| Selecting the right Electric Garage Heater/Shop | | | | Multiply the Length and Width of the room you |
| Heater is not that hard to do. There are a few | | | | plan to heat (This will give you the Square |
| peices of information to gather before we are | | | | Footage of the room) 2. Find your location on the |
| able to determine what we need but first lets | | | | map located Here!. This determines your basic |
| cover some basics of electric heaters! 1. Heaters | | | | heating zone. 3. The chart below the map lists |
| are marketed with a BTU or a wattage rating. 1 | | | | insulation values based on the effectiveness of |
| watt of electricity is equal to 3.412 BTU's of heat. | | | | the insulation presently in your room. Find your |
| 2. Typically heaters that are over 5120 BTU's are | | | | heating zone on the chart and the approximate |
| rated for 220-240v operation so be prepared for | | | | wattage per Square Foot you will need. 4. Multiply |
| running new service lines or making changes at | | | | the total number of Square Feet you calculated |
| your box. Please consult a certified electrician for | | | | from step one by the approx. Wattage per SF |
| this purpose. 3. Heaters rated for 120v operation | | | | you just obtained from the chart. This will |
| typically do not have enough wattage to produce | | | | determine your total heating requirement in Watts |
| anymore than 5120 BTU's 4. On average it takes | | | | for the room. 5. Since a Watt is equal to 3.412 |
| about 8.2 watts per square foot to heat your | | | | BTU's simply Multiply the Wattage requirement by |
| spaces. Unusual cirmcumstances in your area may | | | | 3.412 and this will give you your BTU's needed for |
| require a slightly higher average based on your | | | | the room. Now! Lets do an example: We have a |
| location. The better insulated your space is the | | | | room 12'x15' We live in Zone 3 and Have |
| better. 5. Not all garage heaters are created equal. | | | | Standard insulation. Based on this information we |
| You need to know how many CFM's the unit | | | | will calculate our SF to 180. We will then take our |
| pushes and how far the Air Throw rating is. This | | | | 180 SF and multiply it by 8.2 Watts which is what |
| is important because you want to circulate the air | | | | we need for living in Zone 3 and having Standard |
| as quickly as possible and a low CFM rated unit will | | | | Insulation. This total Wattage requirement will |
| not give you the results you want and will require | | | | equal 1476 Watts. To calcualte the BTU's we |
| more energy to heat up your space which equals | | | | simply take 1476 Watts x's 3.412 BTU's and we |
| more money out of your pocket. Now that we | | | | get 5036 BTU's This puts us in range of a 5000 |
| have covered a few basic bases lets do some | | | | BTU Heater! Its as easy as that! |
| math! How to determine Wattage requirements: 1. | | | | |