Maybe you have been thinking about heating your garage, she shed or dog kennel. Unit heaters and tube heaters are a great affordable solution.
For those who use the garage for its intended reason getting into a warm, snow free vehicle every day is a joy in our Canadian winters. The added benefit outside of the garage is the car will warm up faster and allow you to drive away frost free. Not having to stand outside in the cold scrapping and clearing snow and running the vehicle wasting gas are a real bonus.
So, which to choose from? Every application has its challenges and with any gas appliance venting of the combustion gases are the most important. A site review is always needed to ensure either appliance can be vented correctly. Both units can be sized pretty much equally for the space, both run about the same efficiency and both can be propane or natural gas.
A tube heater shown above, is relatively quiet and works on a radiant convection system, whereas the unit heat shown below works on force air convection and is a little noisier. Both have their benefits, if you are using the garage for things other than storage, let’s say a wood shop or painting then a tube heater would be preferable as it will not blow particles around. If the garage is used a storage and vehicles, then a unit heater can be more practical.
Tube heaters due to the fact they are radiant heat operate at a much higher temperature and reflect the heat by a series of reflective panels. This means that clearance from the tube is important, rubbers, painted surfaces and anything combustible must be kept a minimum of 4 ft away at all times. This rule applies less to a unit heater due to it being forced air convection heat the temperature coming out of the unit is drastically cooler.
As you can see these are a few of the factors that will go into deciding which unit fit the application and why a site visit is the only way to full determine the wants and needs.
If you have questions, please do not hesitate to give us a call.
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