What heater for garage?

[agent006]

Getting right narked off with geting frozen when i'm working on the car, so i'm going to get a heater for the garage. Question is, what's better: Radiator or fan heater. Both would be electric, but i've heard talk of having to avoid condensation and the like when heating a wet car.
Also, anyone know what sort of power would be required to heat a double garage? Would a 1500 or 2000 watt beastie be enough?

[tubbystu]

Most garages leak (air not water ) like a sieve, so I guess a portable fan heater would be beter than a rad. At least you can position in near where you are working.

If you want to keep the garage permanatly warm you will have to insulate the roof etc.

[d-man]

I picked up a 1200w halogen heater last week which seems to do a great job of keeping me warm while working in my single garage. Did have a slight problem with frozen condensation on the inside of the roof of the garage one day though, turned heater on and a few minutes later it was raining inside I'm not trying to heat the garage permanently though, just take the chill off when I'm working in there.

[agent006]

tubbystu said:

If you want to keep the garage permanatly warm you will have to insulate the roof etc.

Already is. It has a proper roof and loft, and two of the walls are internal as it's part of the house.

[ultimasimon]

I used to use a Spaceheater. You can get them on ebay for peanuts second hand. They will heat a large garrage in a few minutes and then you can turn it off again. The downside is they smell a bit if they are old but its the quickest way to heat a garage if you dont want high electricity bills. As others have said the new halogen heaters are also very good but they are still over a thousand watts, which is equivvalent to a 2 bar electric fire - costly to run if used frequently.

[wedg1e]

Gas or paraffin will create a lot of water vapour; how many things do you want to rust?
It ar53s me off cos I have the mother of all propane spaceheaters (used to heat an industrial workshop!) that will bring my garage up to the point where I can wear a T-shirt whilst it's snowing outside... found out the hard way about the vapour when my lathe rusted overnight
On t'other hand, electric heaters cost a bomb to run.
Best compromise? Run a spur off the gas central heating and put one or two radiators in the garage. Fit a TRV and leave it on frost setting unless you're working out there.
Oh, and lag the pipes