How To Heat A Garage Cheaply (Step-by-Step Guide)

One of the best things about owning your own home is having a garage you can use all year-round. If you live in a state that experiences seasons, you may need to heat your garage to work on projects comfortably. Since everyone already has a plethora of other bills to pay for, I wanted to find out how to heat a garage cheaply.

Seal air leaks in your garage to prevent heat loss and put a space heater in the room to cheaply heat it. Install better insulation in your walls so that your garage stays warm, and install a cheap garage heater. Consider radiant floor heating if you want to cheaply heat your cars to keep them in running shape.

If space heaters aren’t your first choice, you’ll find plenty of other options below. I hope you find the perfect product for your home. Before you know it, the ground will be covered with snow, and you’ll be ready to cozy up and get to work in your garage.

It doesn’t matter what type of heater you’re working with if the space isn’t properly prepped. The best way to keep a room heated in the winter is to have the walls well insulated. Heating a room that isn’t insulated can be quite pricey.

Follow these simple steps below to prep your garage before purchasing a heater. This does mean you’ll have a higher upfront cost, but it will trim your electric bill immensely.

The first thing you’ll want to do is get rid of any drafts. To do this, you’ll want to replace the weather stripping that’s around windows and doors in your garage. When you do this, be sure to take a look at the garage door itself and check for any air leaks.

Thankfully, this is a relatively easy project that won’t take a ton of time. Get rid of the old weather stripping and take a sample of it to the hardware store. You’ll likely be able to get a peel and stick set that matches perfectly.

By following the directions on the packaging, you’ll have new weatherstripping in no time. This should be replaced every three years to ensure air leaks are kept out. Something else you can do to control drafts is to look for holes in walls and the foundation.

Use expanding foam insulation to seal any gaps or holes. This will plug them right up and keep things like insects, pests, and drafts outside.

Now you’re ready to insulate the walls if you haven’t already. It’s fairly easy to roll out some fluffy pink insulation between studs. Think of insulation as a heavy blanket within the walls to keep heat inside.

When you work with insulation, it’s crucial to have your skin covered. Wear gloves, a love shirt, pants, and shoes. There’s fiberglass in the insulation that can react negatively when it touches the skin.

This is an easy DIY job that’s even easier when you have an assistant to help you. Another option you have is cellulose insulation. You’ll need to call a professional to get this done, and it will cost you a bit more than traditional insulation.

Many homeowners think that once the walls of their garage are insulated, they’re good to go. If you look at the garage door, it’s practically an entire wall itself. When it gets ignored, you’ll quickly run into heat loss.

There are plenty of great garage door insulation kits on the market that are affordable. This is another easy project you can do yourself that involves cutting insulation boards. Then, you simply attach the boards to your garage door, and you’ll be set.

There are also garage-specific heaters you can choose from. Electric garage heaters are vent-free heaters that can be placed just about anywhere in a garage. They pack a lot more power than a portable heater and can heat a three-car garage with ease.

If you’re worried about the overall cost, there are gas options as well. You’d buy the unit and hook it up to an existing natural gas line. It’s important that the room can be ventilated, and you’d want to check with your insurance company that you can add one to your property.

If done safely, a wood burning stove can be a very economical way to heat a garage in the winter months. Though, just like indoor wood-burning fireplaces, you’ll want to take the necessary steps to ensure that the stove in your garage is safe. First, you want to check with your local municipality to see if any permits are needed.

Then, consult with your insurance company to make sure that installing a wood stove in your garage for cheap heat will not void your homeowner’s policy. Once installed, you’ll want to clean the chimney and flue periodically, or consider hiring a professional to do so. Otherwise, you put your home and its occupants at risk of exposure to toxic gases.

Electric heaters offer a very efficient way to provide heat to your garage. They can be plugged into virtually any electrical outlet and start circulating hot air almost immediately. You can also position electric heaters pretty much anywhere in your garage, such as on the floor, on a table, or mounted to the ceiling or a wall.

Gas heaters, on the other hand, are a better choice if your goal is to save money on monthly energy costs. While they generally cost more upfront, they will cost you less on average per month. To install these heaters, they need to be hooked up to an existing gas line and have a proper ventilation system.

The question of whether an electric or gas heater is better for your garage space, ultimately depends on your preferences. In general, more people tend to lean towards gas heaters because they’re energy-efficient. Gas heaters use less energy and won’t cause such a dent in your wallet when it comes time to pay the bill.

Electric heaters are great because they’re better for the environment. A lot of the time, electric heaters are often safer as well. The electric bill might be higher, but it’s worth the trade-off for some homeowners.

Related Questions

How do you heat a garage without insulation?

If you’re working with an uninsulated garage and need to bring the heat, consider using a propane heater. They are high-powered, practically silent, and won’t give off any stinky odors. A radiant style is better for a smaller garage, while a torpedo style heater is best for larger spaces. Since not everyone feels comfortable using gas, there are electric options available as well. These use infrared heating and are known for being incredibly durable. 

What size electric heater do I need for my garage?

It can vary depending on your preferences, but the general rule of thumb is 10 watts for every square foot. This means a 4,000-watt heater would be perfect for a 400 square foot garage. 

Will a space heater heat a garage?

A garage space heater will generally provide between 5000 and 10000 watts of power and are designed to heat at least a standard sized garage. Though, there are some units that output more than 10000 watts of energy and cat be used to heat larger garages.