heaters (radiant electric, wall mounted) for workshop

[Curlew]

Has anyone got experience of wall mounted radiant electric heaters for use in workshops? First of all the reason for not wanting to use convector or blower heaters is that they heat the air and if the workshop is not insulated the heat goes through the walls. Radiant heating heats the person, not the air, and so can be used in an uninsulated workshop. My garage is not insulated and I expect to move, so there is no point in going to the expense of insulating it. Halogen heaters give a strong bright orange light which I'd prefer to avoid. Panel radiant heaters are very expensive. Quartz heaters seem to be good but the only one I've seen online appears to be unreliable. Another point would be airborne wood dust settling on the elements, a fire hazard. Is there any answer?

 

[cutting42]

Has anyone got experience of wall mounted radiant electric heaters for use in workshops? First of all the reason for not wanting to use convector or blower heaters is that they heat the air and if the workshop is not insulated the heat goes through the walls. Radiant heating heats the person, not the air, and so can be used in an uninsulated workshop. My garage is not insulated and I expect to move, so there is no point in going to the expense of insulating it. Halogen heaters give a strong bright orange light which I'd prefer to avoid. Panel radiant heaters are very expensive. Quartz heaters seem to be good but the only one I've seen online appears to be unreliable. Another point would be airborne wood dust settling on the elements, a fire hazard. Is there any answer?

I have a Dimplex 1000w Coldwatcher. More to leave on the lowest settingand keep temps above freezing in the workshop. When I am working I turn it up and it gets a nice temp going. However, no matter how good the heater if you are not insulated you will lose the heat rapidly.

http://www.screwfix.com/p/dimplex-coldw ... 000w/67096

 

[HappyHacker]

Have a look at http://www.dimplex.co.uk/products/comme ... lained.htm which gives a good explanation of radiant heating. If the workshop is not insulated the heat will get lost anyway. Radiant heaters heat the objects, including you, rather than the air and the warm objects then heat the air. One problem with radiant heaters in a workshop is that you can end up with cold feet if it is mounted high up or a cold top if it is low down also as you move away from the heater its effect decreases quite rapidly.

I have yet to heat my workshop as like yours it is not insulated and I am having difficulty trying to work out the most effective way of doing it. A fan heater does work quite well however and I can move it around and point it to where I am working also I am reluctant to give up wall space to a heater. I have installed the normal bar type heater in a customers garage above a small bench just to keep the bench area warm but cold feet did apply in this case.

 

[olddogsleeping]

I use a quartz bulb heater, this one;
https://www.primrose.co.uk/firefly-...2405.html?cPath=1299_1300_10433&src=list_name

last year before my garage was insulated, you really had to be standing in front of it to feel the warmth, and it was hopeless at heating the space.

Since I've insulated , it's great, the whole workshop is toasty in no time.

 

[Curlew]

Thanks fellows! useful links. As made clear I am not insulating the garage, so of course any heat will go right out, which is why i only want to use radiant heat to heat myself, and not the air. It would be impossible to heat and would cost a fortune. olddogsleeping your link led to a good explanation of the different bulb types and it's clear that short wave is what is needed, either ruby red halogen bulbs or clear halogen bulbs. but I don't see any ruby red types on their site. the bright light from clear halogen tubes is a problem, they would otherwise have been suitable. Happyhacker your point about cold feet is good, I suffer from them!
For those like happyhacker who are interested in insulating (and I'm all in favour of insulation but will be moving house) I think a good approach is a layer of polystyrene on concrete floor with 25mm woodfibre board lining the walls and ceiling, all butted to the polystyrene on the floor, so there is a continuous envelope of insulation with no gaps. You then put your flooring chipboard on top of the poly and the woodfibre walls are all ready for a basic finish, no plasterboarding required. With this treatment you can use convection heat, or blowers, or a radiator, and your heat will stay in the workshop quite well.

 

[Bodgers]

I don't have any insulation yet in my single car garage (5.1m x 2.7m) workshop and a 2kw oil filled radiator just doesn't cut it in anyway whatsoever.

I am going to put flooring down, fit insulated plasterboard and insulate the roof in spring. I am looking at a infrared panel backed up by the use of a convection heater for that initial 15 mins to get it up to temp.



Sent from my MI 3W using Tapatalk

 

[Curlew]

Ruby red halogen heater 1.3kW here: http://www.mgdonline.co.uk/products/hea ... heater.php
I hope this will solve the problem of the uninsulated garage. Probably need 2 of them pointing at me from opposite sides. Not cheap but much cheaper than insulating the garage in this case.

 

[Steve Maskery]

If you want to heat just yourself, you can get an electric shirt. No idea what they are called, but they use a rechargeable battery. There was a thingy on Radio 4 about them last winter. They reckoned they were great.