Anything helps on the floor, cardboard on the floors also can help. When I went to a packers game at Green Bay in Dec, a lot of people brought small pieces of cardboard to sit on.

I have a small area rug that I got from Home D or Lowe's for cheap, it helps stay warm, but cleaning is a pain at times.

Jon

This is the heater that helps pull a chill out in small areas
[link=http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0070668519219a&type=product&cmCat=SEAR CH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntk=Products&QueryText=mr+heater&sort =all&N=0&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearc h-box.jsp.form23]mr heater[/link]

I have a room in the basement that my wife and i built for my hobby. It is heated with the gas forced air furnace that heats the rest of the house.

even though this is for plane guys and i am a car guy i will still contribute. i use a small space heater that we got from lowes for $30, and i also use my welder. that heats me up nicely (to a nice golden grown sunburn)

I used to work out through Glamis Beach. I almost crashed into CHP patrol car one time, the lead in or intro to Airwolf was being shot, they were using that area known as Buttercup to film the explosions, and the helicopter was dogging me to my right as I was approaching the area. It snuck up from behind me, and I didn't notice it until it was broadside to me (the road in that area is elevated to keep the sand from covering it up). It surprised me to no end, I was staring at this green and tan helicopter flying at eye level to me, it had no markings, and you couldn't see through the forward canopy as it was reflective. Just as I turned my head back to see if I was still on the road, I saw the CHP car, and a line of traffic stopped. I just barely brought my pickup to a sliding halt about 2 feet from his trunk, the officer looked like he was ready to jump away from the carnage. When I looked to the west, the hill above Buttercup was covered with little tables and there was some catering truck there. Airwolf had just flown over the top of the road, and down into Buttercup when a helicopter with a cameraman hanging out flew over from a small distance. After some small ground explosions, they let us through. A pretty intense 10 minutes.[8D]

Got so caught up in remembering Glamis that I forgot about the heater. I use 3 of the radiant propane burners in my 20x24 shop that used to be a garage. When it is like 5 out, it takes a couple of hours to get it warm enough that I can't see my breath. Once it starts to warm up, I can start turning them down to low, and if it gets to 20 out, I can run 2 on low, and leave the 3rd one off completely. It may sound funny, but I use a fan to keep the air moving, and the warm air doesn't stay up near the ceiling. So if you can restrict your ceiling height, you will get more results from your heater. I use the propane heat because I hate the surprise the electric bill brings when I get too comfortable with it. I get about 3 days of shop work out of 1 propane tank like you use for your barbecue.

I am working in a 36' X 36' garage that is insulated but has more than its share of air leaks in it. This year I got a good buy on a 75.000BTU free standing gas furnace with blower in it. It will heat the garage, but if the temperature is under 25 the cost of gas to get it warm and keep it warm is astronomical. And if there is any appreciable wind, forget it. But since I love to build and tinker around so much, I am going to drape an area large enough to enclose my stuff in, and see how that works. Maybe the back 15 feet or so all the way across (15 X 36). That will also eliminate the leaks around both overhead doors.

I have a ventless propane heater on the wall.It has a blower and thermostat,I simply leave it on its lowest setting and it does an excellent job.Cost,heater about 150.00 propane 100lb cylinder full every 5 weeks cost 66.00 dollars or about 1.70 dollars a day, mine came from Lowes

How many btu's, Greg? I got got the propane bill for the house, this winter is up to $3.44 per gal.

We're a little better here as far as per gallon is concerned, but it is still expensive. On 7-23-09 I had our 250 gallon tank filled. It took 180 gallons at $1.399/gal for a total of $252.38 plus tax ($270.05). On 12-31-09 I had it filled again. It took 170 gallons at $1.959/gal for a total of $333.03 plus tax ($356.34). With price increases like that, I won't be able to afford to have it refilled. I still have plenty of downed trees from our last ice storm. I guess I can pile them up in the middle of the garage floor and burn them to keep warm.[][>:]

Burning them in an airtight woodstove is good. Mine is good for 88k btus, I heat my 1850's farm house with it. I couldn't afford oil or propane to do that.. It cost $320 for less than 100 gal. on my last fill. I have never spent that much, ever...

Try the Presto Heat Dish. It won't heat the whole space but it heats whatever you point it at. Wife got me one for the ice box, um I mean garage.

I feel your pain. I lived in Flemington, New Jersey during the winter of 1993 (blizzard of the century?) and heated my little carriage house with propane. Propane was atrocious in that area even then.

Within the last year I framed in a portion of my garage for a shop area to work on my airplanes (15'X23'). I insulated the walls and ceiling and installed a Mini-Split system (heat pump). I can't say enough about this unit. It's quiet and energy efficient. I live in GA so it gets pretty hot in the summer and can get pretty cold in the winter. The unit I purchased is rated at 12000 BTUs and works beautifully. I only had to cut a three inch diameter hole in the wall for the lines. It will set you back about $900 though. The inside air exchanger is only about 15"X36" and the rest of the system is mounted outside the shop. One of the better investments I have made.

Talk about propane prices. I live in a 5500 sq.ft. home and with our 1000 gal propane tank, we go through about 2 1/2 tanks a year. It seems like it was about $2.19 or 2.29 for the last fuel. Normally takes about 650 gallons. that equates to about 1500 yankee green backs a fill. We are on the budget plan at $210 a month. I have a spare bedroom that I use for my building area. It stays the same temp as the rest of the house.

I use the Mr. Heat Big Buddy. Heats my 16x20 shop very well runs a long time on a standard propane tank

I went to Grainger and bought a Dayton red box heater, it works on 220 and is only about 14"x14" it gets a 11/2 car garage toasty in about 25 minutes, I don't see a dramatic increase in electric bills either. I just hung it off the wall with a HD flowerpot bracket, it cost 119.99 worth every cent

I recently sheetrocked and insulated my 2-car garage. It's heated with a ceiling mount Modine Hot Dawg natural gas heater with a wall mounted thermostat. Very nice. Before that I use one of those tall, round kerosene heaters. It worked but with price of kerosene so high, it cost a fortune to run. Still waiting for the boss (my wife) to approve a detached shop. Anyone know how to get the boss to approve building a new shop??

In 02 I built a new house, this is in the mountains of Calif. just outside Yosemite so it does get cold there. I installed forced air but LPG was around $3.29 a gallon so you don't want to be running that too much. I installed a nice pellet stove, that thing works wonders on keeping down your gas bills and heated all of the front half of the house. The pellets are a lot cheaper then gas!!
I used my old house as a shop after I got the new place built and it too has forced air but I heated with the air tight wood stove. Wood cost me nothing because I had to cut, clear and trim anyway. A good air tight is a true joy and easy to operate.
Gene
And yes, that's as good of a Vanna as I can do!!

as much as alot of people think its all summery and warm in CA,it does get chilly at times, I live close to the Ocean and surprisingly in the summer is when it can really cool down,in N.Ca the coast really doesn't change temp much, its the interior that really gets cold in winter and hot in the summer.

in my shop/garage,what works for me is to use some carpet remnant and a old rug we have had for many years, for insulation and padding, and a space heater I use for when it gets really cold, it also helps to do some laundry when I am down there running the dryer serves dual purpose, warms the space and keeps the wife happy,2 young kids generates some dirty clothes

There used to be a car commercial back in the 80's or early 90's. It was for Mercury I think or one of the Ford products. It had an older couple who came to San Francisco to see their kid and they had on the Hawaiian shirts, shorts carrying all the beach toys, etc. only to find it foggy, cold and miserable. I'm not sure how that tied into selling cars but it was kind of humorous and sometimes true. The CA marketing department definitely does a good job of creating an image.

When I talk to my wife's relatives in PA they have images of palm trees, coconuts and sandy beaches. Another thing they ask about is seeing celebrities. When I tell them that I once saw that really tall ogre guy from the James Bond movies, Butch from the Little Rascals and Bubba from Heat Of The Night they seem really disappointed. They have no idea that it is more like TX or OK here on the valley floor with a nearly 15,000 mountain range just a few miles to the east.

I think I'm going to try some carpet in my garage. Not the whole thing but at least the area where my main workbench is.

Another challenge is keeping it cool in the ridiculous valley summers. I'm going to try and finally get some sort of evaporative cooler out there this summer. We will see.

Used to have my workshop in an old 16' or so camper trailer(just removed all thecabinets and walls. wasn't well insulated either). Didn't have anyplace for an indoor shop for a very long time. Been through a lot of very cold Michigan winters with that setup. Your fuel choices will determine what you use for heat. Natural gas from your house supply would be the cheapest I think, but I've never had that as an option. Have always used kerosene or propane, found kero to be the cheapest. 1gal of kero will run my 10-12000 btu heater for 12 to 14 hrs. Had a catalytic propane heater, 8000 btu, that would only run 8 hrs on a 20lb cylinder. After going through a few cylinders, i quit using the propane heater. The kerosene heater could bring that trailer up from single digit temps to sweatshirt comfort in about 1.5-2hrs, and i would have to open the roof vent after about 3 hrs. Main drawbacks to kerosene are the smell and the fact that the heaters are not output adjustable. They are either on or off. Thankfully my shop is in the basement now, with a 1500 watt electric as supplemental heat. I think electric might be even cheaper than nat. gas. seems to be here.

http://www.ultimategarageheater.com/...calculator.php

Great link!

http://www.ultimategarageheater.com/...calculator.php

I have a wood furnace . The pic doesn't show the stove ,but you can see the duct work that comes off of it. It stays between 75 & 80 most the time. The ceiling has 18 inches of blown insulation and the walls have 8 inches . Nice and warm .

Insulation would be a huge help, I now have a 24' trailer that I am converting for workshop/aircraft storage. someone already gutted it and was using it as a bunkhouse for deer camp. They didn't bother to insulate it though so I have to do that before I can start finishing the inside the way i want it. That is a good link, btw

Lasko ceramic heater at Sam's Club $49.00.  Costco had a radient heater last year and my buddy bought one and likes it.