Celing Natural Gas Furnace - Recommendations?

Sled Solutions

Sled Solutions

Member
Okay, it's time to pick a furnace for the barn and am looking for experienced opinions.

1200 sq ft
10' tall ceilings
fully insulated

What works and what doesn't?

Thinking 75,000 btu and read good reviews on the Mr.Heater MAXX units.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Paul
 
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farmermark

New member
I replaced my old Modine hanging unit last winter in my farm shop. I ended up with a 85% effecient house furnace. They can be hung in any position nowadays, so I put mine on its side with a bit of duct work to blow it in the right direction. Used existing chimney and am very happy with it. It was a lot cheaper option than a standard unit heater for a shop and has more airflow and should be more effecient in the long run. I have 1800 sq ft with 14' ceilings and used an 80,000 btu unit and have no problems.
 
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scott_b

Member
I have a 45k Btu Sterling unit in my garage 1'000 sq feet with 15' ceiling very well insulated. I have had the heater for 2 years with no issues. We are probably about the same in terms of cubic feet. The heater does a great job keeping the garage warm and recovers to a comfortable working temp in about 45 minutes. I generally keep the garage at 50 and turn it up to 65 when I work.

I would highly suggest a ceiling fan in the garage to help get the warm air down to the floor.
 
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mjkaliszak

New member
I have a REZNOR. It has heated 2 man caves, bought it in 1995, still running strong. Hard to beat. Sometimes you can find them on sale @ an industrial supply. I would buy another if this 1 ever dies.
 
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Rupp Collector

Active member
I'd seriously give a ceiling mounted radiant tube heater some thought. I have mine in a 32x48x10 well insulated shop. Very nice cause the contents of the building are always warm. I leave @ 60 all the time and turn up when using. Last year it cost less than $600 to heat. LP gas on a pre-pay plan. This building houses our everyday drivers, so the overhead doors are opened twice a day. Very fast recovery time as the air is not what is being heated. Mine is a Reznor brand.
 
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snow_monkey

New member
My only requirement is that it is quiet. I still use a torpedo and it sounds like a jumbo jet but keeps the man cave cozy!
 
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mtb1115

New member
Farmermark is 100% correct, a unit heater will work fine but it delivers the heat in one area only. The fans used on the unit heaters are much louder than the cage fans on a house style and they tend to be more expensive to replace if the need should arise. You can get hung and working then add ducting latter but it is not that hard to work with nor that expensive and will distribute the heat more evenly and other benefit are: you can filter the air and run the furnace in manual fan mode.
 
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northmnsledder

New member
I just picked up the 75,000 BTU Mr.Heater MAXX unit for my garage. However.......I won't be able to tell you how it works until spring. But on the recommendations from a couple of good friends that is the model I went with.
 
lofsfire

lofsfire

Well-known member
Have you thought about radiant heat in your floor. One of the guys in my office did his basement and Garage on a 2 zone system and loves it. Says the basement keep the rest of the house warm he rarely uses his forced air furnace. Another friends dad did his garage and loves it also.

I have a hanging unit in my moms garage, it works well in fact when the house was being built that was one of the first things installed. They used it to take the chill out of the house. But opening and closing the door you can lose hot air fast. Where with an in floor system your slab will hold heat much longer. I have heard of guys putting systems in that garage and then turning it up to high and needing to put something down to lay on b/c the floor was to hot. Might want to think about it, now is the time to run the pipe.

I would also make the suggestion that you think about other systems in the new place and run the wires/equipment even if you may not use it now.
TV/Phone/ Data to all rooms - Bring everything in in to one spot then run separate wire for each run.
Surround sound even if you will not use it right a way put a blank cover plate on the wall and have it in all 4 corners of your TV room.

These are just a few ideas if you have any question PM me. Also if you have the time save yourself some cash and run this kinda stuff yourself.
 
yamadooed

yamadooed

Active member
I have a 60,000 btu inshot burner powervent in my garage/shop/oasis Its coupled it to a standard old skool mercury round thermostat... Only fancy pants add on was a wall switch to shut down the 120v for times when I want to open up and not contribute to global warming. Its cheap,reliable, fast recovery. I generally keep it at 55deg but can shut it off completely or dial it up to 70deg. If I had to do it again I would do it exactly the same way.
 
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hotwire

Member
I have a 75,000 btu unit in my shop and works great, hangs from the ceiling. I leave it at 60 all winter long and just bump it up to 70 when I'm worknig in there.
I would love to have a waste oil burner but they are about 5-7k(ouch). I have a lot of used oil I could put through it.
 
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pistons

New member
heater

I have a tube style radiant heater hung on one end of the garage. It heats up fast plus the floor gets warm also. With an forced air heater it takes a long time for the floor to warm. The ceiling is 10 foot and is a 20 by 24 floor area. I think it is a 40,000 btu.
 
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nickels

New member
I have radiant heat in my garage floor and wouldnt go any other way. If I was building a house up north I would set up a boiler to heat your shop and house.I would put in the radiant heat in your floors.You can always just have force air in the house for a/c and back up heat.
 
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mjkaliszak

New member
If I could do it over, I would do the radiant heat in the floor. I do recommend Reznor but the Mr Heater Maxx might be good also. Do you have a subscription to Consumer reports on-line ? Just some food for thought, I have hot/cold water in my man cave, 2 floor drains one in each bay, that are in line together and below the frost line . It drains out side on my hill never had it freeze. I never liked the trickle drains. Plus I have the ability to wash cars with hot water in the winter. BIG plus IMO... I do wish I would have designed the garage size, but with your 10ft ceilings you could put a car lift in there ????

Sorry this thread is supposed to be about heaters.....
 
Sled Solutions

Sled Solutions

Member
mjkaliszak said:
If I could do it over, I would do the radiant heat in the floor. I do recommend Reznor but the Mr Heater Maxx might be good also. Do you have a subscription to Consumer reports on-line ? Just some food for thought, I have hot/cold water in my man cave, 2 floor drains one in each bay, that are in line together and below the frost line . It drains out side on my hill never had it freeze. I never liked the trickle drains. Plus I have the ability to wash cars with hot water in the winter. BIG plus IMO... I do wish I would have designed the garage size, but with your 10ft ceilings you could put a car lift in there ????

Sorry this thread is supposed to be about heaters.....
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NO, thanks for the input on the drain. I have one going in but didn't know what I was going to do with it. It's all sand so I was going to bury a 55 gallon drum and fill it with pea gravel. Still unsure of what I can do, don't want it to freeze as sleds will be thawing after every ride.
 
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xcr440

Well-known member
Sled Solutions said:
NO, thanks for the input on the drain. I have one going in but didn't know what I was going to do with it. It's all sand so I was going to bury a 55 gallon drum and fill it with pea gravel. Still unsure of what I can do, don't want it to freeze as sleds will be thawing after every ride.
Click to expand...

Check local codes, they probably don't allow a barrel floor drain. At least they don't around the Twin Cities.

BUT, you can get one in without an inspector knowing. Just put it in yourself before they pour concrete, cover it with a board or piece of steel, and cover it with a thin layer of dirt. Have the concrete guys slope the floor to the spot in the floor where your drain is, and concrete over it with a thin layer. When the inspector asks why the floor slopes there, tell him you plan to vacuum out the water that melts off the sleds. Then after he leaves and the house is final inspected, tap out the thin layer of concrete over the hole and good to go.

My dad's floor drain barrel never freezes in the garage. I think he pumps it out twice a year, and he washes his cars in there a couple times a month.

I guess the question is will the place be sitting un-heated for weeks. Even so, I doubt it would freeze in the ground like that.
 
Sled Solutions

Sled Solutions

Member
xcr440 said:
Check local codes, they probably don't allow a barrel floor drain. At least they don't around the Twin Cities.

BUT, you can get one in without an inspector knowing. Just put it in yourself before they pour concrete, cover it with a board or piece of steel, and cover it with a thin layer of dirt. Have the concrete guys slope the floor to the spot in the floor where your drain is, and concrete over it with a thin layer. When the inspector asks why the floor slopes there, tell him you plan to vacuum out the water that melts off the sleds. Then after he leaves and the house is final inspected, tap out the thin layer of concrete over the hole and good to go.

My dad's floor drain barrel never freezes in the garage. I think he pumps it out twice a year, and he washes his cars in there a couple times a month.

I guess the question is will the place be sitting un-heated for weeks. Even so, I doubt it would freeze in the ground like that.
Click to expand...

Oh, this will be "under the radar". Planning on skim coating over the drain and opening up when everything is done. Good suggestion regarding the shop vac though.
 
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Rupp Collector

Active member
Originally, I thought this building was done. With that in mind, I would go with in floor radiant. Shouldn't take much of a water heater for that. I would also have a heat exchanger for forced air too.
 
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