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How Can I Safely Heat My Garage?

There’s nothing worse than dashing out into the frigid winter air to get into your icy-cold car. And your car is in the garage!


One option to increase comfort and provide safety for items housed in your garage is to heat your garage. However, before you plug in the space heater, it’s important to ask, “How can I safely heat my garage?”


It may be convenient, or a quick solution to grab a space heater with open coils, but don’t. This type of heating device is not optimal for a garage. There are a lot of chemicals and solvents located in a garage, and oily rags that could quickly ignite. In addition, a space heater can be easily forgotten and left on with nobody around to monitor it.

There are better ways to safely heat the garage.


How can I safely heat my garage?

Consider these options:

Forced Air Heaters

You can install a forced air garage heater that blows heated air, rather like a furnace does. Look for a 45,000 Btu size for heating a two-car garage and at 60,000 Btu size for a three-car garage. Generally, a forced air heater runs off of natural or LP gas, so it would need to be installed close to a gas line.

Since warm air rises, the blown air will be warmer closer to the ceiling and it can be lost when the garage door is open. In addition, the moving air can stir up dust and particles, especially if woodworking projects are done in the garage.

Infrared Heaters

An infrared heater is available in both gas and electric models, both of which can safely heat your garage. Purchase a “low intensity” infrared heater and avoid “high intensity” models that glow red. These are normally not approved for residential installation.



This type of heater does not blow air, it radiates heat and can heat up objects close to it quickly. Keep all objects at least 4 feet away from the unit at all time. Both the room and the concrete floor will absorb the heat, so you feel warm throughout the garage. Most are installed near the back of the garage.

Radiant Heat

With radiant floor heat, heating coils are installed into the floor of a garage, generally when the garage is being built. Radiant floor heat rises up from the floor to warm from the ground up. It is quiet, safe and efficient. However, this system can be slow to heat and does not work well in garages with a lot of air leakage.


Ask G&S Garage Doors

If you are asking “How can I safely heat my garage?” and would like to review options for heating systems, please contact G&S Garage Doors.


And don’t forget your garage door insulation. Without it, your heater won’t work as efficiently as it could.


G&S Garage Doors offers a full line of garage doors and an array of garage door openers, serving customers throughout Northern Virginia.

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