<VV> Corvair garage

[JVHRoberts at aol.com]

Ahh.. the annual topic of garage HVAC...
 
So, I will put forth what I did. I installed a 24,000 BTU mini split heat  
pump in my 2 car garage. According to the calculations, it's a bit overkill, but 
 it does speed up the warmup. I also installed a 5 KW space heater just to 
get it  warm. The space heater is on a timer. It only needs to run about 15 
minutes,  along with the heat pump, and the space is up to temperature.  Heating 
AND  air conditioning, and NO open flames. Look on Ebay, google, etc., for 
minisplit  heat pumps. Most of them are quite reasonable, although the pricey ones 
are more  efficient, especially at lower temperatures, quieter, variable 
speed, etc. But,  for a garage, even the basic units work fine. There are also the 
'motel' style  through the wall units that come in a variety of sizes, are a 
tad cheaper, and  FAR simpler to install, IF you don't mind where it's located 
inside and out.  Must make sure on these that they are actually a heat pump, 
not just an air  conditioner with an electric heater as the ONLY heat. 
However, as with ANY heating system, the garage needs to be reasonably well  
insulated and draft free if there's any hope of the thing keeping up. 
 
 
In a message dated 10/23/2005 11:25:02 AM Eastern Standard Time,  
chartzel at comcast.net writes:

Why not  make half or two thirds of the garage/pole barn "cold storage" for
parked  cars and enclose an area about the size of a two-car garage for  a
workshop.  You then insulate the walls, put up an insulated ceiling,  and
only heat the work space.  Easier to heat a small space with a  ceiling than
the whole building.  Just remember to make the ceiling  high enough to jack
up a car or have a lift if you have the bucks.   Whatever heating system you
use, NO OPEN FLAMES near the floor where  gasoline fumes collect.  Hang the
heater from the ceiling!
Clark  Hartzel