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Forced air, Propane or Kerosene?


Automan2164
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Hey guys, just trying to line some ducks up here for when I finish my garage... I have roughly a 24 X 24 garage, and just finished insulating it, just need to hang some drywall. But at this point, I am looking for somesort of heat. I don't want to have to plumb something in, or attach it, due to the workspace constantly changing. I know I want a forced air of some sort, and want the best bang for the buck. I have a gift card for a portion for farm and fleet, so I am getting it there... here's what I am looking at:

 

Propane:

494479.jpg

http://farmandfleet.com/products/494479 ... nt%26p%3d3

 

Kerosene:

494472.jpg

http://farmandfleet.com/products/494472 ... nt%26p%3d3

 

Basically, I want the least amount of cost to run it. So, whether it be running for propane all the time, or kerosene, it doesn't really matter. I just want to know your opinions on what you would do in your garage... I am trying to keep the price under $150...

 

Rob L.

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You won't get the built up stink of burned kerosene if you go with the propane unit. In an enclose garage too, you should eventually look into a permanent forced air heat system to bring fresh air in or at least to separate the burned air and vent it out so as to avaoid carbon monoxide poisoning.

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Rob...

 

Propane...less fumes..about half the cost... easier to find a replacement tank on Sunday afternoon.

 

Host a wrench day at your place.. I will bring mine up for you too try...

 

How long do you get out of a 20lb'er will?

 

Rob L.

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I vote for the Kerosene style heater.

 

Only because that's what I've been using the past 20 years on heating a shop :D

 

Yes, Kerosene has a 'stink' to it, but in the long run, it's a lot less costly. I switch over to off road Diesel when the price of Kerosene went thru the roof, and yes, we've had problems when it gets really cold, like under 20*, but when I get the 55 gallon drum filled, I'll add some Kerosene (10 gallons) to the top to "loosen" it up some.

 

Last winter, we did alot of shop work, for almost 2 months, every day, and the total cost to heat the shop, when we were in there, was less than $150.

 

Also.......with the salamander, you can get a thermostat to control the on and off.

 

If your heating a 24 x 24 garage, insulated, you should be fine with a 60-80K unit, it will heat up really fast :D

 

Propane is just too costly around here.

 

Radiant heaters are the cleanest to burn, but, they will warm you up, not the objects around you, so, if your thawing out a frozen up car, it will take forever. Plus, as noted, they suck thru the propane like nothing, I tried a big old "top hat" heater years ago, and that would run 2 days on 1, 100 pound tank :(

 

Which ever one you go with, keep in mind, that with out the heater being vented, you will pickup a considerable amount of moister in the garage from the burning fuel.

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Personally, I am with Wildman... I know kerosene ain't that expensive, and in a pinch, or whenever, I can use rudolph's number 2. That's the way I was leaning to begin with... I can run to the mobil and snag a gal or two of diesel if needed, I can't however, go buy propane whenever I want. Plus, its what I have grown up with... I can always remember being 5, and deathly afraid of walking by the thing that sounded like a jet, and was glowing hot...

 

Oh, and did I mention I love the smell of burning diesel?

Rob L. :nuts:

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I had an 80,000 BTU Propane heater. I'd burn through a 30 lb tank in less then 8 hours heating a 20x30 space. I have a kerosene 60,000 BTU salamander heater and 5 gallons of kerosene lasts nearly a week (maybe 25 hours). I heated the garage to around 60 degrees. I paid around $30 to have the 30lb tank filled and $20. for the 5 gallon. Neither is supposed to be used in an unvented area. After a while you don't even notice the kerosene smell, unless you go outside and come back in. They make wall unit forced air kerosene heaters that vent to the outdoors. They mount in a window size opening in the wall. For me despite overwelming favor for the Propane units I'd go kerosene.

 

Mac...

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Propane.

 

Back home we have a 1000 gal. propane tank that my Dad has purchased outright (its not rented from the LP company, he owns it so he says what happens with it and when/if it gets filled). We primarily heat our house and shop with a wood boiler and a wood stove, however we have both hooked up to run on propane heat when its needed (boiler in the house and wall heater in the shop). Some winters last longer than others and we run out of wood. Flip the switch over to propane and it fires right up.

 

The main reason I vote propane is that you COULD expand your system with it easier than your kerosene. If you wanted to go get yourself a 500 gal. tank and park it outside (depending on your codes...?) you could set yourself up with a ? 2,3 ? year supply of heat by paying one fill up bill. We buy our propane in the spring/summer (last time we filled the tank it was 1.19 / gal) and we are ready to go for the next year. Propane stores indefinitely. If you want another heater you could just tee your line and add the heater on the other side of the garage, still working off of the same tank.

 

Its hard to store that much kerosene safely and I'm sure its harder to come by in mass quantities.

 

Not all types of propane heaters are loud either...

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Forgetting something Brent... If I wanted to go with something I would have to plumb in, I could just use the big ol' natural gas line spiked into the house... ;) Plus, I see a problem with the city, and big propane tank docked outside... :roll:

 

Still thinking kerosene... I can use the kerosene from ace, or the local small gas station has a pump I could fill a few cans at a time with...

 

Rob L.

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I used kerosene ONCE. Now it's propane all the way. I use an unvented propane heater that is T-d off of the furnace supply,(already low pressure regulated) to take the load off of the forced air furnace. I don't heat anything totally with propane, I just use it to keep things at a livable temp. One of the negatives of burning propane is that the combustion byproduct of burning it is water and ammonia. The water vapor likes to condense on cold tools and make them rust. If your shop stays at a constant warm temp, this isn't a problem. Carbon monoxide? that's why warehouse forklifts burn propane, there isn't any(CO). Could you get asphyxiated? sure, from a lack of oxygen, not CO poisoning.

BTW I like this heater, it's portable, versatile, has a fan that runs on batteries or a110V adapter.

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/ ... _200307957

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I have both, I have a propane convection heater like the one at Lowes that was posted earlier and I have a kerosene torpedo heater. The propane has less of a smell than the kerosene, but I have noticed it fills the garage with fumes quicker. I started using exchange bottles for my gas grill and my heater will no longer run off of them, not sure why. Thats when I picked up a kerosene torpedo. It works great, but is very loud. The fuel seems to get sucked down fast too, I burned through 5 gallons in about 10 hours maybe even less. I don't notice the smell much, even my fiancee doesn't really notice it when she comes into the garage, but I burnt he clean burning K-1 Kerosene from the hardware store, which is rather expensive.

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hey Rob, couldn't you just leave the door to the house open? I mean, there will be a transition period during the initial warm-up, but after the garage is fully insulated, couldn't you just treat it as an extension of the house during the project build? :dunno:

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I think Rob has chosen kerosene after talking to me the other night... I believe he saw it as a cost and availability issue. Even though propane is probably more available than kerosene.... Several sellers in our area have 24 hour availability on propane.

 

I have almost the exact heater he is looking at... its propane and I love mine. He doesn't like the fact that 20lb grill tanks only last about 4 or 5 hours at full throttle. But you don't run it full throttle all the time.

 

The only by-products of a correctly running propane burner is Carbon Dioxide and water vapor. Not ammonia or Carbon Monoxide. But you need adequate oxygen flow or the heater will not correctly function. The scenting agent will leave some smell though....

 

Using kerosene... you cannot paint in a garage while running a kerosene heater. Paints, enamel auto paints in particular will pick up the kerosene smell.

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Since you do have a natural gas supply somewhere in the area, I 'd go with it and forget kerosene, propane. With cost being a deciding factor of course.

 

Yea, I kind of agree with that^

 

Rob, you didn't mention the NG at the beginning of this topic :hmm:

 

You can get a salamander style heater that runs off NG, that would give you the portability, and most have a rubber hose for the feed. Just add a tap off one of your existing lines, and add a shut off valve to connect the hose when you need it.

 

Another thought........check you local CL for used furnaces, some are replacements for high efficiency units, and the 'seller' lets them go real cheap, and there still good for a back up unit.

 

Like this add here........http://buffalo.craigslist.org/tls/1539513679.html

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