The garage is where a lot of people have entire workshops for projects or man-caves designed for the ultimate leisure time. When the harsh cold of winter comes in, your garage could easily turn into an igloo and could possibly limit the time you are able to comfortably spend inside of it. Heating it up may seem difficult, but with these tips, you will be able to stay in your garage in even the most cold weather conditions.
1. Add Insulation to Your Garage
Just like putting on more layers of clothing when going outside traps your body heat and keeps you warm, adding insulation to the walls of your garage will keep it warm and cozy during the winters. Among all of the options available to you to heat up your garage, this is most likely the cheapest solution you will find.
When it comes to installing insulation, whether it be for the walls, doors, or windows, it is usually a one time job that doesn’t have recurring expenses or constant maintenance and upkeep. The best part about this option is that the average DIY-er could easily complete this job with little hassle.
Whether your area experiences mild winters or harsh ones, keeping your garage warm enough is necessary even if you don’t use it for any purpose other than parking your car. So depending on the intensity of the cold and temperature variation of the area you live in, insulation can be an easy way to keep the heat in your garage and at the very least protect your car parts from freeze-jamming. However, once temperatures start dropping lower than freezing, it may not be enough and you will have to move on to more heavy duty solutions.
2. Improve the Flooring
The construction materials and style of your garage can play a vital role in keeping it warm or cold during different seasons. If your garage is traditionally made, with concrete floors and open-studded walls, then heating it even with the most expensive and effective systems won’t do you much good as concrete floors tend to get really cold and do not retain any heat.
So to combat extreme cold weather and make your garage inhabitable, you need to upgrade your floor to something like wooden floors so it matches the temperature inside the house. But if this is not an affordable option at all, then you can opt for options like carpet tiles, thick floor mats or rugs.
If the winters in your area are not that harsh, then you can simply use throw rugs over the floor during the winters because concrete floors can be very conveniently cool in the summers.
3. Electric Space Heater
If you want to have a more direct heating source for your own self in your garage that actually produces warmth, you should look into buying an electric space heater. It is a very simple option for heating up your garage that won’t break the bank either in the cost of the device or your electric bill.
These type of heaters don’t take up a lot of space in whatever area you decide to put them and can easily be moved around the house should you decide to bring it inside. They pump out pure heat with no other substances involved so you won’t need to have ventilation. It is best to couple these heaters in the garage with the aforementioned insulation as it is more difficult to heat up an entire area with just this device.
4. Propane Fueled Space Heater
Running with the same idea of the previous electric space heaters, propane gas heaters for garages are the more powerful version and probably the best option to heat up the garage area in the least amount of time.
These heaters gain their power from adding propane or kerosene which lead to a combustion effect and produce strong waves of heat that you need to effectively heat the room. The power of these heaters could easily heat up a normal sized garage within a few minutes.
The trade-off to having the heat of this magnitude is that you are going to have ongoing costs when it comes to having to continuously add fuel. Such combustion devices also produce carbon monoxide, so they should never be used inside the home and even when used in the garage, you need to at least crack the garage door open for some ventilation otherwise it can create a dangerous situation.
5. Radiant Heating System
The most efficient way to heat up your garage is definitely going the route of installing a radiant heating system in its floors or walls. These systems, rather than heating up the air in the garage, heat up the actual surfaces that are making the garage cold. The great part about in-floor heating is that the heat isn’t just relegated to one spot and can evenly heat an entire space without one area being warmer than the other.
While these radiant heating systems cost a lot up front to have put in, the operating costs afterward are relatively low. The installation process is best handled by a professional who knows the ins and outs of the system and can tell what type of materials aren’t conducive to having around a certain type of heating and building material.
