Hi all

I have an attached 2+ car garage. The garage shares two heated walls with the house and is well insulated. Most of the time I just leave the house to garage door open it stays warm .. for now. When it starts to get really cold I'm sure I will need more heat. I was thinking about just running a duct off my house furnace into the garage. Anyone ever do this? Looks simple to me. If I do this the adder would be I would have air in the summer.

 

Yes that will work. You might want to insulate your garage door. They sell kits on ebay(very pricey) or you can buy foam board at your building center and do it yourself.

 

Thanks

The garage door and the man door are both very well insulated. Right now it is 35f outside and windy and it is 61 in the garage. Thats OK now but when it gets cold I could be in truouble. I think I will give the ducting a try.

 

if you choose to bring a duct over make sure you insulate the garage door as stated earlier

you can also put in a heater. this one sells for $100




http://store3-store.stores.yahoo.net/ingahe.html

 

Are these kinds of heaters ok to use on a sustained basis- is there a thermostat you can set and just leave alone?

 

I ended up with a Dayton electric heater. Works well so far but has not gotten real cold yet. At 20 degrees outside it keeps my garage at 70 with no problem Just do a internet search for electric garage heater.

 

You made the right choice from a comfort perspective.

I would be concerned about maintaining comfort in the house during summer/winter extremes depending on how your HVAC system is setup/sized. Also, your (probably) single thermostat can't "see" your garage so you wouldn't have had very good comfort control there either.

Dayton makes heaters that are used fairly widely in industrial settings so it was a good choice.

The only remaining concern is cost. Depending on your utility rates it can be much more expensive to use electric heat. It's also less efficient.

 

How do you attach the foam board to the garage door? Probably a dumb question, but I am not really handy around the house.

 

I was searching for the same and here are some links that might help:
http://forum.doityourself.com/insula...nsulation.html


Blanket from Home Depot - Have heard mixed reviews:
http://www.homedepot.ca/webapp/wcs/s...k=P_PartNumber

I've also read on some forums, people used Refextic material - cutting to shape and then gluing to the inside of the door.
http://www.homedepot.ca/webapp/wcs/s...k=P_PartNumber


Make sure to use something like this first in all the small holes along the side of your garage. I applied some last week and made a huge difference (in my case)
http://www.homedepot.ca/webapp/wcs/s...k=P_PartNumber

I hope this helps - I currently have a single garage and don't want to invest too much right now, as planning to build my own dream home in the next few years.

 

Update.......

The Dayton electric heater was a good choice for me. It is -8 out right now and it is +70 in my garage. The heater runs about every 20min. for 5min. when it is this cold

My electric bill was up about $30 from normal. Thats not bad considering in the winter I use more electric power for everything from bathroom heaters to the stove and lights. My cars, dogs and me are very happy with it.

 

Gekko looks like I have a spring project. Thanks for the info!!

 

Does the foam board make a big difference? I'm thinking of doing this to my garage door.

 

Attaching foam board to your garage door should make a difference... The high end insulated steel garage doors we carry at my work are just filled with a nice foam inside of them. Make sure the weatherstripping around where the door meets the frame is good too.

 

I linked over here this morning, saw this, thought I'd post.

Most places, it's against code to have HVAC ducts enter the garage, due to the possibility of carbon monoxide traveling through the ducts and entering the house. Check your local rules.

That's why you always see folks with a window unit or a mini-split system heating/cooling attached garages.

 

Can I tap off the house furnace which is located in my garage to heat the garage?