Table of Contents
Introduction
Suppose you are not comfortable with your garage’s temperature. You can move it to something more in tune with your comfort zone using a garage heater. One of the ways to make your garage warm for years to come is using a natural gas garage heater. However, you might be facing some difficulties, partly because you do not know how to vent the garage heater. If you want to know how to vent a garage heater, you should read on because we look at doing so, step by step.
Garage Heater
A garage heater falls under the heater that makes use of natural gas to operate. This heater is a flued one because it is always installed permanently and is vented. Garage heaters are used to make a garage easier to use comfortably by the owner. It is used to change the temperature level of a garage to meet the temperature that is wanted by the owner.
Uses of a garage heater
A garage heater helps to protect a vehicle from cold starts in the morning. It is used to keep you and your vehicle warmer; a warmer garage would result in a warmer vehicle. A warmer vehicle would mean that the car’s battery life would be preserved for a longer period.
A garage heater would help you reduce the cost of maintaining your vehicle because a garage heater would reduce your fuel consumption because there won’t be a need to warm up your vehicle early in the morning before use.
They are safer for your home and more affordable to afford. A garage heater price range would depend on how big your garage is and the space you want to be heated up quickly. Because they use natural gas and is vented, it won’t cause a significant increase in the number of bills you have to spend on maintenance.
To choose the right heater for your garage, you can read this article What Size Heater Do I Need For My Garage?
Making use of a garage heater would allow you to get the most out of your home because of all the stress and money it would save you from, the level of comfort that it makes, and the money it saves you in the long run.
Why you should vent your garage
Poor ventilation of a garage could be bad news because the fumes and chemicals generated by your vehicle or the tools you operate in there could be hazardous to your health and that of your household. To prevent you and your household from taking in harmful chemicals that could be a serious problem in a later year, it would help you dissipate these chemicals and fumes.
How to vent a garage heater
Before you begin or want to start the process of venting your garage heater, you would want to, first of all, inspect the garage where these heaters would be installed into. To let you know what you are to do and prevent you from burdening unnecessary costs and making costly mistakes. After you have inspected the garage, you can then continue with the procedures.
Ceiling Garage Heater installation
First, you would need to understand the types and sizes around and fit your specific needs and requirements. An electric garage heater is very efficient, in the sense that it gets a lot done without much hassle; no need to worry about where exhaust waste of gases should escape through because of its safe built-in features. Unlike the natural gas type of garage heater, you do not need a vent for this kind of installation. The gas heater is commonly used. It is used to heat a room’s temperature or an outside area by burning natural gas. The heater is of two types; the flued and non-flued heater. A flued heater can be vented; this type of heater is always installed permanently. The non-flued one is the heater that is free of a vent. This type is not always installed permanently and can be dangerous or risky if the appropriate safety measures are not seriously taken. Another alternative is Infrared Heater. You can check out Are Infrared Heaters Worth It?
After you have decided on the one that meets your specific requirements and needs, it would be best to check with your local municipality to know what is required for the installation and, if necessary, obtain a permit if it is needed.
Now that you have checked with your local municipality to know if you would need to get any permits before you begin on the job, you should purchase your desired garage heater; after the purchase, even though it won’t be quite needed, read through the manufacturer’s instruction. Using the kit provided with your garage heater, mount the brackets provide to the garage ceiling, and use a power screwdriver to hold it firm. Turn off the electricity and connect the heater to the electric panel in your home, after connecting it, turn on the electricity and test to see if it works properly, in case it doesn’t you should check where you bought it from. Your wire connections to make sure you didn’t make a mistake.
Garage heater vent through a rooftop
One of the ways to vent a garage heater is through the roof or ceiling. It is a must that gas heaters in garages must vent the exhaust waste of gasses from the garage’s burner to the outside for health safety purposes. Although, in most scenarios, it is advised that you get a professional to install the heater and gas pipe of your choice. However, to make the cost of installation cheaper, a homeowner does this him or herself.
Before you begin this process, the vent duct’s size would depend on the diameter of the vent flange on the unit, and the amount of it that would be used depends on the distance of the duct from the unit to the rooftop of the garage.
After you have taken the measurement of the size and the amount of duct that you would need, you can proceed. Position a ladder from the garage floor against the wall in a way that would let you access the vent flange at the back of the garage heater.
Now that you can access the back of the garage heater from your position fit a port of a 90-degree vent duct at the elbow into the flange and rotate this elbow to face the other side of it the inside of the garage the underside.
Use a marker or chalk to make a line that you determine should be the hole’s location in the roof for the duct that would pass through it. To do this, move the end of the marker or chalk line underside the roof and move it until a part of this line aligns with the open part of the duct elbow. After this has been done, take a mark of the outline of the duct’s diameter at the roof’s underside; you should do this using the part of the vent duct that is a circle as a guide.
It would help if you used a measuring tape to note a second outline that is 2 inches bigger in diameter to allow for the duct elbow passage through the roof sheathing. Before you would be required to go further, you must put on safety glass. Then you can make use of a drill to make a quarter and half drill holes, make several of these holes through the underside of the roof, the area of the bigger diameter. Using a reciprocating saw, you should cut through the drill hole already expanded by nails to help the saw teeth pass through. These drilled holes should be used as a guide to help you cut through the bigger diameter outline underneath the roof using the reciprocating saw.
After you have cut through the outlined diameter, fit or install the upper flange of the roof flashing underneath the row of shingles above the hole that is towards the roof’s peak. Align the vent duct’s part through the roof from the underside until the vent duct is 24 inches above the roof’s upside, fit a vent cap, and tighten with screws. Measure the distance from the vent duct that went through the roof, adding 16 inches to it. Install a screw tip to the drill, and cut a length of plumber’s tape. Attach an end of this tape to the side of one of the rafters, wrap the tape tightly around the duct in a way that the lower end comes in line with the open part of the 90-degrees elbow at the back of the garage heater. The distance from the suspended duct to the part that is open on the elbow should be measured. Then place the flange to the elbow on the heater with screws evenly placed around the rim.
Conclusion
From reading up to this point, you already know how to vent your garage heater, both through the roof and electrically. With what you have learned, you can now proceed to vent your garage and reduce the cost of outsourcing to a professional. Be sure to check out How to Install a Garage Heater?‘