Electric vs gas & propane Garage Heaters

by Joost Nusselder | Updated on:  June 21, 2021
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Garage heaters are of a few types. Among them, the modern and popular two ones are propane or gas garage heaters and electric garage heaters. If you have a garage heater then you must need to change its parts, especially the ones that are available in the market. Let’s get acquainted with their anatomy.

Anatomy Or Parts of a Garage Heater

Anatomy-of-Garage-Heaters

Gas or Propane Garage Heater Parts

Blower The blower is a fan-made of simple blades. It helps circulate heat throughout the garage. Thus the heating unit becomes more efficient due to its action. Coupling Adapter The coupling adapter or coupling is a pipe or tube of small length. Its basic function is to join two pipes or tubes. The joining is done by welding, soldering or brazing. Garage Heater Vent Kit The vent kit is a vent pipe mechanism that consists of concentric vents. This allows both the air for the intake of the combustion chamber and the exhaust air to pass out. This is nothing but the modern alternative of the standard two-pipe vent mechanism. Gas Connector Gas connector is a pair of small cylindrical sections. It is used to get the gas from gas hose piping to the heater unit. Gas Full Flow Plug It is also known as male flow plug. Gas full flow plugs have control over the flow of the gas. It may be replaced with excess flow plug. Gas Heater Key Gas heater key, similar to valve key or bleed key, is used to turn the heater unit gas line on. It contains an end with a square hole. The other end is flat to hold and rotate the key. Heater Base These heater bases are built to support the garage heaters to stand on. They are simply known as floor legs of heaters. Hose & Regulator Kit The hose carries the gas to the heating device to flame it up. Regulator helps provide a regulated supply. Overall, the kit produces an airtight passage right from grill to tank. LP Adapter This is an adapter to use with gas grills or grill users. LP Cylinder Adapter This adapter possesses an acme end and another end for output. A hose is connected with the output while the acme portion is connected to the main connection on the tank. LP Cylinder Y Adapter This kind of adapter connects two LPG regulator hose pipes to a single bottle of propane. Such dual hose adapters are important if you need to operate another device that intakes propane too. Two units may be fed also. LP Excess Flow Regulator This regulator valve closes as soon as the fluid discharge in the hose or piping system becomes excessive. Thus it protects the tank, piping system and the cylinder. LP Fill Plug Fill plugs allow filling the tank, especially when gas mate 2 is in place. This is a quick-connect coupling kit. LP Fuel Filter This part of a gas garage heater prevents the fluid from being stagnant inside the hose pipe. This is used when a hose is attached with heaters and a cylinder larger than 1 lb is used. LP Gas Gauge This is a gas gauge to provide safety. It has got an acme nut, acme thread and female P.O.L. An analog meter helps get the propane flow in LP Regulator Many argue that a regulator is the heart of propane gas systems. Why not? They control the flow of fluid as well as lower the pressure of the gas while entering the heater unit. LP Hose Assembly This is a whole package kit. It includes a regulator with quick connects, POL connection that enables direct connection with your propane tank. Usually, there is acme and female connector ends. LP Hose Elbow This is an adapter that allows sharp turns possible that are required in the path connecting the hose and the garage heater. They may be hollow sections of tee (T) type or just a bend of 90 degrees. LP Low-Pressure Regulator Low-pressure regulators guide the propane flow under regulated pressure. There’s a bulky regulator knob attached to it to ensure the most control of it. LP Nut & Pigtail It is a specialized nut that comes with a great help while refilling propane cylinders. Often it is characterized by soft nose POL fro restricted flow. LP Refill Adapter This is yet another adapter that allows one to refill disposable propane cylinders. Its key feature is that it is user-friendly to individuals. Male Pipe Fitting Pipe fittings are often termed as couplings or couplers. It is basically a short pipe fitting having male elements on both the ends. Usually, they consist of FIP thread at both the terminals. Propane Grill End Fitting This fitting is a coupling nut with acme knob and male pipe thread. Its most common use is on propane or gas grills with some type 1 system. Quick Connect Male Plug This plug fitting is important since it helps you enable an additional feature to the gas flow process. You can connect or disconnect the heating unit with the gas flow. It consists of a male NPT and a full flow male plug at the two ends. Replacement Thermocouple This is a safety component. The thermocouple lets control valve operate by checking whether the pilot light is burning or not. The tip-over switch that it contains detects if any angle is unsafe and quickly shuts off the flow of gas.

Electric Garage Heater Parts:

Power Adapter A power adapter, most commonly known as AC to DC adapter allows you to run your fan off with the regular power supply at your wall outlets. This is an electric device containing the bulky body and long wire out. Knobs Several knobs of an electric garage heater often wither as they are subject to regular use. Hence knobs needed to be replaced. They are available in the market too.  Fan Delay Switches Fan delay switches are time-delay circuits that extend the operating period for the fans to, ultimately, ensure proper healing. This helps attain good heating efficiently. Thermostats It’s a simple device that allows the heating unit to turn on or off at certain temperature. This device regulates the temperature automatically and helps keep the temperature of the surroundings at a certain level. Heating Elements Heating elements are nothing but coils of conductors or simply metal coils. They convert the supplied electrical energy into heat. Upon the passage of current through then they produce heat. Heating elements are the heart of an electric garage heater.  Fan Blades Fan blades are what their names reveal. They are blades of the fan that blows out the heat produces the heating elements.  Thermal Cutouts Thermal cutouts or thermal cutoffs are safety devices in an electric heater. Their function is interrupting the current flow and thereby stopping the heating process as soon as the surroundings reach a specified temperature. Motors The fans in an electric garage heater may become dysfunctional if the motor that rotates it goes out. The motor is a device that intakes electrical energy to rotate rotary parts, here blower fan.

Conclusion

Knowing about the components the garage heaters are made of is kinda must. Whether they be mechanical or electric, all parts do have a factor associated with each: aging. So, understand the anatomy of garage heaters and keep your garage heater fit and working.

I'm Joost Nusselder, the founder of Tools Doctor, content marketer, and dad. I love trying out new equipment, and together with my team I've been creating in-depth blog articles since 2016 to help loyal readers with tools & crafting tips.