Hi All,
Looking for suggestions. I have typical 2 car garage, about 1984 vintage, connected to the house but not accessable other than from outside. Uninsulated except for the house side wall. Open rafters leading to a functioning vent on the top of the roof. I'm in New England, 19 degrees as I write, supposed to be near 0 tonight. I have some serious car repair work to be done and need to heat the garage up to bearable temps. I am thinking of a torpedo type kero heater or propane. With any fuel burning heater I'll install two or three CO sensors in the garage. I'd like to heat up the area, shut down while I work unless it's safe to keep the heater going. I am hoping others have faced this problem and maybe have come up with a better way to heat the room for temporary use. Longer range plans are to install batts and drywall and use some kind of ceiling mounted propane device. We do not have gas in my area (other than me:-) ) I've already dome some of the work at 25 degrees and at 58 yrs old it is a bit much to be on one's back on a piece of cardboard outside. I don't want to put in a wood stove for obvious reasons as the garage also houses my 58 220S sedan. Suggestions, cheap florida house? Anything. Hoping to stop the chattering teeth (gums actually). Thanks much.

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1985 300D 197K - Semi-Daily Driver Diesel
1998 Volvo V70 AWD 226K - Daily Driver 2
1998 Volvo S70 140K - Wife's DD
2003 GMC Sonoma ZR2 Option - Rusty Truck
THE BABY 1958 220S Sedan 66K All original, never restored and never will be.

A torpedo works well in my garage. I set the heater next to the door and raise the door a few inches for the intake. With the door cracked to let out the "fumes" at the top and fresh air coming in the bottom its quite manageable.



I have also used heating blankets to lay on under a cold car.

I bought a Northern Tool or Harbor Freight propane wall mount heater with the leg kit. They come in a variety of sizes. Plumbed it to a 20lb propane tank. Puts out a fair amount of heat and has a low oxygen sensor on it. It's an open flame so I wouldn't run it if I had gasoline fumes around but one of the larger models would probably heat up your garage enough to make it bearable. I use the smallest model for non-electric heat in my motorhome when boondocking.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

I would recommend propane.
I have a kerosene-fueled torpedo that heats well, but when it is shut down emits strong vapors for quite a while. Propane would be less odoriferous.

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1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags

Don't bother with a propane wall mount unit in the 30K btu range without insulation. It won't barely take the edge off. What you need is a propane construction heater. The kind that look like a metal trashcan and hook up to a 20lb or 100lb cylinder. I bought a smaller one that makes 80+K btu wide open and will heat a garage, insulated or not, even with one door half open to T-shirt temps if you need it. I throttle it back and it easily keeps my 2 car garage at sweatshirt temps. I don't care for the propane or diesel "forced air" style "salamander" or torpedo heaters as I don't really want to have to plug them in. The trashcan style just hooks up to the cylinder and you are good to go. Mine looks a lot like this one: http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100652211 I picked mine up used for $50 so look on Craigslist, etc. Mine looks suspiciously like this one so maybe my btu quote is incorrect. Either way, they rock. The fumes from diesel/kerosene heaters are too noxious for me. Hangover grade headaches in short order with them.

When you finally insulate don't bother with sheetrock on the walls, use OSB or cheap plywood. That way you can put shelves, hangers, etc. anywhere and not have to look for studs. RT

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When all else fails, vote from the rooftops!
84' Mercedes Benz 300D Anthracite/black, 171K
03' Volkswagen Jetta TDI blue/black, 93K
93' Chevrolet C2500HD ExCab 6.5TD, Two-tone blue, 252K