Can anyone help with pointers for automatable garage heaters? So far my searches aren’t finding anything. My requirements are:
- remotely preheat when I want to work out
- alert if it’s left on, or automatically turn off
I’m in the US, looking for 240v maybe 5,000w electric heater. The basic item is cheap and readily available at home centers or online. I even see variations with Bluetooth remote and/or controlled by app.
I’m looking for something locally automatable. Matter/Thread would be ideal but I’m fine with Zigbee or z-wave. But I’m not finding anything like that, and getting stuck on some vendors portal is not ok. Any leads?
Or something that can use an external thermostat - I actually have an extra Ecobee - that can be locally automatable. Any leads? Any search tips that might find such a thing?
I briefly thought of automating an outlet, however even if smart outlets are available for those loads, that wouldn’t work because all these heaters have a safety feature to run the fan until the unit is cool
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Get a mini split, and be done with it. Almost all of them are made from the same 3 factories and have pretty much the same parts. Buy one that fits your budget and install it yourself or hire someone to install it. No need for a heater when these exist now. They’re cheap, do both cooling and heat, and work great for stuff like this.
@AA5B @SupraMario I hear that some are coming with hoses pre-charged with gas now so you can self install?
Yep, they’re nearly fool proof at this point.
Not trying to spread fear. But remotely running heaters could be a fire hazard. Please be cautious
For sure it’s a concern and part of the reason for over complicating what a space heater could theoretically do.
For safety I want something off the ground so nothing can fall on or next to it, I want a dedicated circuit, and I have a priority on making sure it gets turned off when not in use.
Ny garage will not have anything flammable since my car is an EV and I park it outside, my lawn equipment is battery powered, my snow blower is battery powered, and any chemicals go in the shed
You mean like all of the millions of them in every house, building, business around the world?
If it’s 240, it’s installed. It’ll require a proper 240 circuit for its type, not something the average homeowner can do, so an electrician will be necessary.
Technically, pretty much every heater is “remote” (except portables). Or do you crawl into your attic or crawl space whenever you want to adjust the temp?
Do you turn off your heat when you leave the house? Water heater?
Business have used heat and cooling on timer and remote systems for 75+ years, and here you come fear-mongering some nonsense about “remote heaters”.
Moreover, an electric hearer is about as safe as you can get - nothing being oxidized, the heater element is well shielded, with a compressor type fan pushing air through it.
If the fan stops, the unit stops. If the heater stops, the fan stops, it’s all tied together with controls that have been around since the 50’s (and mostly now electronic). Even controls from back then are crazy robust and simple.
A gas heater won’t even attempt to fire if it doesn’t detective negative pressure in the chamber, which would mean the exhaust blower isn’t running. And we’re not talking gas here, so the controllers even simpler.
Yeah, your last point might be an issue for this. But if you manage to find a heater that works as a simple on/off, this z-wave high power relay might suit your needs: https://www.thesmartesthouse.com/products/zooz-z-wave-long-range-high-power-relay-zen78-800lr
I would be very careful with automating a heater in your garage, as they’re obviously a fire risk, especially when unattended. I would make sure whatever automation you land on has safeties based on if you’re home, if a smoke alarm goes off, or if connection to your controller is lost (this one would be more difficult to automate, but is probably doable with an esp32 or similar).
For sure on the safety, and this is one of the reasons I’m going for something intended for purpose, rather than portable space heaters. The other reason is power. Basically I want to ensure the heater is Always off unless I want to work out, but that also means sufficient power to heat the garage quickly in the coldest months
Something mounted on wall or ceiling is a critical safety feature, so it can’t get knocked over nor anything fall on it. There will never be anything flammable in my garage: it’s too small for cars and I converted to battery lawn equipment
I even see heaters with automatic 2 hr shutoff, but not automatable. That’s probably my backup plan
Realistically my priority goal is alerting and shutoff: remote pre-heat would be a bonus
Just as a backup you might consider putting some atandalone zigbee/z wave temp sensor in the garage just as a double check that the heater is operating as it should
For sure, and it’ll be a nice addition to my house data. I like seeing data even when I have no practical use and already graph 5 different temperature sensors!
Might be able to use a baseboard heater thermostat.
Slightly odd option is to connect it to a car charger like Technology Connections did, and then automate the cafe charger. And then you have a car charger for the future.
Another idea is to consider a mini split heat pump. It won’t be hot, but it’ll take the edge off.
I do already have a car charger but need it for my car, plus it’s outside.
I already ruled out the mini-split as not really suited to what I want it to do. I want the garage to get warm fast- and the efficiency function is to make sure it’s off when not in use
Same problems I have… I’m going to have to insulate the garage and put in a minisplit sometime.
Maybe the Kelvin Smart Space Heater. It’s a radiant heat panel. Works with Alexa and Google Home but if you pair it with their thermostat it works with Matter and Home Assistant out of the box.
https://shopboldr.com/products/kelvin?variant=39739124580430
https://www.cnet.com/home/smart-home/this-shiny-black-panel-is-one-of-the-best-home-heaters-ive-tested/Also don’t compare the wattage of these panels with a normal space heater. These panels are more efficient since they radiate infrared right onto the surfaces of your room and on to your body, instead of heating the air and letting the warm air warm the room and yourself.
That looks really cool for other uses but it doesn’t really fit the goal of quickly heating a garage for a workout. Too expensive, not enough power, looks too nice, radiant is probably not the right technology.
On the other hand my bathroom could really use exactly that
Radiant heat is great for intermittent heating. Instead of heating a space, you heat the objects (and people) in the space, and that heat can be felt seconds after starting the heater. It doesn’t matter if the air temp is actually 2C if the radiant heat makes it feel like 22C.
They might be perfect for a workout space. Just place a panel right above where you work out and when you turn the panel on you feel the heat immediately, since the infrared waves gets blasted straight on to you. And you don’t have to heat the entire garage. Or hang one on a wall with a swivel hinge and you can change the direction of the radiation so when you move to the other side of the room you can aim it to that side.
Not sure how much this will help you, but my house is heated by electric wall heaters like this with unit-mounted thermostats. I recently installed a real thermostat for the one in the main room, by using this relay that I wired with a three wire 24 volt off the shelf loom like this that I bought by the foot from the closest to me store. You could use a smart thermostat unlike me. I used this site for help but mine is 120v. That link, tho, is for a 240v and may be more helpful.
Importantly, I have a background in electric (DC) and access to folks with household electric.
Anyway, what you want isn’t hard and can be done safely and easily. But if you are not an electrician, it is best to us a contractor. My heat is on a dedicated circuit, yours should be, too.
Best wishes and be warm!
The electrician is an easy choice in this case. I do have knowledge and experience without household electric but recognize this as a project I wouldn’t complete in reasonable time and quality.
Notably my garage has no electric except the light and the EV charger, and it would also be useful to have an outlet. I’ll at least get a quote for a small subpanel to give me more future options
@AA5B Surely a split system A/c would be more efficient?
Yes it would be more efficient but too expensive. I expect to use it for short bursts of heat - like get the garage warm for two hours to work out. I don’t need cooling and I don’t expect to use it frequently enough for the efficiency to make it worthwhile. The overall heat output is more important, to warm the space quickly.
A challenge factor is this garage is masonry so creating holes is more difficult, less desirable.
A standard garage heater has the power to heat the space quickly, means I don’t have to create holes in masonry, and is cheap to biy
