Quick answer
Garage heater pricing depends on three things: the heater type — a gas unit heater versus a low-intensity infrared tube heater — whether gas and power already reach the garage, and how the exhaust gets out. A detached garage with no gas service is a far bigger job than an attached one with the meter on the same wall. We quote the heater and the gas line separately.
A garage heater costs whatever the surrounding work costs. The heater itself is the predictable part; the price of a garage heater installed swings on whether gas and power already reach the space, how the exhaust gets out through the wall, and whether the garage is attached to the house or standing on its own at the back of the lot. We quote the heater, the venting and the gas line as separate lines so you can see which one is driving the number.
Two kinds of heater, two different installs
A gas unit heater is the usual choice: a compact box hung in a ceiling corner, blowing warm air across the space, power-vented out through a side wall. It heats air, so it warms up quickly and gives that heat back just as quickly every time the overhead door goes up.
A low-intensity infrared tube heater is the alternative. It runs a long burner tube along the ceiling and warms objects — the slab, the car, the workbench — instead of the air. In a garage where the door opens all day, or a deep detached shop, it holds comfort far better. It costs more, needs more ceiling length and more clearance to combustibles, and it is the right answer more often than people expect.
What drives the price of a garage heater install
- Gas — is there a line, and can the meter carry another appliance? An attached garage is a short run; a detached one means trenching and sleeving from the house. Gas line installation costs covers that half of the job.
- Electrical — the fan and controls need a circuit, and detached garages on older Aldershot and Ancaster lots often have one lighting circuit and nothing else.
- Venting — a power-vented unit terminates through a side wall, and that termination has to clear windows, doors, the property line and the overhead door path.
- Sizing — output is set by heat loss, not by floor area alone: insulation, the door seal and ceiling height. An uninsulated block garage on a bare slab needs far more heat than the same footprint with a foamed ceiling and a weather-stripped door.
- Mounting height and clearances — a heater above a car lift or a loaded storage rack has to keep its rated clearance to combustibles, which sometimes forces a different model.
- Condensate — a condensing unit heater makes water, and in a space that goes cold when the heater is off, that drain has to be routed so it cannot freeze.
The cheapest install is an attached garage with the meter on the shared wall, a spare breaker in the panel and a clear side wall for the vent — a unit heater hung, piped and vented in a day. The dearest is a detached shop at the back of an Ancaster lot: a trenched and sleeved gas run, a new sub-panel, a tube heater that needs the length of the ceiling, and a meter upgrade request to Enbridge before any of it starts.
The carbon monoxide rule people forget
Ontario law requires a working carbon monoxide alarm adjacent to sleeping areas in any home with a fuel-burning appliance or an attached garage. Putting a gas burner on the other side of the house wall is the moment to check that the alarms are present and not past their expiry date — the Ontario CO alarm law sets out where they belong.
Two more safety items belong on any honest quote: CSA B149.1 requires the burner and ignition source to sit at least 450 mm (18 in.) above a floor where vehicles are parked, and the exhaust must not terminate into a window well or tight under a soffit. Both are checked before the unit goes up, not after.
When electric or a mini-split makes more sense
If there is no gas at the garage and no easy route to get it there, price a ductless mini-split before you price trenching. A single-zone system installs for $4,000–$7,000, heats and cools, needs no venting and no gas piping, and runs from a dedicated circuit. For a detached garage used as a shop or a gym rather than for parking, that is often the cheaper total project.
For occasional use — an hour of work on a Saturday afternoon — a small electric heater on an adequate circuit is honest advice, and we will give it rather than sell a gas install you do not need.
Common questions about garage heater cost
- Can I heat the garage from the house furnace? No — the Building Code does not allow the house duct system to serve a garage, because exhaust fumes would have a path into the living space, and the furnace is not sized for the load anyway.
- How warm will it hold? Whatever you set — a garage is usually kept around 10 °C to keep the car and the slab dry, and bumped up while you are working out there.
- Does it need a permit? A new gas-fired heating appliance normally goes through the municipal building department, and a new circuit adds an ESA electrical inspection on top of the TSSA gas work. We tell you which apply and pull what is needed before quoting.
- Can you install a heater I already bought? Yes, if it is certified for Canada and suited to the space.
- Does insulating first change the quote? Yes, usually downward. Insulating the ceiling and weather-stripping the door before sizing the heater is money well spent.
ZK Mechanical installs gas unit heaters and infrared tube heaters across Burlington, Oakville, Ancaster and Hamilton. See garage heater installation. Call (647) 801-1252 or book a site visit.