Workshop heating

[MMUK]

Whilst on the subject of heating, someone mentioned oil filled radiators....
Are they expensive to run?
Can they heat a single garage within a reasonable time?
I'm moving soon and into a single garage (the workshop not me and the family)
I will be insulating the garage door and possibly the roof if cheap enough.

I've seen that the rads are pretty cheap, would a 1kw be sufficient?
I have no knowledge of heating and what the figures represent in terms of heat output.
Can anyone put it into plain English for me.

I'm not looking to be wandering around in budgie smugglers but enough that I can glue without it losing effectiveness.

Sorry if I'm hijacking but it seems to be heading towards an argument anyway.

My workshop (temporary) is the same size as a single garage, about 17' x 10'. I've membraned the walls and floor, studded out with 2x2 and insulated with polystyrene. The doors I made from 4x2 CLS with 3/4" marine ply outer skin and 3/8" OSB inner skin. These are also insulated with polystyrene. The roof is a double layer of 3/4" marine ply and felted. I've skinned the ceiling with some old laminate flooring and the void is insulated with 100mm polystyrene.

I use a 1kW oil filled radiator with an external control unit that uses a platinum resistance thermometer. This way I can keep a stable temperature and I don't have to rely on a bi-metallic strip. The PRT is mounted about six feet away from the radiator at head height. I find that even on frosty mornings the workshop only takes about 15 minutes to get from near zero to a comfortable 15-18 degrees.

 

[carlb40]

Whilst on the subject of heating, someone mentioned oil filled radiators....
Are they expensive to run?
Can they heat a single garage within a reasonable time?
I'm moving soon and into a single garage (the workshop not me and the family)
I will be insulating the garage door and possibly the roof if cheap enough.

I've seen that the rads are pretty cheap, would a 1kw be sufficient?
I have no knowledge of heating and what the figures represent in terms of heat output.
Can anyone put it into plain English for me.

I'm not looking to be wandering around in budgie smugglers but enough that I can glue without it losing effectiveness.

Sorry if I'm hijacking but it seems to be heading towards an argument anyway.

I have an oil filled rad ( panel type) not sure of the wattage size. During my last box build last winter it took nearly 3/4 day to heat my workshop - 3.5mtr x 2.4 mtr. I then bought a convector heater from screwfix
http://www.screwfix.com/p/convector-hea ... 240v/76380

With it on its lowest setting it will warm my workshop up in less than 15 min - even when it was below zero last year. I have it on a timer to come on for 1hr 3 times a day. That for me is more than enough to keep things dry/ warm and workable for glues / finishes etc
The newer oil rads may be better, mine is about 15yrs old lol

 

[MMUK]

The newer oil rads may be better, mine is about 15yrs old lol

Interesting. Mine's about 25 years old, a Dimplex.

Have you ever changed the oil in it? Over time the oil thickens into a sludge and doesn't heat up as quickly. May be worth changing it in yours. I just used Tesco Value motor oil in mine, it's about the right viscosity :mrgreen:

 

[carlb40]

The newer oil rads may be better, mine is about 15yrs old lol

Interesting. Mine's about 25 years old, a Dimplex.

Have you ever changed the oil in it? Over time the oil thickens into a sludge and doesn't heat up as quickly. May be worth changing it in yours. I just used Tesco Value motor oil in mine, it's about the right viscosity :mrgreen:

Didn't realise they had to be serviced. Wonder if i could book it in at halfords :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[MMUK]

The newer oil rads may be better, mine is about 15yrs old lol

Interesting. Mine's about 25 years old, a Dimplex.

Have you ever changed the oil in it? Over time the oil thickens into a sludge and doesn't heat up as quickly. May be worth changing it in yours. I just used Tesco Value motor oil in mine, it's about the right viscosity :mrgreen:

Didn't realise they had to be serviced. Wonder if i could book it in at halfords :lol: :lol: :lol:

There's no specific service routine for them, mine just happened to start leaking so I had to drain it so I could re-weld the bottom seam. It was only then I noticed that the oil had started to coagulate.

 

[John Brown]

Hasn't this been discussed before?
How can one electrical heating method be more efficient than another(apart from better temperature control)?
How does any inefficiency manifest itself, other than as heat?
If an oil-filled radiator continues to give out heat after it's turned off, that surely must be compensated for at the other end of the cycle, i.e. when you are pumping electricty into it to warm it up in the first place.
If that were not the case then we'd all have out own generating plants driven by flywheels.

 

[Tony Spear]

If that were not the case then we'd all have out own generating plants driven by flywheels.

Now that's a thought! Bicycle, DC Generator, Inverter, just need a slave to do the pedalling! :mrgreen:

 

[jimi43]

Early on in my use of the workshop I bought an IR heater from B&Q because it was cheap.

I found that to get it to heat me up at all I had to stand right in front of it and then I toasted on one side and was still cold on the other.

I then bought a new small oil filled radiator and leave it on low all the time and it serves many purposes...

1) It keeps the workshop frost free

2) It's dry so it reduces condensation on tools

3) It can be set higher if I'm in need of a warmer workshop but I find that if I do any work I end up taking jumpers off not on. Planing particularly is enough to keep you warm.

4) On low it doesn't appear to have affected the electricity bill much although I haven't done any scientific tests on the cost.

I recently invested in one of those super blaster thingies from Machine Mart...(3KW Honeywell) because it was on special offer..about £70...mostly for use whilst building my observatory but I tried it in the workshop and it's brilliant. I set the thermostat and it's hardly ever on but it moves a huge amount of air and the workshop heats up really quickly. The oil radiator then maintains that heat.

Avoid any gas type device..it produces water.

Jim

 

[John Brown]

If that were not the case then we'd all have out own generating plants driven by flywheels.

Now that's a thought! Bicycle, DC Generator, Inverter, just need a slave to do the pedalling! :mrgreen:

You can now buy pedal-powered generators for charging phones and the like. It hammers home the reality of just how profligate we are with energy when you read that it takes[hyperbole alert] about a day's worth of pedalling to send a text message from your iPhone[/hyperbole alert].

Having had a house full of young people over Christmas, it seems to me that smartphones are simply the modern Tamagotchi. Feed them or they die, wherever you looked there would be a couple of phones jostling to suckle at the teat of the ring main. Young people(that means under 40) never bring their chargers with them, of course.

 

[Graham Orm]

A rocket stove is the only way to go, runs on workshop waste, generates masses of heat produces virtually zero emissions. This is mine during the development stage last year http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI_n6Nr_LsU

 

[John Brown]

A rocket stove is the only way to go, runs on workshop waste, generates masses of heat produces virtually zero emissions. This is mine during the development stage last year http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI_n6Nr_LsU

That's fascinating. Amazing the non-wood-related stuff one learns here!
Although I suppose it is wood-related really

 

[gmgmgm]

Any electric heater will be equally efficient in heating an enclosed space (generally speaking).

Electric oil-filled radiators are great for maintaining a stable background temperature (though will take time to bring a cold room up to temperature).
Electric fan heaters are great for quickly heating a space (and some can then maintain the temperature).
Electric IR heaters are great for making you feel warm in a large space (ie heating specific objects).

For me, I use a fan heater because it is so flexible.