The answer

Let’s start with the answer to that question: YES, you can heat your residential garage with infrared heating. In fact, there are several advantages to using infrared heating in a garage.

Traditional methods

Let’s start by assessing your possibilities. The most common ways of heating a garage are definitely electric baseboard heating or aeroconvectors (the famous dragons).

Electric baseboards

Electric baseboard heaters are a popular and affordable solution. Baseboard heaters work on the simple convection principle. “The air is heated at floor level by electric resistors and then rises naturally in the room^.1“.

In a space like a garage, one of the main drawbacks of this method is that it limits the configuration of the space. Often, in a garage, space is limited and we store a lot of things. However, no furniture or combustible materials may be placed in front of baseboards. Another disadvantage, of course, is that the air is heated rather than the mass, as with infrared heating. So, as soon as you open the garage door, all the warm air quickly leaves the room and you have to heat the entire volume again.

Of course, with such a heater, you have to heat the entire volume of the room to get the right sensation of warmth. As a result, it can take a long time to return to a comfortable feeling after opening the door.

Fan heaters

Aeroconvectors are another popular method of heating a garage. The operating principle is the same as for baseboards. In other words, the principle of convection. However, a fan is added to speed up air circulation.

Obviously, the disadvantage of heating the air remains (as with baseboard heaters), but there’s also the fact that garage air heaters can be noisy. What’s more, because of the fans, there’s the issue of dust circulating in the air.

Secondly, we all know that hot air rises. So when you attach an air-heating appliance to the ceiling, you’re already starting with a problem.

Like baseboards, the entire volume of the room must be heated to provide comfort for users. So this method is rather slow and prone to discomfort.

A more suitable method: electric infrared heating

A method that makes up for all the shortcomings of the two above-mentioned methods is, of course, electric infrared heating.

Firstly, our electric infrared heaters emit no noise and no wind. Secondly, they can be hung from the ceiling or overhead without affecting performance. In fact, since our devices heat the masses before the air, there’s no problem in placing them high up. This frees up valuable floor space.

Then, as we’ve just mentioned, electric infrared heaters first warm the masses. This is an undeniable advantage in a space like a garage, since you want to give people warmth in the garage even when the door is wide open.

What’s more, because of these attributes, infrared heating is generally less energy-intensive than the other methods mentioned. In the end, it’s your electricity bill that goes down. In fact, since our systems are fast and efficient (heating the masses), you won’t need to keep your garage at 21 degrees to be comfortable when you’re working there for 2 hours out of 24.

The following table summarizes the advantages of radiant heating:

Infrared heating for all garages

How do I choose between a lamp or tube infrared system? Electric infrared heating is divided into two families. Short-wave infrared available with lamp devices and medium-wave infrared available with tube devices. This makes it possible to heat all types of garage, from garden sheds to large commercial garages.