Well I have an 80000 btu heater in my garage http://www.amazon.com/Mr-Heater-Propane-Convection-MH80CV/dp/B0000C6E2Z and I am experiencing g some interesting things this year.in the past I could get the garage to 35f no problem in the bitter cold but the doors where not insulated. I just finished insulating the doors and with it being 15f out today I fired it up and in about an hour it was 47f. Not bad but not good enough for my liking!the tanks are 20lb tanks and they are freezing fast and slowing down the heater a bit so the flame is too small. I am pretty sure the tanks are way undersized for my heater so I have been looking at 100lb tanks. What I have been reding has me a little confused. The 20lb tank can't feed the 80000 lb unit fast enough to keep it throwing heat where a 100lb or bigger can. Why is this? Is it volume related or pressure related or both? My thought is to buy a big 200is pund tank and set it outside the garage then fill it every couple months because it isn't all that expensive for what I'm doing. Thanks fellas in advance.
I'd definitely go the 200 route. I am carrying 2 -420's on my back-up system. It is a volume thing for sure.
Probably related to compressors. They all may have 120 psi but its the volume of air behind it and amount it can flow per minute that count. I have the pressure to feed my hvlp gun just not the volume to sustain long projects.
When it is cold a 20lb can't turn the liquid propane to gas fast enough for your size of heater. If you can keep the tank warmer it may do a better job. I have set them in front and off to the side of salamander type heaters to help keep the tank warm. To close and it may go kaboom! Gary
Where are you losing your heat? I have a 60k BTU salamander type heater that runs off a 20 lb tank no prob, even on high. Heats a 28x31 ft garage full of cold equipment. Takes it from 35 to 60 in an hour. Walls and ceiling are insulated, drop ceiling installed and I have a huge 8x16 ft overhead door.
As the volume drops so does the pressure. A 100 lb tank has higher volume (obviously) so it will be able to maintain the same pressure longer. Cold temps only exacerbate the situation as the propane contracts and further lowers the volume. It also doesn't help that when gas expands it cools...a LOT. You could either increase volume or increase temperature to maintain pressure.
God bless ya Pete! but your killing me…… Put in a Big ol, Fisher smoke dragon in the garage and be done with propane…… They sell it out here now for $5.09 a gal
Many times here, I have to turn the propane torch on the propane bottles . Also noticed some of the new ones don't all work on the barbecue fittings especially when cold . No experience with the big tanks, but temperature has a big effect on pressure & the change rate from liquid to gas.
If I could Dave I would but the county and villiage won't allow it. Most likely I'll install a pellet stove by next winter in the garage. I'll just tell them it's a dryer vent.
If you are looking for a different garage heater Monitor used to sell a model that burned K1 and had an internal fuel tank... I picked one up used cheap had 3-4 extra fuel cells that you could just swap out when needed. I personally can't stand the fumes from unvented heaters, after an hour or two I've had enough.
Your county won't allow wood stove heat in your garage but will allow you to hook a bomb up to a burner and heat it??? Its still an open flame deal so it can't have anything to do with flammable vapors!!
The tank needs surface area to vaporize the liquid into the usable gas. Short fat tanks feed bigger heaters
My argument exactly......................... They won't allow any solid fuel because of fumes but they will a furnace which has an open flame and a torch. I don't get it and have been round and round and round with them but they insist solid fuel equals Big Bang! Even though I can make it outside air vented and all.... Ugh
Simple question is your regulator covered ? Just an ice cream pale over the regulator will prevent the regulator from freezing . It has been almost 40 years since we heated with propane and just a bucket over the regulator would keep it functioning in cold weather .
