For the last few years we have had a real hard time with winters in the garage and traditionally we have used torpedo heaters, from kerosene which is about the worst, on to the natural gas units to at least keep up a minimal existence thru the winter... often times we would end up closing up for the most part in January and February because it was just impossible to keep the garage warm and not kill yourself with the amount of fumes.
This year we opted for the convection Mr. Heater garage heater with LP gas conversion @ 80,000 BTU... since we waited so late in the season we could not get a gas line run in time before the freeze... that said I had to convert the unit to LP gas if I was going to have a convection heater this year. I was amazed at how well the conversion went with nothing more than some pipe sealant. I also picked up two 100lb tanks from Menards, which just happens to be the same place I picked up the heater. Each of the 100 lb tanks was about $120 each and cost about $100 to refill here. The heater I think was a little over $500.
Given the fact that I still have a lot of insulation and hollowing out of my roof to allow full lift on my hoist the heater has been temporally installed until this project gets finished off. Here are some of the photos in the rough while it was being converted, test fired and then temporarily hung.
So far the heater has been working great! It heats the entire garage in under 30 minutes and if left running it will get too hot! Look forward to seeing how it works in the deep chill however this year I should be able to work with the really cold northern temperatures and the best part is it's clean heat no nasty smell or loud fan! Very impressed so far and I just hope it's a quality unit that will last a good 10-15 years.
I get about 3 days of use out of each tank @ about 6-8 hour days but this has been at temperatures in the mid 30's... It may need to run more in the colder weather however we should treat this as almost an un-insulated garage since the roof panels have been removed to gain access to the upper roof. Hopefully once it's insulated proper the usage will lower as I do eventually plan on having a line run out to the garage for natural gas. I saved the old parts so I can convert it back.
I'll update the thread as time goes on.
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What is to give light must endure burning -- Viktor Frankl
Well, I'm pleased to announce that my heater made it a good seven years before it needed a new pressure switch (likley due to a bad diaphram)... I was able to source the switch, with a spare circut board for about $70 which I thought was a good deal.
I had this unit running in the Mustang bay (which right now is our shipping/receiving and packing area for parts)... but outside of a bay door -- it's about ready.
Since I only had propane in the other bigger bay, I decided to buy another NEW unit which is the exact same size as my old one, only they paint them black now. To my surprise, the unit was pretty much the same cost as it was in 2017, which was a little over $500!
So I tip my hat to Menards and Mr. Heater for being able to keep supply and MSRP cost about the same!
I myself think this little unit, at 80,000 BTU's is about the best you're going to get for inexpensive heating of workspace.
I have used it both with propane and natural gas and I was impressed enough to use it once again in yet another bay. I may end up moving the unit to the 2nd new garage later down the road, but I have the flexability with it where it's not too heavy and mounts pretty easy.
Back when I was a kid, most of the overhead heaters were Modine -- but I think maybe that is/was more of a commercial brand -- even though I am seeing them in smaller 80,000 BTU prices for some 3X the cost of the Mr. Heater.
Anyway, that's all I have to report for now... Here is a photo of the new circut board and limit switch I picked up for $70
I didn't take the circut board out of the foam packing because mine is still good on my other unit... but get this, it's the same on the new one I got -- the MHU80 is the same board regardless if you got the older tan unit, or the newer black one! So I'll tuck it to the side as a spare for either one of my units.
