heeeey I didn't know where to put this question.. I guess a garage can be considered a "tool"? haha.

anyway... just bought a house in Northern Michigan...it has a 3car garage that I want to remodel with an auto paint area because i had a blast in the summer doing my first ever paint job. I think I did alright considering I was using less than desirable equipment..i wanna do it "right" this time around.
I am lucky enough to be great friends with a contractor who will be helping me for the fair price of beer.. so labor $$$ will not be a factor.. only materials.

for now. I have a few 60,000btu kerosene torpedos but I think I read somewhere that kerosene leaves a "film" on surfaces and is not good for painting. so what is ideal? furnace? wood stove?

thanks.

Northern Michigan eh? How's winter treating you so far? Can't speak to your problem or solution, in Alberta I use natural gas. In the old days it was propane tank and a tiger torch. I do remember however last winter when the ignitor gave up the ghost. Thankfully we had electricity. I would think however that any open burn or combustion would leave something floating, even my gas range has a vented hood for that reason? I would think a furnace is a solid option but again a source of ignition also being of concern, may be worth the price of further planning for the bigger picture of heating the space, and for painting?

actually It hasn't been too bad snow-wise.. temps going up and down between 20-40 throughout the week. I lived here until I was 18 then moved to the city...just moved back a few days ago as a real life adult hahah.

but yes. Im not trying to blow myself up or have all my body work screwed up from using the wrong heating methods so I figured id ask how you guys do it at home. Its basically a blank canvas right now.. wanna get some ideas before I start collecting materials.

not sure the dimensions exactly but its decent size..220installed. has an oversized 2 car portion in front.. then a single car portion walled off (With a doorway) in the back. Its unheated/uninsulated.. so im going to strip it down to bare bones and redo it...with a safe/effective heating method.

i used to live in west branch and had a 24 by 36 i heated with a wood furnace. when it came time to paint i had a temp wall i put up that gave me a 16 by 24 paint "booth." vented good,too. blast it out real good a day prior to painting, then heat up good, shut the door, turn on the ventilation,paint, let it clear out.never fell below 60 degrees and never had a problem with combustion.
plus i got a pretty good price on my firewood supply so that was a bonus.

Sounds like a reason to be jolly, no snow and decent winter temperatures.
I spent some time re-insulating my house and garage.



Quite the affair sucking out wood shavings and blown in something cellulose?
I chose Roxsul, Rockwool insulation although I have a pink plant just out side of town. In my opinion, a easier product to use, and that includes installation.


I double layered it and liked it so much I eventually did the attic in my garage which was previously insulated with fiberglass pink. Truth be told my fridge crapped out so I thought lets remodel the kitchen? It just kind of grew from there.



Save the itch and make the switch. I'm sure for heating you will find what works best for that purpose, but a furnace or radiant tube if possible Is how I would roll if able to do so. When it comes to heating and staying cool, you'll be glad you did.
Radiant, conduction or convection? Your call?

In a perfect shop, in floor heat, water circulated or electric, the nicest kind of heat in the winter. I have a propane fired radiant tube in my shop and it is good but without some battery powered socks, your feet will still freeze.

I have a propane wall furnace in my garage area.
In the booth I use one of these: https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools ... _200395481

Get the metal temp up to above 70 degree, shut the heater off, spray, when the cloud clears turn the heater back on.

@tomsteve - no kidding? I grew up 10miles north of West Branch and have many friends from there. I live in Grayling now but still in that area often. This house has a heavily wooded 6acres as well so id get my wood at a price of getting off my lazy butt haha.

@noelc - i think ima let my contractor buddy pick what insulation to use. im sure he has the best brands/style narrowed down. were gonna make a trip to Menards after the new year and start gathering materials.

@coronet - how long do you estimate it would take to heat a booth to 70degrees with that heater from saaaay 35degrees?
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i guess i have a few options. i like the idea of the wood furnace. i will also look into radiant heaters. A lot of people around here use "wood boilers" to heat their houses aswell… i wonder if i should look into that.

d3r wrote:@tomsteve - no kidding? I grew up 10miles north of West Branch and have many friends from there. I live in Grayling now but still in that area often. This house has a heavily wooded 6acres as well so id get my wood at a price of getting off my lazy butt haha.

i grew up east of west branch (west branch zip code still)about 16 miles. graduated from whittemore prescott. moved downstate for a while but spent 2001-2014 living in west branch. moved back down to west metro crazy land then.
im guessin st helen is where ya grew up? grayling's just a short trip to yer old stompin grounds( city folk freak hearing people call a 45 mile drive is a short trip). quite a bit of snow in grayling usually- more insulation!

craigslist up that way always has wood furnaces/heaters on it.
up in grayling you might also be able to get hardwood slabwood at a good price. thats what i burned. got it from a place just outside of WB for $45 bundle. all oak,ash,and maple. id get 2 face cord per bundle. i could pack my furnace a lot tighter with slabwood than split wood.

We've used just about everything imaginable for heating and spot heating over the years. When I was younger we use wood heat and also bought slab wood mixed with split stuff. Even got hooked up with an industrial skid maker that gave us 6 x 6 oak and ash ends that were about a foot long or so. That stuff was like the gold standard of firewood.....
Currently I have infra-red natural gas powered tube heaters hanging from the ceilings. My main buildings side walls are about 10 foot so those really transfer heat to our furniture and concrete slab. When my booth fan is on our rooms recover fast because you are still getting radiation from everything else in the room. In my one 1000 sq. foot storage building I use just one wall mounted natural gas infra red unvented wall heater which is set low on the thermostat. I pull cars in that building for work now and then and just crank that heater up for a few hours and you can be in long sleeve shirt for working.....