electric heater

[DAN MCGEE]

I am building a insulated room in my garage, 8 x 10'. I want an electric heater to keep it at 55 degrees in the winter here in mid Indiana. Can anyone tell me how to figure what type/size heater to buy...any suggestions?

[LazyPup]

First you will need to determine the BTU/HR requirement for the space. In order to determine that you need to know the type of wall construction, amount of insulation, R value etc. Type of ceiling consruction, insulation values,etc.
You would then have to consider the floor, will it be directly on the garage concrete or will it be a raised wood floor?
You also need to know the number of windows, doors or other openings

once you have determined the BTU requirement you can select a heater to meet the worst case demand and it should be sufficient.

[DAN MCGEE]

Sorry, I should have put in the specs on the room. If someone could figure the BTU's needed I would greatly appreciate it. The ceiling will have R38 and the walls R19 insulation. The wall will be the basic concrete floor unless putting a floor in would greatly reduce the elec. bill. It will have a steel insulated door to the outside which I plan to cover with insulation/plastic during the winter and a inside door to the garage that will be insulated somehow but I haven't figured that out yet. Should it be a 220 system? Would that reduce the operating expense? Thanks

[HayZee518]

As I have stated over and over again watts is watts. At 220 volts amps is less and the end result is the same. For an 8X10 room you could get away with a 3000 watt fan forced unit - or one 8 foot unit with integral thermostat. Considering the insulation you have installed it should be energy efficient. radiant cooling from the floor might be a problem but a few scatter rugs should be ok.

[DAN MCGEE]

Thank you for your help...! ! !

[Dean]

Here is a web site to calculate BTU heat loss for garages.

http://www.heatershop.com/btu_calculator.htm

[handyandy]

Nice link, Dean. Thanks for posting it!

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[LazyPup]

You stated you have a plug in type outlet analizer...if you know the layout from the box to the GFCI thats bad you could check each outlet on the line...if its green go to the next..the problem should be near the first one tht shows bad