Workshop Heating

UKworkshop.co.uk

Help Support UKworkshop.co.uk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

OLD

Established Member
Joined
9 Aug 2004
Messages
1,395
Reaction score
0
Location
Nantwich Cheshire
My w/s is quite small 10'x10' brick and flat roof i am changing its use from general to woodwork only .I used to heat it with a portable gas heater and recently used a electrical infrared which heats me but not the shop.
My preference is not to use electricity (cable loadings)
Town gas is to far away
A woodburning stove and clearances takes up to much room
So not many options left, a bottle gas balanced flue is all i can think of but i can not find any thing suitable
Can any one come up with any ideas winter is very close
 
How close is your house? Any chance of putting a spur into your central heating system, and running pipes to a radiator?
If that's no good then I would insulate as well as you can and install a fan heater
John
 
OLD":1vokxi3e said:
i am changing its use from general to woodwork only............ .I used to heat it with a portable gas heater

Remember a byproduct of burning gas is water moisture - so using a heater will make your workshop damp = rusty tools and lots of problems with wood absorbing the moisture.

Adam
 
Old a problem close to my heart, I have tried the fan heater route but you find that you are never in the way of the heat :roll: . The best method I have found so far is to use an oil filled Radiator which has worked fine so far this year (Early Yet) I had it rigged up to a cheap thermostat seemed to work well and did not overload the circiuts.

Bean
 
I've got a cheap electric radiator in my workshop - comes with a dial you can set for temperature or for "frost" temp - if it's in a conservatory or similar.

The advantage of an oil filled electric radiator is it's unlikely to set wooddust on fire - which is a small risk of a fan heater - when dust can build up inside.

Adam
 
For what it's worth...

I insulated my workshop using 100mm rock wool insulation in the ceiling, walls and under the floor. I use a relatively low wattage oil-filled electric radiator with an integral thermostat set to low, which I leave on during the winter months, this keeps the workshop 5 to 7 degs C warmer than outside. It prevents condensation and damp as well. Most of the time that is warm enough, when I need extra heat I have a small fan heater which I run for 10 to 15 mins to start with and turn the thermostat up on the electric radiator. This setup doesn't tax the cable loading too much and keeps the place warm enough to work through the winter.

Wulf
 
It may seem like a silly response; but the best solution I've found has been to invest in a good quality pair of thermal underwear !
 
Hi All,

Oil filled radiators for me to.

A few years ago I went down the bottled gas route and was amazed at the amount of moisture the gas produced, droplets of water on all the metal surfaces, checked why on the web, found out about the gas producing moisture and quickly changed over to my present oil filled radiators.

Never looked back, controllable and very comfortable.

Regards....Mike
 
For oil filled rad users: purchase cost and running costs (presume waaay cheaper than a fan heater?).

Noel
 
Old avoid 'super ser' style bottled gas portable heaters as 1 14kg gas bottle will release approx 14 ltrs water into the air as asleitch said rusty tools and bendy wood down that route. A balanced flue heater is a much better option but make sure you keep it clean (blow down heater before use) the exposed heat exchanger will reach between 150 - 250 c in a very short time only use to warm up then turn off and allow heatexchanger to cool when creating lots of dust. Oil filled rads are cheap to buy but can be a bit expensive to run if your w/s is poorly insulated. A spur from you central heating(with isolation valves on flow and return inside your house and well insulated pipes) would be a great idea unless your w/s is a real long way from your house which can be overcome via an additional pump. Electric fan heaters are ok but not ideal. A hot water bottle in your apron will work wonders for warmth but will play havoc with your bladder :lol: I have insulated my w/s and put a heater on 1/2 hour before i go out and turn off when i start work it stays warm for a very long time i use a portable flued deisel fan heater that i blagged from a market garden centre that upgraded their heating.
 
Yes, OLD, forget gas. If I remember my chemistry correctly, every 58kg butane you burn will produce 90kg water (or 90 litres - but you knew that) not to mention the 192kg of carbon dioxide which will warm us all but not your workshop very much.

I'm lucky, my workshop is attached to the house so I just plumbed in a radiator. I don't envy you, I used to have the same problem. The good news is that a small oil-filled panel will do the job just fine and won't cost an arm and a leg to run.

Best of luck
Steve
 
We could end up having a poll here "What heating do you use" after lots of different methods I think a lot of us have come to the same conclusion.

Insulate and use an oilfiled radiator with frost stat; I too also have a fan heater for a bit of instant heat if I need it.

Keith
 
I have a dehumidifer running all the time in my shop (it's not damp, I just like to keep timber at a constant humidity) and it puts out a noticeable amount of warmth - not enough to serve as a main heat source in an outbuilding but useful in cold weather.
 
Having considered all the above posts i will go for the oil filled rad. with roof insulation.The shop is to far from the house to use its c/h system and balanced flue looks to have safety implications.
I realised that i have a spare programable thermostat to hand (long story)so i could set this up to heat the shop out side of the main electrical load period. There is also a further option to upgrade the supply cable if required at some future date.
I would like to thank every body for there input which has produced a nice tidy safe solution.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top