Garage Heating Tips to Keep Your Car Cozy During Winter

Winter is right around the corner. Other than prepping your house with holiday lights, another thing you should be mindful of is how you’re going to keep the garage warm and cozy.

Every car owner knows that winter can be a tough time for internal combustion engines. Heat is a critical factor in an engine’s operation, and freezing temperatures can get in the way of vehicle performance.

Why The Cold Bothers Your Daily Driver So Much

Freezing temperatures can affect the chemical process that the battery needs to generate electricity, which can prevent your vehicle from starting altogether.

Cold temperatures also make it hard for the fluids in the engine to flow properly. A vehicle that isn’t warm enough can lead to performance problems.

The engine isn’t the only one that can experience issues when the weather is too cold.

You might also find yourself dealing with ice in the fuel line, which is a result of moisture buildup in the gas lines. Windshield wipers can also become brittle, LCD screens can be lethargic, and more.

Garage Heating Tips to Try

It takes a lot of time for the engine to warm up during winter, but the good news is that you can turn your garage into a conducive environment that can make it easy for your car to get going.

Here are a few garage heating tips to keep your car cozy during winter.

Explore Your Heating Options

Before anything else, it’s important to consider your garage’s floor space and how cold it can get in your area. These numbers will help you determine the optimal temperature for your garage.

Once you’ve figured that out, it’ll be easier to identify the most efficient heater for your space.

Forced Air Heater

A forced air heater is a type of heater that’s linked to the house’s gas or propane line. Air from this heater travels through the ducts and vents in a closed loop, which is the opposite of how a central air system operates.

Convection Heater

A convection heater warms the room from the top down using electricity, natural gas, or propane. 

This type of heater works the same way as a convection oven, transferring heat using the movement of gas or liquid.

The operation of a convection heater also relies on the properties of air.

In-Floor Heater

In an in-floor heating system, the warmth comes from hot water tubes or electric wires buried under the floor.

Thermal radiation rises from below and heats any object it comes into contact with. The object then radiates this heat.

Radiant floors will still cause warm air to rise, but the heat is evenly distributed throughout the floor, causing the coolest air to stay up.

Propane Heater

One of the simplest ways to heat your garage is to use a propane heater. Unlike methane gas heaters, a propane heater doesn’t emit greenhouse gases.

Propane can easily be stored anywhere in your house, which means you can buy it ahead of time (preferably before winter) before retail prices soar.

Keep in mind, however, that storing propane has its risks. A leaking tank is a fire hazard, and it can also cause the gas to sink. Under extreme circumstances like a hurricane or tornado, a leaking tank might even explode.

Portable Space Heater

A portable space heater might be enough to keep a small garage warm. Space heaters typically rely on convection or radiant heat to increase room temperature.

In most cases, a portable space heater will immediately heat up whatever is in its line of sight. It also works best when you’re trying to warm up a room for a short period of time because of how fast it can generate heat.

Infrared Heater

Infrared heaters use a series of coils and a reflector to direct light outward. Objects and people can absorb this light via invisible waves.

Unlike propane and kerosene heaters, an infrared heater is entirely environment-friendly. It doesn’t produce any type of pollutant nor does it use fossil fuels.

Insulate

Aside from bringing in heaters, increasing the insulation in the walls and ceiling is another thing you might want to consider to keep the space warm enough for your car.

Installing plastic shrink films, foam boards, and fiberglass batt insulation materials are some of the common ways you can achieve a warm garage.

Consider getting help from a professional when installing these materials to make sure there are no gaps.

Seal All Gaps

You can gather all the heaters you have inside your garage, but they won’t be able to do their job if there are cracks and gaps all over the space.

Fill in any cracks and gaps in your garage using a caulking gun to maintain that warm temperature. Make sure to caulk areas between two different materials such as brick and wood.

Also, make sure that the area you’re caulking is clean and dry to prevent moisture from building up.

Sealing all the gaps also means replacing worn-out weatherstrip seals to prevent the heat from seeping out of your garage.

Invest in Ductless Heating and Cooling Equipment

Ductless heating and cooling is an alternative to radiator or baseboard heating. Also referred to as a mini-split heat pump, a ductless heating and cooling system uses at least two units一one on the inside and another on the outside.

As the outside unit extracts heat from the ambient air, the refrigerant carries this heat to the inside unit. Ductless systems work in reverse during the warmer months.

Install Electric Ceiling Panels

Electric ceiling panels work the same way as direct sunlight. These panels use infrared technology to directly heat the objects in a room, wasting no time warming up the space itself.

Electric ceiling panels typically have electrical resistance wires that heat up when current flows through them. These panels also have reflective materials and insulation to direct heat downward.