Top 5 Forced Air Garage Heaters (Propane & Electric) Reviews
If you are a person who spends a lot of time working in your garage, even during cold winter months, then purchasing a forced air garage heater might be the thing for you.
This review will introduce the 5 best heaters, read their specifications and decide which one is best suited for you.
What To Know When Buying A Forced Air Garage Heater
What Types Of Garage Heaters exist?
There are multiple styles of garage heaters, like electric, propane, infrared, diesel, kerosene or natural gas heaters. They all serve different purposes, so it is important to choose one best suited for you and your needs.
How To Choose A Garage Heater?
When choosing a garage heater, the most important thing is the size of the area. Electric heaters are most popular and great for heating up large spaces quickly, as are the natural gas heaters but they can be dangerous because of flammable materials that are often found in garages. Infrared heaters are best for small enclosed spaces.
How To Know The Amount Of Power Your Heater Uses?
The thermal output of a heater is calculated either in BTU/hr (British thermal unit) for propane models, or in watts for electric models. The higher the numbers, the more powerful the heater and the more space it warms up. While most small garages can benefit from an infrared or small electric heater, bigger spaces would need a heater of about 4000-5000W of power.
Portability Of Garage Heaters
When purchasing a garage heater, it is important to know whether you want it to stay in the same place or if you want to be able to move it. If you need it to stay in the same place, then you should purchase a fixed garage heater. If you want to be able to easily move it around, there are plenty of portable heaters available.
Additional And Safety Features
To ensure maximum safety, most heaters have safety features like a tip-over switch that ensures it turns off when tipped over, overheat protection and cool-touch. Additional features may include adjustable louvers for directing the heat where you want, carry handle and wheels for portable heaters. Also, for fixed heaters, it is important to choose one with a long enough power cord.
The 5 Best Forced Air Garage Heaters Available Reviews
Best Electric Forced Air Garage Heater
1500W Ceramic Space Heater With Adjustable Thermostat
Adjustable Thermostat
This model’s thermostat adjusts to the room’s temperature, allowing for consistent temperature all the time. The heat starts and maintains it’s temperature according to the temperature of the space, keeping it nice and warm throughout the day.
Instant Heating
This model is fast to heat up, as it is made of ceramics. It produces large amounts of heat quickly and warms up any space within minutes. They don’t use open coils and are more long-lasting than ordinary heaters. It is convenient for smaller or middle rooms.
Three Heating Modes
This electric forced air garage heater can be adjusted to three different heating modes: high heat with 1500W of power, low heat with 1000W and fan only. This gives you a variety of choices and allows you to adjust your temperature as you please at any time.
Quiet Usage
When operating, this heater has a low noise of only 50db. That way, when it’s on, it doesn’t disturb you when you’re asleep or resting or going about other business, like working. This is a great feature for people who spend a lot of time working in the space they are heating up.
Safety Features Like Tip-Over And Over Heating Protection
This model features safety measures like the tip-over switch that automatically turns the heater off if it is tipped over. It also has an automatic overheat system that operates in the same way when the heater is overheated.
- Silent operation mode
- Adjustable thermostat
- High, low and fan-only mode
- Tip-over and overheating protection
Best Forced Air Propane Heater For Garage
Mr. Heater F232000
Good For Large Spaces
This propane heater uses a radiant heating principle and has a 4000 to 9000 BTU heater and can instantly heat up large spaces. According to the manufacturer, it warms spaces of up to 225 square feet.
Indoors And Outdoors
This heater is versatile because it can be used in outdoor and indoor spaces. However, in this case, indoor spaces imply mostly garages, tents and cabins. It is not good to use inside the house, for example in living rooms or bedrooms.
Auto Shut-Off Protection Feature
The heaters has a built-in auto shut-off system that turns the heater off if it is tipped over, if it detects low levels of oxygen or if the pilot light goes out. This ensures maximum safety of use.
Easy To Use
Because of its radiant heating principle, this heater is very economical and easy to use. It is light, which makes it portable and easy to move around different rooms. When it starts working, it immediately heats up smaller areas, although it’s convenient for large ones as well.
Fold-Down Handle
The fold-down handle is another feature that makes this forced air propane heater for garage highly convenient, as it reduces storage space. This way you can easily put away your heater somewhere until you need to use it again.
- Good for indoor and outdoor use
- Warms areas of up to 225sq feet
- An auto shut-off protection system
- Fold-down handle reduces storage space
Best Natural Gas Forced Air Garage Heater
Dyna-Glo BFSS30NGT-2N Wall Heater
Great For Indoor Use
This efficient wall heater is good for heating up indoor spaces safely. It has 15,000-30,000 BTU’s/hr heat output that can be adjusted to warm up large spaces of up to 1000 square feet. It is a good choice for large garages, cabins or even in your house.
Good For Emergencies
The Dyna-Glo has a vent-free technology that does not require a flue or a chimney. It doesn’t need electricity to operate which makes it especially convenient and reliable in emergency situations if there is, for example, a storm and the power goes out. Even in these situations, you have a backup source of heat.
Efficient And Economical
This heater uses blue flame heating technology which allows it to operate in a way similar to a home central heating system. This way the heater quickly warms up desired indoor places with high efficiency. This will significantly reduce your heating bills as it only warms occupied spaces. Furthermore, the heater has an adjustable thermostat, very similar to the one in your house, allowing for optimal temperature all day.
All Necessary Safety Features
The heater has a built-in ODS, or oxygen detection sensor. This ensures that the heater will automatically turn itself off if it detects low levels of oxygen. More importantly, this feature applies if it detects carbon monoxide as well, making it extra safe and easy to use. This feature allows you to go about your day without having to worry about the possible dangers that natural gas heaters bring.
Can Be Upgraded
This heater is highly versatile. It comes with all the necessary hardware and brackets for mounting it on the wall. Also, you can separately purchase an optional fan (WHF100) which increases the amount of square footage the heater warms up. You can also get optional base legs (WBL100) with which you can secure your heater by stably mounting it to the floor.
- Blue flame technology operates as a central heating system
- Efficient in large indoor spaces
- Upgradable with separately sold parts
- Oxygen and carbon monoxide detection sensor
- Reliable in an emergency power outage situation
Best Forced Air Kerosene Garage Heater
Sengoku HeatMate Kerosene Heater
Large Capacity
This radiant kerosene heater’s fuel tank has a large capacity of 1.2 gallons (4.5 liters). That is enough to keep you warm for about 14 hours with one fill before refueling.
Efficient Zone Heating
It has a 10 000 BTU thermal output which is excellent for zone heating rooms of 380 sq feet. It is suitable for indoor and outdoor spaces, especially for garages, buildings with poor insulation and small rooms inside the house.
Safety Switches
The HeatMate feature has an automatic shut off switch and tip-over switch. Additionally, it has a safety protection guard built into the front of the heater.
No Electricity
No electricity or matches are needed to power this heater. This makes it more economical and convenient, especially for emergency situations when there is a power outage.
Light And Portable
This model is lighter than the others (22.6 pounds) and is easy to use and move. It includes a fuel gauge, siphon pump, and batteries.
- 2-gallon tank heats for 14 h
- No electricity
- A good alternative for emergency heating
Best Forced Air Infrared Heater With Remote
AirNmore Comfort Deluxe
Pet And Child Safe
This heater features Dual High Limit sensors and Touch Safe. That ensures that the outside of the heater doesn’t get too hot, making it child and pet-friendly. It also has a Tip-Over sensor.
Copper PTC Element Technology
It uses the latest copper PTC element technology, making it more efficient. This way the heater doesn’t require bulbs, so you save money on their replacement.
Smart Heating
It features an Auto Reboot Memory. That means that if there is a power outage, the unit remembers its settings prior to the power going out.
Two Heating Options
Two heating power choices are available: high of 1500W and low of 1000W. You can easily adjust the heat, whether you are using it in small or large rooms in your house. It can heat up to 1000 sq feet.
Quality Design
It has all the top-quality parts you need, industry-leading and a 3-prong 14-gauge power cable. It has all the safety measures necessary for optimal and secure use.
- Two heating options – 1500W and 1000W
- Quality components
- No bulbs because of copper PTC technology
- Smart heating
- Safe for children and pets
Conclusion: The Two Best Forced Air Heaters For Your Garage
In my opinion, the two best-forced air garage heaters are the Ceramic Space Heater model and the Dyna-Glo BFSS30NGT-2N garage heater. The electric Ceramic Space Heater offers three heating options and heats up fairly quickly in large areas, while the Dyna-Glo BFSS30NGT-2N’s blue flame technology operates similarly to a central heating system.
If you want to learn more about the newest models of forced air garage heaters available on the market, I suggest you read this review on garage heaters. In this review, you can find all the information on the best 120v electric heaters. To find out more about the best portable garage heaters, read this review.