Questions and Answers for Modine Hot Dawg 60,000 BTU Natural Gas Garage Ceiling Heater

A:  There is no universal consistent relationship between square footage of floor space or volume and how much heating capacity you need to install. As I am sure you can envision the same structure if located in Alaska is going to need a lot more capacity than it would if located in Florida. The proper way to size heating is to do a heat loss calculation. There are many free programs on line that will do this for you. I use the Slant Fin heat loss calculator, which I have on my phone. It is free download available at the apple or droid ap store. Basically you enter room sizes, window sizes, construction type, geographic location, etc. and the program will calculate how much heat the structure will lose on the coldest hour of the coldest day of the typical year. Selecting the capacity that is matched to the actual load you will get the longest and most efficient run times. Garages are the one place I frequently deviate from the heat loss. Because people often keep their garages cool but then want to heat them up fast to either do a project or melt snow off a car I will often install extra capacity. This allows them raise the temp on a cold winter day in a reasonable period of time. For example I live in Massachusetts and my heat loss called for 30,000 BTU’s of capacity. However I installed the 75,000 BTU unit. I keep my garage at 45 F and with this unit I am able to get it up to comfortable temperature in a reasonable period of time. If I consistently maintained a higher temperature in my garage I probably would not have installed so much extra capacity.

A:  The exhaust from these units need to be vented to the outdoors in accordance to the installation instructions as well as code. It you scroll down the Home Depot product listing page you will come to as section labeled “Additional Resources”. There you will find PDF’s of product documents. If you open the one entitled Use and Care Manual you will find that venting requirements begin on page 6. This unit has an input of 60,000 BTU’s and has a heat exchanger designed to extract 80% of the heat from the flue gas. So the output would is 48000 BTU’s per hour. (60000 X .80= 48000)

A:  You could use any 24 volt thermostat you want; a Nest low voltage thermostat included. This unit has a very simple 24 volt control strategy. Think of it this way. You will have two wires that come form the unit. When the switch/thermostat closes it is as if those to wires are connected completing the circuit. This will cause the unit to come on. When the thermostat opens, it is as if the two wires have been decoupled. This will open the circuit and the unit will shut off. Smart thermostats such, as those produced by Nest, have all sorts of intelligent features built in to them. Some work independently of the appliance they control and some work only if the appliance has been manufactured to work in conjunction with these functions. I mention this because I have interacted with a number of customers that assume that by utilizing a smart thermostat the appliance becomes imputed with these features. That is not the case. So for example if you are utilizing this thermostat because you want it to be WIFI enabled it will be. But if you are considering it because it is capable of controlling multiple stage operation, you will not. Using a multiple stage thermostat does not make the appliance have a feature not built into it.

A:  I do this for a living and I was confused the first time I installed one of these. The manual is worded poorly, in my opinion. First you need to understand that B-vent is a manufacturing standard but every manufacture that produces Type B venting has their own unique system. Meaning you can’t use manufacture A’s B-Vent with manufacture C’s B vent products. You need to stay with the same company for all you B vent pipe and fittings. All furnace manufactures make their exhaust outlet a unique size. They do not choose one manufacturers size to match because then they are showing a preference and would take on the liability of the venting material. I kid you not as I asked a Modine person when I was going through what you are now. So what you will find is each B-Vent manufacturer will make a transition fitting unique to them. One side will be adjustable so you can attach it to the exhaust outlet of the unit heater, and the other side will have that manufactures B Vent connection, I hope this helps. No furnace goes directly to B-Vent. You will always begin with this adapter. I would suggest you go back to the place where you got you B-vent and ask for one. Chris 978 651-3301. That is my office line. I am working late on a Saturday night but am I am going home. I will be back in the office on Monday.

A:  The outside ventilation kit is NOT included with the heater. Do a search for "Z-Vent rigid" on the HD website to find easy to install venting (alternate source would be supply house dot com). Be sure to purchase the Z-Vent Modine Hot Dawg Adapter, that is designed to connect the heater to the rest of the venting. Confirm correct sizing for your model (3" for up to 60,000 BTU natural gas), and for what you need to conform to local codes.

A:  Modine does not produce venting material. In most areas code allows you to vent these with type B venting which is inexpensive and available in most locals.

A:  no, duravent makes one that is designed for a pellet stove that should work Model # AC-3000

A:  Think so. The noise is not excessive. Great product. Been very happy with the purchase!

A:  Under the header “info and guides” on the Home Depot product listing page you will find a pdf of the installation instructions. If you open it to page 16 you will find the blower curve for each of the units. You will find that the larger unit does have a higher cfm rating. However if you open brochure re you will find the decibel ratings. The HD60 actually has a higher DB rating at 59 than the HD75 which is 58 db. By comparison that is roughly the sound of an electric tooth brush.

A:  No, this model does not have a fresh air intake .

A:  This version of the Hot Dawg like most boilers and furnaces pulls combustion air from area around it. Modine does offer a version of the Hot Dawg that is sealed combustion; meaning it pulls combustion air from outside the structure. Many people intuitively think they need that version because they are in a garage. In reality you typically use sealed combustion when the building is so tight that there is inadequate make up air. Garages are just not that tight. The only job I have ever been involved with where it had to be sealed combustion was in a garage. The requirement was not based on flammable vapors but based on the fact that they painted antique cars and needed to prevent any dust that might mess up the painting process.

A:  The answer to that question is somewhat subjective. I can envision a situation where this unit could be used in a cabin or even in a New York City loft and the person would be very happy. But I can also anticipate that others would find it very noisy and way to industrial looking. So the answer is really dependent on the nature of the cabin and of course the code in that area. But let me get back to the noise issue. These units have a propeller style fan that blows air across the heat exchanger. The fan is not there to blow the air around the building but to get the heat of the unit so that it does not over heat. That type of fan is used because it is simple and dependable. In residential furnaces they use a squirrel cage blower. These produce less sound and have the power to push air through duct work. So if this is typical living space you may want to look at something like that. Further you may want to look at product from a company called Williams Comfort Products. Home Depot sells that as well. They produce the types of heaters that where in the cabins I stayed in as a boy. In fact they still make units that can work with out electricity. Hope this helped.

A:  just depends on the owner, ceiling height, it hangs down from ceiling a couple of feet, some folks would be okay with it, some folks might think it looks a little industrial for a "cabin"