Question:
I have a question that is not directly about volksy's, but I couldn't
find any help anywhere else, so I put the question to RAMVA in hopes
of some help.
I just bought a house that has a 2 car garage (finally!). The garage
is insulated and drywalled, but not heated. I live in Alberta,
Canada, and it will get downright chilly here in the next couple of
months. I want to work on my beetle all winter, so I am going to put
a furnace in the garage. What I need to know is: how many BTUs do I
need to have a comfortable working environment in the garage (say 60
to 70 F / 15 to 20 Celcius) when it's cold outside (from 0 to -25 F /
-20 to -30 Celcius) I did a search on rec.hvac, with not much luck.
Is there an algorithm for calculating what I need?
Jan - is there heat in that garage of yours - must get pretty cold in
Hell-stinky?
Hey you guys in Alaska - any hints?
I can pick up a used furnace pretty easily, but I want to make sure I
get one that will actually keep me comfortable, so that by spring I
can open the garage door and DRIVE my beetle out! (That would be an
accomplishment)
Answer:
Yow! That is some serious heat! I find that having the garage well insulated
and the door seals right makes a big difference. My next investment is to
replace my Mesa garage doors with insulated ones. The plenum vents on my heater are
about 9 feet off the floor. I suppose it would be better to duct them lower, but
I'd be afraid of kicking up dust all the time and cooking something that was
left near it. It does blow the heated air far in 3 directions from up there
though.
