation costs. A, heated garage climatized can provide only a little extra room to spread out and make the garage useful year-round.

One major concern people may with heating their garage is cost. The good news is there are many ways to heat a garage to meet almost any budget. Options include gas forced air (unit heaters), electric forced air, direct vent wall heaters, infra-red tube heaters and heating vents free. (I highly recommend this article is CSA approved equipment for home use portable propane or kerosene heaters. In the garage is not safe, especially in the presence of gasoline cans, solvents and other products that may cause danger of fire should have a spill on the garage floor. A permanent heater mounted high on walls or hung from the ceiling offers the best safety and places the heating of road vehicles and people passing through).

One of the most affordable and popular heaters on the market is Heatstar H25N heater vent free garage by Enerco. This is the shine infra-red heaters are designed specifically for residential garages and small shops. That vents free, secure, and require electricity. Simply hanging gas heater and run the line and you’re done. Other heaters are more expensive and require additional manpower. These include forced air in both gas and electricity. Gas forced air heaters (also called unit heaters) is the ceiling and require a flue to the outside electric power and 110V, while electric forced air heater requires no ventilation at all, but require 240V electrical hook-ups.

Larger separate garages or shops may fit best with the gas tube infra-red heaters, which also require a flue outside. Unlike forced air heating, however, the heating vent tube operates on the principle of infra-red (series) of energy and much quieter and more efficient to operate. And because the tube does not blow air heating, the concept is virtually eliminated, creating a more comfortable environment.

As for operational costs, the most practical thing homeowners can do is protect. Protecting good! It’s easier to do before sheet rocking the walls, but even stick on foam or blue board can make a dramatic difference in reducing heat loss. In addition, inexpensive door seal (available from most garage door suppliers) can reduce the infiltration of cold air from the outside around the overhead garage door. Also, any leakage from doors and windows should be closed to outsiders. A properly insulated garage can cut heat loss by at least 90% compared with uninsulated garage. This means that the heater you will not need to run all that often to maintain comfort and the cost to operate can be just pennies a day.

Regardless of the reason for someone to add heat to the garage, now there are a number of practical and affordable heating solutions to do so. There are several U.S. companies that specialize in garage heating. They can be very helpful in recommending size and specific requirements of the system in accordance with the owner of the house.