Natural gas or electric heat?

[sledneck_03]

700 sq ft garage...... what should i go with, looking to keep it around 10-15 degrees above freezing. My dads a journeyman electrician so initial costs for electric heat would be minimal vs natural gas but what about long term?

 

[Canuk]

I have done both in 625 & 650 sq foot garages.

The electric was expensive to keep warm so I just fired them up 10min before I started a job.

For me, gas had much lower operating costs. The cost of running a gas line and buying a furnace and installation was about $1600 so it might take you a while to recoup that startup cost.

 

[bigdaddy35]

long term nat. gas is cheaper than electricity.

 

[dwillowguy]

If the garage is insulated you could get by with a quartz infrared heater. We heat a double car garage with it. We have it set up on a baseboard heater thermostat and set it for 50 F to keep winter chill off. If you need more heat you just turn it up before you start working on the sled...LOL We bought the heater @ UFA for about $150.00 and hung it in the middle of the garage via some chain and hooks.

 

[mach123]

Gas tube heaters all the way....

 

[meierjn]

Gas tube heaters all the way....

That's what I have in the house we moved into this summer. I can't wait to give it a try this winter. See the link to this thread:

https://www.snowandmud.com/forum/f76/radiant-vs-forced-air-heating-31904.html

 

[X-it]

Electric heat is cheap to put in and expensive to run. Maybe in the near future gas will be more expensive but in the mean time expect at the very least double to heat with electricity.

 

[sledneck_03]

Im sure i can run all the gas lines, hang the heater, and install the chimney my self, i probably can do the connections too but i might get a plummer to do the gas line connections for insurance reasons or whatever......

 

[steveo10]

gas for sure... radiant is the way to go!