I have a retiree detailing business and it is growing. Now I am getting more business during the cold months which presents a problem. I use my uncle's garage (23x25) which is great as my 2 car garage is small. He lives nearby and this is his summer home so he is only down on week ends during warm weather so I have exclusive use of it during the week. I dont work week ends. I have been looking into propane heaters as kerosene heaters burn my eyes. I checked out the ones that sit on top of the propane tank but they are radiant heaters and only warm the surface and get in the way in order to keep them close to the vehicle. I am considering a forced air propane heater which puts out between 30K to 60K BTU's and warms the area better. It looks like it has the capacity and does not suck up the propane. Some of the 100K BTU heaters do. I just want to take the chill out of me and cold vehicles are tough to remove compound and polish from. Any suggestions as I want to keep costs down and cant afford a permanent heat supply.

 

I have a forced-air propane heater that is 35,000 BTU max. Adequately heats a 3-car garage in the coldest weather. Usually gets the garage temp into the 60's.

For reference, this is one I use:

Reddy Heater

 

I will vouch for the ineffectiveness of the "tank mounted" radiant heaters. I have a triple, rated for 42k btu, and on a cold winter day it makes one corner of the garage barely acceptable. It's not too bad for mechanical work, where you're usually spending most of your time on one part of the car, but detailing would require moving around repeatedly.

I'd caution you to ensure that the heater you buy will work with the size propane tanks you have. Some of the larger ones state that they require 100-lb tanks.

 

Here is a resource for determining your heater needs, hope it helps. I assume the garage is insulated already, including the doors.


http://www.ultimategarageheater.com/

 

My friend has a 30 or 35k bazooka heater in his two car garage, and after about 10 minutes of it being on, it becomes as unbearable as the sahara. They definitely work, and work well.

 

my parents think I'm going to burn the house down if I use a propane heater so I have to suffer

 

The forced air propane heater uses a 20# tank and will run for around 14 hours at 30,000 BTU's. I dont need it on full time so I can detail 2-3 cars on one tank of propane which comes out to about $6 per vehicle. You can get a 40# tank so I will try the 20 first since I already have an extra one. I will check out some of the suggested sources. Yes, the garage is insulated. Thanks.

 

Tell them you'll use a bonfire instead.