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liquidrush
Samba Member
Joined: July 18, 2018
Posts: 806
Location: MO
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 Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2025 3:13 pm Post subject: If you're looking for cheap garage or shop heat..... |
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I recommend the Chinese diesel heaters on amazon. You can get the vevor brand for under 100 bucks. I've got a regular 2 car garage and I was completely impressed with how well it worked. I ended up buying a second one, I can run em together to heat the place up in maybe half an hour then shut one down. I'll run it up to around 70 in here no problem, they put out near 300 deg air.. Any way, I recommend them for cheap heat. I made up a stand on wheels I can move in and out of position in relation to the exhaust hole in the door..
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cbeck
Samba Member
Joined: January 14, 2014
Posts: 2595
Location: high ridge, mo
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| Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2025 12:39 pm Post subject: Re: If you're looking for cheap garage or shop heat..... |
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Imsulate that door. Makes a big difference.
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My cut in half and rebuild thread
www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=647779 |
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67rustavenger
Samba Member
Joined: February 24, 2015
Posts: 11635
Location: Oregon
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| Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2025 1:21 pm Post subject: Re: If you're looking for cheap garage or shop heat..... |
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I like this idea for shop/garage heat in colder weather.
I could use my portable CDH from my EV and heat may garage.
I've been using a propane salamander heater for heat but, I have to have the garage door open a little to allow fresh air into the shop so I don't get poisoned by the heater exhaust.
_________________
I have learned over the years.
Cheap parts are gonna disappoint you.
Buy Once, Cry Once!
There's never enough time to do it right the first time. But there's always enough time to do it thrice.
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo!
2003 Astrovan? GFYS again, Xevin! 
Don't let your bad ideas remain, ideas! |
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jspbtown
Samba Member
Joined: January 27, 2004
Posts: 5271
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| Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2025 3:46 pm Post subject: Re: If you're looking for cheap garage or shop heat..... |
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Any concerns with burning diesel indoors? Especially with cheap chinese products. Just curious.
I have used a Farehheat 220v electric for years. It brings up my 24x24 shop (insulated and sheetrocked)up to comfortable temps pretty decently. |
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liquidrush
Samba Member
Joined: July 18, 2018
Posts: 806
Location: MO
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| Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2025 5:25 pm Post subject: Re: If you're looking for cheap garage or shop heat..... |
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| No problem at all, they have an exhaust pipe that's pretty much idiot proof and as long as you vent it outside you can run them inside completely safe. I can run all day long and half the next day on a gallon of diesel. They're very fuel efficient. |
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oprn
Samba Member
Joined: November 13, 2016
Posts: 15288
Location: Western Canada
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| Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2025 3:33 am Post subject: Re: If you're looking for cheap garage or shop heat..... |
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I went with a home made oil drum wood stove for years. Two downsides, the floor and everything below knee level stays at -30*. Frozen feet all day long! Also too much time spent baby sitting the stove and little else accomplished.
Two falls ago I finally got around to tying in the garage pad (I poured heating lines into the cement pad when I built it) into the house natural gas boiler. Natural gas here is the cheapest heating fuel next to wood and coal.
I keep the air temperature above freezing, 40 to 50*F, and the floor is comfortably warm to lie on. That air temperature is just fine if you are doing something active. If not throw a few blocks of wood in the stove and in 10 minutes you will be sweating! Doing that twice in a day is all that is needed now.
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Our cars get old, we get old but driving an old VW never gets old! |
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67rustavenger
Samba Member
Joined: February 24, 2015
Posts: 11635
Location: Oregon
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| Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2025 12:57 pm Post subject: Re: If you're looking for cheap garage or shop heat..... |
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| oprn wrote: |
I went with a home made oil drum wood stove for years. Two downsides, the floor and everything below knee level stays at -30*. Frozen feet all day long! Also too much time spent baby sitting the stove and little else accomplished.
Two falls ago I finally got around to tying in the garage pad (I poured heating lines into the cement pad when I built it) into the house natural gas boiler. Natural gas here is the cheapest heating fuel next to wood and coal.
I keep the air temperature above freezing, 40 to 50*F, and the floor is comfortably warm to lie on. That air temperature is just fine if you are doing something active. If not throw a few blocks of wood in the stove and in 10 minutes you will be sweating! Doing that twice in a day is all that is needed now. |
Your shop floor heating system is really not considered "Cheap" heat for a shop. I have no doubt that it is really nice to have a warm floor to work over, it's just, not cheap to install.
The whole premise of this thread is cheap heat for like under $500.
_________________
I have learned over the years.
Cheap parts are gonna disappoint you.
Buy Once, Cry Once!
There's never enough time to do it right the first time. But there's always enough time to do it thrice.
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo!
2003 Astrovan? GFYS again, Xevin!
Don't let your bad ideas remain, ideas!
Last edited by 67rustavenger on Wed Nov 26, 2025 2:36 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Who.Me?
Samba Member
Joined: July 14, 2014
Posts: 2610
Location: UK (South)
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| Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2025 1:42 pm Post subject: Re: If you're looking for cheap garage or shop heat..... |
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I probably went a bit OTT with mine. 
(8kW heater)
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Andy
Looking for info on my truck's history. Are you from Campbell California or nearby. Do you recognise it? ... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=636786 |
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viiking
Samba Member
Joined: May 10, 2013
Posts: 3469
Location: Sydney Australia
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| Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2025 3:05 pm Post subject: Re: If you're looking for cheap garage or shop heat..... |
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| oprn wrote: |
| I went with a home made oil drum wood stove for years. Two downsides, the floor and everything below knee level stays at -30*. Frozen feet all day long!. |
It may seem counterintuitive but using a ceiling fan while heating with the stove will "push" down the heat. Many of the newer ones have a "winter/summer" switch which will reverse the direction of the fan. The winter mode 'sucks" upwards and therefore pushes the heat down. This avoids the cold feet but also stops your upper body from feeling too hot.
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Discharged: 1983 Vanagon, 1974 1800 Microbus,1968 Low Light,1968 Type 3 |
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liquidrush
Samba Member
Joined: July 18, 2018
Posts: 806
Location: MO
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| Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2025 4:16 pm Post subject: Re: If you're looking for cheap garage or shop heat..... |
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| Who-me knows what's up, works pretty good doesn't it? I decided to keep mine mobile so I can take one or both somewhere. I got home from work about an hour ago, started them up and I've gone from 42deg to 63 already. I do run a ceiling fan out here too. Once I hit 70 I shut one off and turn the other one down to about 1/3 power. And yes, I do need to insulate that door. I need something that's not going to add 25 pounds of weight. Any recommendations? |
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oprn
Samba Member
Joined: November 13, 2016
Posts: 15288
Location: Western Canada
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| Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2025 6:22 pm Post subject: Re: If you're looking for cheap garage or shop heat..... |
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| 67rustavenger wrote: |
| oprn wrote: |
I went with a home made oil drum wood stove for years. Two downsides, the floor and everything below knee level stays at -30*. Frozen feet all day long! Also too much time spent baby sitting the stove and little else accomplished.
Two falls ago I finally got around to tying in the garage pad (I poured heating lines into the cement pad when I built it) into the house natural gas boiler. Natural gas here is the cheapest heating fuel next to wood and coal.
I keep the air temperature above freezing, 40 to 50*F, and the floor is comfortably warm to lie on. That air temperature is just fine if you are doing something active. If not throw a few blocks of wood in the stove and in 10 minutes you will be sweating! Doing that twice in a day is all that is needed now. |
Your shop floor heating system is really not considered "Cheap" heat for a shop. I have no doubt that it is really nice to have a warm floor to work over, it's just, not cheap to install.
The whole premise of this thread is cheap heat for like under $500. |
I don’t recall what I paid for the plastic line but I doubt it was $500 at the time. You can’t count the cement because it was going to be poured regardless. It’s not like I would have left it dirt. It did cost me $200 to rent a trencher to put the lines into the house but I had enough plastic line left to do that.
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Our cars get old, we get old but driving an old VW never gets old! |
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oprn
Samba Member
Joined: November 13, 2016
Posts: 15288
Location: Western Canada
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| Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2025 6:29 pm Post subject: Re: If you're looking for cheap garage or shop heat..... |
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| viiking wrote: |
| oprn wrote: |
| I went with a home made oil drum wood stove for years. Two downsides, the floor and everything below knee level stays at -30*. Frozen feet all day long!. |
It may seem counterintuitive but using a ceiling fan while heating with the stove will "push" down the heat. Many of the newer ones have a "winter/summer" switch which will reverse the direction of the fan. The winter mode 'sucks" upwards and therefore pushes the heat down. This avoids the cold feet but also stops your upper body from feeling too hot. |
True! I had a fan on a tall stand behind the stove blowing the heat down. It helped som but had no impact on the floor temperature. Too much mass to change quickly. With the present system it takes 3 days for the pad to get up to temperature and a week and a half to cool off.
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Our cars get old, we get old but driving an old VW never gets old! |
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cbeck
Samba Member
Joined: January 14, 2014
Posts: 2595
Location: high ridge, mo
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| Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2025 6:50 pm Post subject: Re: If you're looking for cheap garage or shop heat..... |
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Call my service mngr chris. We used to (still?) Carry kits with some kind of foam (polystyrene? ) core, faced and un faced. They weasel into the sections, and have retaining strips to hold them in place when open. Have a door size ready. Disclaimer - I haven't worked on doors in over 20 years.
https://www.birdsongcompany.com/
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My cut in half and rebuild thread
www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=647779 |
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Abscate
Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014
Posts: 24492
Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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| Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2025 5:22 am Post subject: Re: If you're looking for cheap garage or shop heat..... |
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Get a two car garage amd burn a Tesla in one of the spots, for that nice warm feeling inside. I’ve never heated the garage, just getting out of wind and wet is good for me. Of course, the summer heat takes me to my knees so there’s that.
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pondoras box
Samba Member
Joined: March 22, 2004
Posts: 1939
Location: Warren, PA
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| Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2025 7:17 am Post subject: Re: If you're looking for cheap garage or shop heat..... |
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eBay and Amazon both have lightweight styrofoam insulated panels for garage doors fairly cheap. I put them in my condo and it made a huge difference in how warm the floors felt on the floor above the garage. Had that place for over ten years and they held up fine.
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1961 23 Window (Bobo)
1965 11 Window (Zelda). https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=563183
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1960 hardtop
1964 hardtop
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1973 standard bug (Dirty Gertie)
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=804912
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2type2
Samba Member
Joined: June 02, 2002
Posts: 1225
Location: SW Colorado
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| Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2025 8:38 am Post subject: Re: If you're looking for cheap garage or shop heat..... |
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240 volt unit, keeps garage too warm so-- only need it heat it up initially. Garage somehow never gets below 57 degrees even at 6200' altitude in Colorado.
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oprn
Samba Member
Joined: November 13, 2016
Posts: 15288
Location: Western Canada
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| Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2025 7:13 am Post subject: Re: If you're looking for cheap garage or shop heat..... |
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| Abscate wrote: |
| I’ve never heated the garage, just getting out of wind and wet is good for me. Of course, the summer heat takes me to my knees so there’s that. |
Yes getting out of the wind is a huge bonus but if you have ever live in a cold part of the country that is not near enough. Trying to put bolts in with gloves on because without them bare skin freezes in less than a minute and having your glasses fog up and freeze over is not a fun time! Been there, done that!
I have also had to change a clutch in a snow bank...  I would not exchange my warm garage floor for all the rice in China!
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Our cars get old, we get old but driving an old VW never gets old! |
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liquidrush
Samba Member
Joined: July 18, 2018
Posts: 806
Location: MO
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| Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2025 1:48 pm Post subject: Re: If you're looking for cheap garage or shop heat..... |
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| Doing a little welding in the shop today, stuff for Corvette. But....most importantly it's a balmy 70deg in here. We got about 5" of snow and it's 35 outside and quite comfortable in here. My wife is pissed because it's warmer out here than in the house. I told her if you get up and move around a little you'll feel better, I recommended the vacuum cleaner. That's why I'm out here. |
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oprn
Samba Member
Joined: November 13, 2016
Posts: 15288
Location: Western Canada
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| Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2025 7:45 am Post subject: Re: If you're looking for cheap garage or shop heat..... |
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Our cars get old, we get old but driving an old VW never gets old! |
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marklaken
Samba Member
Joined: March 19, 2004
Posts: 2417
Location: fort collins, CO
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| Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2025 7:45 pm Post subject: Re: If you're looking for cheap garage or shop heat..... |
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What do you use for the 12v-24v power supply for these cheap diesel heaters? a 12V battery with a battery charger (or battery conditioner?) or an AC to DC converter? or do they work on 110v power and just not advertised?
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Mark Laken
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