Selecting the right Electric Garage Heater/Shop Heater is not that hard to do. There are a few pieces of information to gather before we are able to determine what we need but first lets cover some basics of electric heaters!

1. Heaters are marketed with a BTU or a wattage rating. 1 watt of electricity is equal to 3.412 BTU's of heat.

2. Typically heaters that are over 5120 BTU's are rated for 220-240v operation so be prepared for running new service lines or making changes at your box. Please consult a certified electrician for this purpose.

3. Heaters rated for 120v operate typically do not have enough wattage to produce anymore than 5120 BTU's

4. On average it takes about 10 watts per square foot to heat your spaces. Unusual circumstances in your area may require a slightly higher average based on your location. Poor insulation may also require a much higher wattage per square foot.

5. Not all garage heaters are created equal. You need to know how many CFM's the unit pushes and how far the Air Throw rating is. This is important because you want to circulate the air as quickly as possible and a low CFM rated unit will not give you the results you want and will require more energy to heat up your space which equals more money out of your pocket.

Now that we have covered a few basic bases lets do some math!

How to determine Wattage requirements:

1. Multiply the Length and Width of the room you plan to heat (This will give you the Square Footage of the room)

2. Find your location on the map located Here! This determines your basic heating zone.

3. The chart below the map lists insulation values based on the effectiveness of the insulation presently in your room. Find your heating zone on the chart and the approximate wattage per Square Foot you will need.

4. Multiply the total number of Square Feet you calculated from step one by the approx. Wattage per SF you just obtained from the chart. This will determine your total heating requirement in Watts for the room.

5. Since a Watt is equal to 3.412 BTU's simply multiply the Wattage requirement by 3.412 and this will give you your BTU's needed for the room.

Now! Lets do an example: We have a room 12'x15' We live in Zone 3 and Have Standard insulation. Based on this information we will calculate our SF to 180. We will then take our 180 SF and multiply it by 8.2 Watts which is what we need for living in Zone 3 and having Standard Insulation. This total Wattage requirement will equal 1476 Watts. To calculate the BTU's we simply take 1476 Watts x's 3.412 BTU's and we get 5036 BTU's This puts us in range of a 5000 BTU Heater!

Its as easy as that! You have now narrowed you search for an Electric Garage Heater (Please note your estimate may need to be increased due to strong wind, high altitudes or other unusual conditions in your area)