If a cold garage is holding you back from your hobbies or preventing you from using it, consider garage heating options. Just as people air condition this space to use it in the summer, you can heat it too. However, it’s not quite as straightforward because garages typically have combustible contents.
Heating Considerations
It’s not advisable to use the same HVAC system that conditions your home. There’s a good chance that the air inside the garage and your home will mix. All the pollutants and particulates in the garage could easily enter your home. The days of positioning the air handler in the garage are over for the same reasons.
Wood stoves put out a lot of heat but are not a good solution.
Portable heaters are inexpensive options for garage heating, but the cost of using them is high, especially if they’re electric heaters. Vented natural gas and propane heating systems work well, but pose a fire hazard when using them at the same time you work with combustibles like varnish, gasoline, or solvents. They’re also a hazard when sawdust concentrations in the air are high.
Optimal Heating Solutions
Heat pumps provide an ideal heating solution for garages in the Yuma area. They’re available as ducted and ductless appliances. Besides providing heat, they double as air conditioners. You’ll be able to use your garage year-round at comfortable temperatures. Heat pumps are far more energy efficient than portable electric heaters. Since they don’t use combustible fuels or have exposed heating elements, they’re safer to use.
Before You Start
Just as an energy efficient home cuts heating costs, so will an energy efficient garage. Before installing the heater, add wall and attic insulation and seal the air leaks in the walls and the garage door.
The experts at Hansberger Refrigeration and Electric Company can help you with every aspect of garage heating. We provide HVAC services for Yuma-area homeowners.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Yuma, Arizona about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Guide or call us at 928-723-3183.
