Heaters Unleashed

Though electric space heaters prove to be more efficient, propane heaters are necessitated when power source is limited. Propane continues to be an efficient and economical fuel for heating, especially for smaller enclosed areas.

Where to Heat

One of the most important considerations for buying a propane heater is the area to be heated. The output of a heater is measured in terms of BTU. The larger the area, the more powerful the heater has to be and thus the higher its BTU rating. Heating of large open areas, like say a warehouse will call for a heater with a capacity of 8000-12,000 BTU. A model like DynaGlo-PRO 70k-100k BTU Propane FA Heater would be appropriate for heating of barns, warehouses, indoor sporting events, patios, garages, campers, cabins and even hunting blinds. Such a unit combines radiant and convection heat for utmost efficiency. With a twenty pound tank of propane this would keep heated an area of 2,500 square feet for about six hours. For a small area of say 400 square feet a model like Heater Model # MH18B will work for about 110 hours from a tank of the same capacity of twenty pounds. Homestead Portable Liquid Propane Heater is a popular choice of homeowners who opted to add an enclosed patio without heating arrangements. In case you have small room a heater of 2000 BTU should suffice.

Great Advantages

The most helpful feature of propane space heaters is their portability. You can carry them with you anywhere you may like to. Small propane heaters could be used in a tent when you go out camping, in your recreation vehicle (RV) or even in a rustic cabin.

Check out the tank

In their case it is the capacity of the tank that’s the point of concern. Suppose you intend carrying it with you to a camp in the wilds and there are no means to have a refill of the tank! So, before venturing into such a heater, you should fairly well anticipate your requirements of fuel. However, for domestic use you may have two smaller tanks, of which you may continue using one, while the other is kept in reserve for immediate use after one is exhausted. Nevertheless, you should have a tank capacity that does not need too frequent refills to be inconvenient. And, while camping out make sure that you have some fuel to fall back upon in case of an emergency and always start with a full tank. Ideally, you should be carrying at least a twenty-pound tank and if you have been using a tank of the same capacity at home you would have a good estimate for the duration of time it could be expected to last.

Always consider safety first

Irrespective of the kind of fuel used, the most important consideration is the safety of its use and that is equally applicable in case of propane heaters. Insist on buying your tank and its refills from an authorized dealer and don’t ever fall prey to ad-hoc arrangements of buying the fuel in home made tanks, the quality of which is never reliable and you’ll be under constant fear of some unfortunate mishap or accident that may hurt you or somebody else. Make sure to check the safety measures and understand their functioning.

The requirements of a garage heater are different than the heater used for indoor purposes. The main difference being that garages are normally bigger than other rooms of the house and they are not as well insulated as the rest of the house. The factors that need your consideration are: the size of the garage in terms of volume, the fuel to be used and the convenience of installation.

Garage heater may use electricity, propane or natural gas as a fuel. Comparatively, electric heaters are easy to install and economical to operate. In most of the cases electric heaters meant for garages work on single-phase supply, meaning that you may use your normal outlet in the garage for its operation. Many designs of electric garage heaters can be installed on the wall or ceiling by using mounting brackets, thus keeping the floor free for any other activity.

Small garages or other small places where heat is not of primary concern would do well with the installation of electric heaters. Though portable electric heaters are the most popular, you also get large wall, overhead and electric baseboard heaters too.

Another efficient way of heating garage is by use of propane heaters. This is also portable like an electric heater but is available in two models. Both the models use propane as fuel available in tanks that can be refilled. But, one model can be plugged into a regular 120V outlet. Such a model heats the air and forces it to spread over the room thus offering uniform and quicker heating. On the other hand, the model that can’t be plugged into your power source heats the area slowly. In any case, propane heaters require efficient ventilation and one should always follow the recommendations of the manufacturers.

Garage heater working on natural gas has its own advantages. They are useful in the case of power shortage, but they are not as portable as their electrical counterparts. In their case you need to have a gas line going up to the heater. Natural gas heaters may heat the room thru convection heat or thru radiated heat. The latter heats the occupants of the garage while convection heating means the air in the surroundings is heated, which in turn heats the occupants.

Having decided the energy source you would like to use, you have to determine the capacity of the heater needed to heat garage. The volume of your garage and by what level you would like to raise its temperature, determines the capacity of the heater. So, when you go shopping for one, you should have the length, width and height of the garage with you. Once you have these two parameters with you, the supplier should be able to tell you the wattage or BTU required for heating your garage.

Provision of heating arrangements in the garage is an excellent way of adding another useable room to your house. The most helpful point is that family members have some space to escape the main house and perform some useful activity or indulge in some hobby, making better use of winter months. In case you have a DIY enthusiast at home, some of the projects that would have to wait till spring, can be executed in this part of the year. Isn’t that prompting enough to have a propane, natural gas or electric garage heater?