What heats a person working in a cold winter garage better?

The main choices for workshop heating are:

- Forced air - Radiant (infrared) - Wood Stove

The first two can be electric or fuel (CH4, LP, Kerosene).

Forced air will raise the temperature of the air directly, while infrared will warm the surfaces and objects in the room which will then transfer heat to the air.

Personally, I prefer forced air in the shop; something like:

For a typical two car garage, you'll need about 44,000BTU; depending on outside temperature/climate.

First thing I noticed, this is called a Costco heater but it's for sale at Amazon. I'm confused.

Too many aticles here for me to summarize them right off. Maybe I'll post more after I read them.

One google except says "Parabolic heaters can run at an 80 percent efficiency rating, meaning that they utilize 80 percent of the energy they take in to turn back into heat, wasting less energy than other heaters.Nov 11, 2010" What happens to the other 20%, does it disappear? Get sent back to the electric company? Same question about non-parabolic.

Are ceramic heaters better than other heaters? Ceramic heaters are easily portable and give off a great deal of heat from a small box. These heaters tend to be more energy efficient and safer than many heaters, so even though they heat up quickly, their plastic casings stay cool -- I guess you knew this already.

How old is this guy? If he has enough energy to clean the garage, isn't he still smart enough to not touch the hot parts of the heater?

This must be one of the two you mean:

Only 1000 Watts Actually the more watts, the more heat. What does the other one use? " parabolic reflector to focus heat...You feel three times the heat of

1500-watt heaters," That assumes he stays in one place, where the heater points. Convenient carry handle. but I don't see it in the picture.

Amazon has almlost the same thing,

for almost 8 dollars more. I went there because Amazaon usually has great pictures. This time it has 2, one more than the costco itself, but doesn't show the back or the handle. This one is only 800 watts, not 1000 like the costco version

A comment that echos what I said "This went into my garage in for the winter to replace one that died. While it gives off heat well my feeling is that the distribution is more focused than I am use to so I have to find where it's output best suits my working needs." The alternative, oscillation, with fans I don't llike that but with heaters I have no experience.

Eventually any heater will heat the air too, but most people don't turn the heater on until they start and turn it off when they leave.

It was hard to find the ceramic one at 100. I only found one at 90

!! Smart? What do you need those for? And it doens't give the wattage, though it would on the box if you were there.

I've always wondered what the purpose of t hose very tall fans and heaters is when there are smaller ones. Actually, the room I rented this past april and may had no heating other than heaters like this, and my roomates had 3 of them, all tall. No wifi, no smart, but it did have a timer and thermostat. It was a tiny room and I was either at a desk or sleeping, and it worked fine.

Hippie girls.

--scott

In some cases the wood stove would not be allowed. Definitely if he puts the cars in the garage. Solid fuel heaters should not be used where flammable liquids are stored.

I would not pay the $ 100 for either one. Electric heat is the same for the same amount of wattage. Depending on how much power he has in the garage he may be better off with 2 or 3 of some $ 25 bathroom type heaters.

Yes, indeed. That why I made the side comment I did.

At

says "Parabolic heaters can run at an 80 percent efficiency rating, meaning that they utilize 80 percent of the energy they take in to turn back into heat, wasting less energy than other heaters. Nov 11, 2010" You see statements like this frequently. Well, what happens to the other 20%, does it disappear? Get sent back to the electric company? Do you get billed for it anyhow? Same question about non-parabolic.

Normally, inefficiencies in electric, gasoline, steam, gas and any power using devices show up as wasted heat. But in a heater, heat is the goal. How can there be waste heat? How can they be less than 100% efficient?

When you depend on answers from 'AnswerBag'.... The models that incorporate one or more motors for fans or rotation would be less that

100% efficient although I doubt they would use 20% of the input.

You've got to watch the hype. 'This SuperHyperBolic Gizmo uses 30% less energy' Well, duh, it's 1000W and not 1500W like most portable heaters.

I don't think that either would put out nearly enough BTU's to make a difference; even in a one car garage. You're going to need a propane heater, or otherwise.

Unless there is leaking fuel, I don't see an issue... So as long as fuel is properly stored. In my six car garage, the previous owners had a wood/coal stove. He did auto-body work in the garage. I dearly hope that he didn't use aerosol and oil based paints in the winter... not that it matters now. I plan to put a wood/coal pot belly stove back in, and keep cars and fuel good and well away from it.

Even the motors generate heat, so it is still 100 % efficent unless you count on the power dropped in the wiring in the house going to the heater. Fuel powered heaters that are vented to the outside will see some of the heat going out the exhaust pipe.

Good point, so let me make my quesiton specific and explicit. In an

*electric* heater, heat is the goal. How can there be waste heat? How can they be less than 99% efficient?

Even the cord to the heater doesn't get warm so waste heat in the 14 or

12 gauge wires going from the breaker box to the room will not be more than 1% of the power used, certainly nowhere near 20%. Why do heaters claim efficiency as low as 80%?

Bugsy wrote on 12/22/2022 2:00 PM:

It is hopeless to try to heat an airy garage with ceramic heater. The air speed in front of a ceramic heater is extremely low because the ceramic heating element in front of the fan blocks most of the air flow. That means you cannot feel the hot air directly if you are farther than a few feet away.

The only heater that makes sense in an airy place is a parabolic heater which shines infrared radiation directly onto your face and body. Most of the commercial stores use parabolic heaters to keep their cashier personnel warm when the cash register is near the front door of the store with customers coming in and out to let in the cold draft all the time.

I have bought this parabolic heater from Amazon. It has a wide and heavy round base which definitely cannot be pushed over by a cat. The heavy round base is about 20 inches in diameter, and the whole unit can be extended to 6.9 feet from bottom to top. There is a pull-string switch to turn on one element, two elements, or all three elements (each element is 500W) to a configuration of  500W, 1000W, or 1500W.

DONYER POWER retractable Electric quartz Heater with Protection System Waterproof，Outdoor/Indoor 1500W，Garden Patio, Easy Assembly

Two possible plans.

Put the cars back in the garage and there will be a lot less air to heat.

Wait until summer. Spend the winter doing crossword puzzles where it's warm inside. Or writing his memoirs.

Ultimately but the motors are also transferring electrical energy to kinetic energy in moving the air mass.

Yes, the cord does get warm.

"Electric furnaces are more expensive to operate than other electric resistance systems because of their duct heat losses

--Why would duct heat losses lower the efficiency of an electric furnace? The heated duct heats space inside the walls and then heats the walls themselves from the inside. If they were not heated, they would suck heat from the air inside the rooms and make the furnac run longer. If the inside of the walls or the ducts were never cold, they would not suck heat from the forced air.

This is comparing localized heaters with centralized heaters. An electric furnace is far away and the hot air is piped to you through cold ducts that leak heat out. A space heater in your area heats your area directly without those duct heat losses.

--scott

A lot of ductwork is not within the living space. True, the crawl space may be cozy. Stray cats will be pleased.