The Gorilla is getting a new cage

I know there's lots of people with good success using electric heaters for their garages.

I'd check out garagejournal.com about details on heating, but coming from an HVAC background, I would use electric for that space. I assume 8-10' ceilings? For a larger garage, I'd look into propane or gas, but that size the proper sized electric works great.

I do not know all of the answers to your questions, but if you plan on adding any games pre-1985 with a true backglass, if you let the temp change drastically it will cause extreme flaking.

For your combo heater, ac unit, you could try this.
http://www.gettington.com/product/soleus-12000-btu-portable-acheater-wremote/nx205.uts?srccode=cii_9324560&cpncode=27-91494024-2&CTid=655&CTKey=Nextag

If your going to do it I say go all out and make it perfect and run your ducts out there to heat and cool it. Wouldn't want woz to get affected by iowas crazy weather swings!

I'm looking into getting an out-building for my pins as well, so I'm glad the topic came up.

I was considering one of those window type units seen in hotel rooms. Can take care of both heating and cooling as well as be hooked to a thermostat which would help with some of the wild swings we seen in the South.

My Shop/garage still doesn't have the furnace hooked up yet. So far I've been keeping it a little under 900 SF at 60 degrees using two little electric room heaters. Its well insulated and sheet-rocked though. I have to run a de-humidifier as well since its not vented heat but its been working well enough so far.

+1 on garagejournal.com I'm a member there. Great bunch of guys with an extreme amount of knowledge. Good fun too.

You could also look into putting a mini split electric furnace/ac out there. They work great!

You're refering to a split unit. They will do heating and cooling and for one room they're relative efficient and take up little space. They're also fairly affordable. Pending your ability, you can set it up yourself and just have a HVAC person/outfit charge it.

I'm glad to see others on there. Great site and wish I knew more about it when I built my little 24x32x12 garage. It was my temporary summer holding spot for my pin and vids over the summer and fall.

Mine is a 26x32x10 and ill be putting an addition on in the spring. I lived on garage journal for about 8 months before I built mine. All my pins will be living out there once I'm completely finished.

Just make sure to put the HVAC stuff on dedicated circuits. You definitely don't want high power draw appliances like AC's on the same circuit as your pins.

TG: I'd dedicate things. I'd put 3 20a circuits to spread across but I go overkill. Pending room in your panel of course....

I'm in process of redoing my basement now so all this is what I'm going through electrically anyway.

A single 20 amp circuit should be fine for the pins, but I wouldn't put your fridge on the same circuit. That sucker will draw a lot of juice every time the compressor kicks on.

No way on the single 20. Minimum would be 2. I assume you're leaving the lights on the existing circuit.

I use gas to heat my outbuilding. Cheaper. Good results with huge room.

Is your garage attached to your house or not? If not I would up the 'R' value on the insulation.

I'm sure there is a man door leading outside? Make sure it's an insulated door with weather stripping and have a door sweep installed because you will a lot of heat loss in that area if you don’t. Also, are there any windows in your garage? Again, another area where there is a lot of heat loss... so you might want to consider either upgrading your windows to HE or make sure that the weather stripping & caulking are checked. I know you can install this film on your windows to make them more efficient, but I don't know much about it. Curtains or blind will reduce the heat loss as well. But if you don’t have any windows, all the better!

Is your garage door insulated? Another area where you lose a lot of heat, consider getting the panels insulated... either with rigid insulation or batt. There are advantages to both as well as disadvantages (Batt insulation can be heavy and your garage door will be a lot harder to open because of the extra weight), but it will be well worth it.

I assume that your garage is unfinished (ie. bare stud walls with no gypsum board)... you say that you are going to insulate, I would also suggest installing gypsum (aka: drywall and sheet rock) as this will improve your 'R' value of your garage. Gypsum doesn't really provide a lot of 'R' value, but it certainly doesn't hurt.

As far as heating goes, as previously mentioned, the ceiling mounted space heaters are good... and if your garage is really well insulated it shouldn't come on nearly as much if it weren't.

Lastly, I would suggest a dehumidifier. Not sure how humid it gets where you live, but it will reduce the water that is in the air that could affect the wood in your pins. Plus another advantage with a dehumidifier is that it actually reduces the heat and makes it much more comfortable in the summer time.

Hope everything turns out the way you like it!

Sounds like your getting some really good info here T_G. I cant really add much but if you need any help building it out I could cruise up some weekend and lend a hand. Or at least drink some cold beers and "manage" the job for ya! I must inform you that I am not a licensed contractor by any means but I can open a beer like nobodies business.

Good luck TG! I wouldn't put any pins in my garage, I'd be more worried about the dust factor down here in Texas....