My dream is finally coming together here! A well insulated small kennel/office area in combination with a garage.

There will be no gullitine doors where heat might escape and the actual area I want to heat is only 13' x 24' with 10' ceiling. Am thinking / considering a propane type heater, any experiences and/or suggestions appreciated. TIA!!


*** we live in W Maine where the Winters can be long and pretty chilly!

Glad to hear your getting a new kennel area! Always exciting!
I have seen pellet stoves used a lot. I would worry about propane myself, but that's just me.
I actually don't heat my kennel and we do live in a very cold climate - NY State.
I boxed in all my crates with plywood on the top and sides and they are up against a wall in the back.
Then I draped huge blankets over the fronts at night. It worked wonderfully and believe it or not, the kennel stayed pretty darn warm - it's about the size of yours.
I felt better about letting them outside to play having their bodies used to the temperature already, rather than going from a warm kennel to a very cold outside
And the coats, just WOW!!!

I have an overhead Radiant Heater , that is in my building . I don't keep it real warm, just enough to keep the buckets from freezing , but still allowing the dogs to get their lovely winter coats. It is fueled by propane, we have 1000gal tank. We live in a very windy, rural area in NW Ohio and winter is brutal here.

Well I'm a big suck because I try to keep my kennel at room temperature whenever there are dogs in there. We have used pellet stoves, woodstoves, electric baseboards, and electric construction heaters. By far I would say the electric construction heater is the best. It is a 4500 watt electric heater with a powerful fan that blows hot air around the building (12'x38') No worry about a fire going out, no worry about running out of propane, etc. The cost is reasonable at about $50.00 a month - and we get VERY cold winters here.

That has been my experience with trying to heat a kennel.

NW Ohio here, also. We have a wall-mounted electric heater that puts out heat at the floor level. We set the thermostat just high enough to keep the dogs' water from freezing, but it's still funny to look out at the kennel and see the dogs' noses poking out beneath their swing doors while their butts are toasty indoors! (It does run up the electric bill in REALLY cold weather, though)

We will be building our new kennel that is attached to my husbands shop and we will be running in floor heating throughout. you can set up different zones so the dogs can have it a bit cooler or warmer that the rest of the building. We will be using an outside wood burning heater to heat the coils in the cement. Anybody have this type in their kennels and would care to share the good, bad and the ugly of this type of setup?

TIA Diane

Radiant heat! Since your insulated and you're talking propane then radiant is the way to go. It only heats the objects in a room, not the air. It's mounted in the ceiling, clean, quiet, cheaper than electric. My ceilings are 14' so I'm not sure about 10'.

shalane, is your building insulated?

Yes it has blown insulation , and is wrapped in "housewrap" too ! The Radiant Heater does not use forced air, it heats the objects in the building, it's a different kind of heat. Pictures on my website.

BIG THANKS for all the input here and privately!!!

will consider all and make a decision before the chill sets in here.

Today the carpenters finished the roof AND added my weathervane such fun to see all this project coming together, sometimes the wait is worth it in life!!

Naughty old woman that I am, it was "nice" that a cpl of the young men finally took off their shirts this afternoon, they find me sneaking around with my camera quite amusing!!

If you don't have your cement poured in your building yet, consider putting visqueen down before you have it poured, your cement will always be dry inside. A lot of cement contractors will do it for you but you have to ask.

Oooh, ooh, oooh -- I vote for radiant heat. Keeps puppies warm & cozy. You can put it right under the flooring you will be installing. It is fairly economical, too.

I have a propane heater in my kennel building, which is approximately 24'x24' with 8' ceilings. I have a reverse flow propane heater. It keeps my kennel very well considering it is a brick building with no insulation. Even on the coldest night the temperature has never gone below 60 degrees. By the way, I saw the exact same unit on the Martha Stewart show and she uses hers in her chicken house. If you need more info from me email me privately and I can give you the name model etc.

I don't have that problem, puppies are all whelped and kept in the house - wouldn't have it any other way

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Oooh, ooh, oooh -- I vote for radiant heat. Keeps puppies warm & cozy. You can put it right under the flooring you will be installing. It is fairly economical, too.

We are still in the process of finishing our kennel off, we considered radiant heat, but hubby decided not to. He purchased a propane heater with 2 settings low and high, I think the high is set for 50 degrees. He liked it becuse it has an oxygen sensor that will shut it down if there is any issue. Pups are all born in the house too. We just purchased a washing Machine so that I can do kennel laundry over there too.

Congratulations a new kennel is good news.

Are you going to share those pictures of the "nice" young men that kindly removed their shirts?

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BIG THANKS for all the input here and privately!!!

will consider all and make a decision before the chill sets in here.

Today the carpenters finished the roof AND added my weathervane such fun to see all this project coming together, sometimes the wait is worth it in life!!

Naughty old woman that I am, it was "nice" that a cpl of the young men finally took off their shirts this afternoon, they find me sneaking around with my camera quite amusing!!

Bev, we just built one in NH. Used hot water heat with oil; delivers most BTU. Insulate like crazy, use R50 ceilings and walls. Lower the ceilings; hot air rises. We put in floor radiant, but could have gone with a Modine heater and saved big bucks. Don't worry about guillotine doors, if you spend on insulation you will be fine.Put on overhangs on the outside, keeps inside cool and the elements off the dogs.Check out our website.

I would love to check out pictures of your set up on your website too... but I don't see a website address posted.

It's Minefalls Labs - go to the Wiscoy links - it is in there under "M". Very nice kennel!