I have a (large) 1-car garage with sheetrock on the walls (no insulation under the rock). I've never had the heat on max high, or the a/c on max cool. I only use the unit when I'm going to be in the garage for an extended period, and when the temps are at the extreme.

Having said that, the fella I bought the unit from is a builder, and he uses the same unit in his 3-car garage. He's completely satisfied with how the unit keeps his garage climate controlled year round.

 

A garage heater is the best thing since sliced bread.... It's wonderful...
I spend more time sleeping under my cars on a creeper than I do in bed..

My garage is heated by a gas furnace the same type that is used in mobile homes... I keep the temp at just over 60 degrees. No problem with accelerated anything....
If a car picks up some salt off the roads then I just take out the hose and adjust the water temp and wash off the frame and under the fenders....I have a drain and hot and cold water to the garage... I just love the Midwest.....and that's especially true..

I highly recommend a heated garage....

 

I live at the top of a hill in central Minnesota. I have six evacuated tube solar collector arrays with two Weil-McClain Ultra boilers as back-ups to heat my long and very steep driveway. I just added a Modine hydronic fan to the mix and use it to keep my 3-car garage at 45-50F. I can warm it up FAST when I want to wash the C4S (one gallon of water with Optimum No Rinse!!)
I can also store the "overflow" from my wine cellar in the garage now too

 

Why buy a garage heater ? What is the purpose?

i lived in New York for 23 years . The cars always started in the cold . even the cars parked outside started up.

 

Depending on climate, I'll never go w/o a heated garage again. I have a Reznor Nat Gas UDAP45 (45,000 BTU) heater in my attached 3 car garage. Great unit w/ a 10yr warranty on the core and major components (unlike the overpriced Hot Dawg heaters). It's hooked to a programmable thermostat permanently set at 38F. If I want to wash the cars or work in the garage in general, I crank the thermostat up to 55-60F and w/in 15-20min I'm good to go - even if it's 0-5F outside (fully insulated walls and R9 doors help maintain the temp).

Ideally, and for more efficiency, I wanted radiant heat. However, w/ only a 10' ceiling, radiant wasn't practical b/c I'd need multiple tube runs for coverage. Locked & loaded, the Reznor set up was ~ $1500 installed two or three years back. Our master closet is above the garage and the Mrs. was always complaining about putting on cold clothes in the winter. Of course this was the only solution I could come up w/ to solve the problem. It's the least I could do for her

Having said that, I'd imagine in TX you could probably get away w/ either an electric heater (like Dayton for forced air) or some quartz heat lamps. Advantage, aside from price of electric vs nat gas is they're usually cheaper and much easier to install b/c they mostly don't require outside venting.

Good luck w/ you decision

 

To take the chill off the garage when I'm working on the cars in the winter. We get plenty of sub freezing and even sub zero weather in central Indiana in the winter and while my garage is well insolated once you open the door to allow a car in or out the temp can drop fast. I have a flat screen hooked up to HD cable also and can watch the games and work in the garage to my heart content. I wouldn't use a heater to keep my garage a constant temp all the time, just to warm it up when I'm working in it. As you say the cars can handle the cold.

 

Ever since i came to 6speed I learned that there are quite a few car owners who really take time to make their garage very nice. I had never seen this before in my personal life . Most of the folks i know have minimal interest in cars or if they have a nice car it's just a basic driving tool which they park and drive. In fact - a lot of people I know hardly even wash their cars .

As for myself --I admit that I don't repair my cars myself at all . The idea of going into a cold garage with a heater to work on my car would be so out of character for me but I do realize that there are some guys who enjoy . and yes --I suppose a well equipped garage would be needed for this hobby .

Now I understand.

 

I live in North Texas and have sealed my garage doors for drafts (next will insulate) but for the few times I have needed to warm up my three car garage to do some work I simply used a heating element that clamps to the top of any propane tank. And after a few minutes of that thing running the garage is nice and toasty.

It was rather inexpensive (under $50.00 - $60.00). This is not the exact unit I have but vary similar. http://www.sleeping-bags-now.com/cam...ne_heater3.htm

It's also something I NEVER leave unattended nor within close proximity of flammable items.

 

+10

 

I live near Seattle. Several years ago, I had a gas furnace installed at the same time we were replacing the gas furnace in the house. I only warm the garage occasionally, use it for freeze control the rest of the time to make paints & glues last longer.

The traditional wisdom has been, if you live in an area where you get salt on the roads, heated garages accelerate rust unless you're willing/able to wash the salt off each time. If the salt stays on the car, keep it cold & use an oil or block heater to help it start if you want.

 

I use a Solar Comfort electric heater by Sun Cloud that we used to use in the house. We upgraded to a newer version of the same unit to match the living room furniture, so I got the perfectly good one with the oak cabinet for the garage. Works great, has a completely adjustable thermostat, and it's not a big hit on the electric bill, unless you keep Florida-like temperatures in the winter. I just keep it warm enough to be able to work out in the garage and I don't leave the heater on all the time.

These units are NOT cheap, but they are probably the safest electric room heaters available.

The SL does not go out in the snow, and the Mini gets washed with Optimum No-Rinse after a trip out into the snow/salt.