what portable heat do you use to heat your shop or garage?

I have a garage that currently I cannot insulate.  It gets cold in Maine, but I would love to do some projects in my garage.  I can't insulate it because one of the walls leaks rain if the wind is just right.   I need to take the siding off to seal the wall, and that opens a whole other can of worms.

So, I am here with a cold two car garage.  I am using a portable kerosene heater, that is the stand up type.   I have seen the heaters that look like a small jet engine and propane heaters.  Anyone use these, or anything else?

It's only December and its already flipping freezing here in Maine.  What do y'all use?

In reply to thedoc :

define "flipping freezing". it gets about 37 in seattle and we just have a stand up heater. if you turn it on about 30min before you go outside it warms up nicely. but idk how big your garage is, so...

Garage heaters

some of these are pretty expensive but some are also cheap. from lowes

MR Heater Big Buddy. 4500-18000 BTU. But I dont live in that cold a place.

In reply to Dieselboss15 :

It was 20 degrees F today.  To me, that's flipping freezing.  I think when water freezes in your garage, that is a bit much.  I grew up working on cars in the winter.  You didn't know you were cut until you saw the blood somewhere.  I am so done with it.  I am trying to figure out what to do with this space.  We almost pulled the trigger on another house last summer, this is why I don't want to do much of a remodel on this garage.

thanks guys, I will check these out.

I picked up this from LKQ for $25. 

25000 btu RV furnace. Not what you asked about but might be worth a quick marketplace or CL search. It is awesome. I like not having to worry about a open flame.

My garage has open eaves and uninsulated walls, so it's basically a how-to guide for heat loss in the winter.  I have the 18,000btu Mr Heater unit, the one that can take two cans of "camping gas".  I have it connected to a 30lb tank so I can decadently turn it up to max.  You can only use low heat when using the 1lb can because using medium will use the gas quickly enough that the can gets so cold from pressure drop that it stops providing gas to the heater, and it shuts off.

Oddly, it did not come with the AC adaptor for the little blower fan in the unit, so I have it running on a large supply of D-cell batteries.

It's not great, but it's better than nothing, takes up less space/is less of a fire risk than a torpedo heater.

Working smarter also helps.   If I have to roll around under a car, I use one of those cheapo Harbor Freight mover's blankets to insulate me from the concrete.  This is a game-changer, to be honest.

My father had a torpedo heater.  Lots of heat in a hurry, but noisy, smelly, and dirty.  Not recommended.  Of course, maybe they've improved since the early 80's.

Sounds like you need a radiant heater.  Heats stuff (and people) instead of air.  

I used the fan on my Big Buddy exactly once.  Not worth it. I also have the hook up for my 30lb propane tank. I live in a MUCH more temperate climate- think, getting "cold" when it's 55 outside - but it works great for my purposes. In my garage, in my camper, etc. In an insulated garage in Northern VA, it heated up nicely and held.

I only just started using the fan.  It's great when I'm working more than a few feet away from it.

I only use the heater when it's below 40F.

As an aside, I found that my MIG welder stops feeding properly when it's near zero degrees unless I hold the gun out in a straight line from the welder...  I will also admit to having welded a whole bunch just to have some hot metal to sit near.  I've also induced this effect by heating large metal objects with a MAPP torch.

I have a knipco (that's what we call them, some people call them torpedoes or salamander heaters, the jet engine things). I use it in my attached four car garage, but I use it sparingly. The reason is mostly because it is fumy, and since it's an attached garage my wife complains of it smelling up the house. The smell doesn't bother me too much. It's also very noisy. I also wouldn't feel comfortable using it if I'm doing any work on a vehicle where fuel could be leaking. But I will say this, man that makes a lot of heat in a hurry. If you use kerosene the smell isn't as bad. Dad always used diesel in his because he had a diesel tank on the farm. Diesel really stinks.

I have also used a vent free gas fireplace insert that we removed from the house. I adapted the fittings to connect to a barbecue tank. Its quiet, doesn't stink, and makes good heat. For it to work really well have a fan running to circulate air because otherwise the heat just goes straight up to the ceiling. Otherwise that's a really good option.

I have a 75000 btu torpedo heater i run on diesel. I don't really mind the smell if the diesel is fresh but my garage is very drafty. It's also extremely loud. But it was free and it fires up every winter and can make the garage uncomfortably warm if i want to run it long enough.

I use a kerosene heater similar to this one.

Nice dry heat and almost no smell. The smell you do get is close to burnt Jet A so it makes my man parts happy.

Back when I worked out of the house garage:

"The heat is in the tools"

However, I did have a small parabolic heater that I would point at my butt cheeks wherever I worked.

Mr. Heater Hero, it's propane, so it doesn't stink like a diesel/kerosene, it's got a battery so it can be portable if you want, lasts a few hours on a full charge, great for tailgating.  Puts out a lot of heat, but is a little noisy.  

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Mr-Heater-60-000-BTU-Forced-Air-Propane-Hero-Heater-MH60CLP/305088558

20k btu, yeah it's called "radiant" but there's a lot of heat that goes straight up as well. Quiet, not stinky. I usually run my pedestal fan on low at the same time to move the warmed air around.

Not portable - but one of my garages had a wood stove in it. That thing would put out massive heat. Obviously it'll take some real installation, but you can get them used for cheap and they don't really cost anything to run if you can find a source for pallets or scrap wood. There are a handful of them under $100 on my local CL.

How quickly does your average waste oil burner go through oil?

You say you can't insulate your garage, but there is nothing stopping you from setting up a garage within a garage. Maybe get one of the portable car ports, set it up around your project, insulate and *ventilate* that and run a heater in a smaller insulated space within your garage.

Heck, even some wood framing with plastic tarps over it will help keep the heat in.

Alternatively, staple plastic sheeting to the walls of your garage until you fix the leak.

Propane makes your stuff rusty, no way.

That propane Mr. Heater Hero, did a good job of keeping my oversized, uninsulated, 1 car garage, in Columbus, OH comfortable.  14' ceiling, and 1-1/2 cars deep.  Nothing in my garage ever rusted.  I haven't used it as much since moving back to AR, but nothing has rusted from it here either.

I have a massive propane poultry barn furnace with 350,000 btu but I only turn it on for ten minutes to cut the chill on very cold days. Mostly I wear insulated coveralls and I am pretty comfy.

I used a kerosene jet engine heater in MD during winter.  Not Maine cold, but it combatted MD pretty well.  If I ran it long enough before work I had to wear thick pants for when I sat on the concrete, and cardboard if laying down, but could get away with short sleeves.

I've always run hot, though so I like cold provided my feet and hands aren't frozen.