How to keep your garage warm?

[stag36587]

I really want to get back in my garage and get stuck into some work again. There is so much to do but I just can't face subzero temperatures - even though I am Scottish With due account of health and safety, what have people found to be the best:

a) heaters - e.g. space, convector, etc.
b) insulation - garage roof, walls, doors?
c) door/window sealers
d) flooring - concrete, rubber tile, carpets, etc.

[chrisryder]

when working under the car in the garage, i'm always on an old piece of cardboard. takes the chill off the floor! we've got a pretty thick walled garage anyway, but the door lost a lot of heat, so we cut polystyrene sheets to fit the shapes and insulated the door. and we wrapped 2x1 lengths of wood up in old sheets to use as draught excluders under the door.

that's what we do anyway!

[Matt Tomkins]

gazebo held down with bricks, with a welder for warmth

[MarkyB]

The heaters that use a big propane (butane?) bottles give off a good amount of heat but moisture too.

Warm clothes work well, look out for 2nd hand motor bike clothing.

[bmcecosse]

I know badobsession has a wood burning stove linked up to many radiator panels around his garage - but then - he is a heating engineer! I'm wildly jealous. My own garage faces due south with an open outlook, so on a clear day the sun shines in very nicely. Unfortunately there is no room inside - so any work has to be done outside anyway...........

[moggydriver62]

Yes some ideas would be nice. Its 67 f outside.

[mrmorrisminor]

We have used loft insulation in the roof space and boarded this over with fibre board. The windows are double glazed and the worst of the gaps around the doors have been blocked with excluder strip.

For heat we have a diesel fired space heater. It puts out plenty of heat, it must put out some moisture but we have never experienced any condensation..... mind you if you leave the heater on too long it does reach a balmy 25C even with snow outside as I discovered over Christmas

[Ouma]

Insulate!
Did this to my single garage and temp inside now remains pretty constant and only needs one electric fan heater to make it comfortable to work in.
I sealed the single brick wall with an aqueous vapour seal paint, 2x4 framework, 2" EPS and finally Stirling board, with EPS between the roof beams and door bracing.
Couldn't believe how cosy it now is compared to previously when the inside would mirror the outside temp.
Another mod I did was to convert the up-and-over to swing open. The extra space liberated is quite something - this has to be a priority to get more space.
Happy New Year to all.
GeoffH
Norfolk UK not VA

[bmcecosse]

How does converting up/over door to swing make any space ?? I don't understand!! When my door is 'up' I can easily walk about under it - and I'm 6'2"..........

[mike.perry]

It depends on the design of the door and its pivots. Some up and over doors take up a lot of space when being opened and closed. The main problem is that as soon as you open the door all the heat that has built up in the garage instantly disappears.
Also if you have a garage that is integral with the house it will keep warmer than a detatched garage.
I know of a few people who avoid the garage heating problem by using the kitchen table

[beero]

I would insulate.
Luckily I bought an ex-showhouse and the garage was the sales office. Chipboard floor on polystyrene, plasterboard walls and ceiling, loft insulation. I even have coving and artex!
How posh am I ??

[Ouma]

Extra space.
The garage door was of the normal design where the whole thing would pivot up flat against the roof, which meant that nothing much could be placed up against it when closed, due to the angles when being opened.
There is now space to have a lathe and two milling machines along one side, bench along bungalow side and free space to nearly swing a cat.
And as mentioned, heat loss is now minimal.
Floor painted.
My other hobby is model engineering, hence the machines that will no doubt come in handy when doing repairs to the cars.
Oh, I work on my cars under the enclosed carport. It extends from the garage door and along the side of the bungalow. I've just extended it up to the end of the bungalow, so it's now two cars in length.
But, why oh why does any free space always fill up!?
GeoffH

[Kevin]

Thermal's will also help at this time of year, and I have one of those black rubber based sponge mats for laying on the floor, at our local autojumbles they are only £5 -£10 depending on size.

[Declan_Burns]

I fitted a roller shutter door on mine-takes up little or no space and is much better than the up and over doors-no horrible springs to catch your fingers in and nothing to get in the way. Definitely a worthwhile investment and easy to fit. Loads of them on ebay and they have come down in price over the years. Make sure to fit an infra red to trip the motor if anything is in the way-eg a moggy!
Regards
Declan

[StaffsMoggie]

Eliminate draughts as much as possible. My old garage was like a wind tunnel no matter what I used to warm it up. Once ive got a new wooden garage erected Ive got a nice warm stove out of a railway brake van to heat it with. Machine Mart do some stoves that are ideal for garages or you can make one out of an old gas bottle.