23 replies to this topic

[rally1380]

Hi All.

 

My garage has been Baltic recently and it's just not warm enough to be in there for any length of time.....I'm sure most folk in the UK will agree.

 

I realise it gets colder elsewhere and that people do cope.....so please don't reply with....."It's -20 here and i'm working in shorts and a T shirt".

 

 

What do people use to keep their workshops warm....or at least sensible enough temperature wise to work on their projects??

 

I'm not wanting to plug in a load of 240v heaters that will see my electricity meter whirring round like a spinning top.....I would like to see clever and cheap and dare I say it..... environmentally sound (is that not a contradiction maybe?) ways of staying warm.......

 

Cheers

[Steve220]

I used to have one of these

 

 

Until I was literally sweating my balls off in the garage. I've now got a cheap argos blow heater and seems to work nicely!

[panky]

I know a guy whose building a waste oil burner. Gets rid of all you old oil so free fuel and can be made to burn cleanly. Quite a project but if your handy with fabrication well worth it. Have a look on you tube

[Steve220]

I know a guy whose building a waste oil burner. Gets rid of all you old oil so free fuel and can be made to burn cleanly. Quite a project but if your handy with fabrication well worth it. Have a look on you tube

 

That sounds like a great idea, if it indeed works!! My only concern then would be proper ventilation.

Edited by Steve220, 18 December 2017 - 10:11 AM.

[Cookiez]

Gas bottle wood burner

Water jacket feeding a gravity fed radiator

[pete l]

It works, but i think there is a law about it, i don't think it's legal !

[pete l]

Gas bottle wood burner

Water jacket feeding a gravity fed radiator

 

Yes, using the wasted heat that goes up the chimney

[r3k1355]

Log burner or similar.

 

[Pistonbroke66]

I 've got one of these

 

https://www.machinem...ctric-fan-heat/

 

probably not the cheapest but it does the job without having to bugger about with gas bottles and the like. Also a rubber floor covering helps.

[rally1380]

I 've got one of these

 

https://www.machinem...ctric-fan-heat/

 

probably not the cheapest but it does the job without having to bugger about with gas bottles and the like. Also a rubber floor covering helps.

 

 

Good call on the rubber (hence insulated if its more like foam) floor......I will look into that.

 

 

That heater you linked in....how much electric does it take to run something like that?  I don't mind the cost of the actual thing itself, but i'm not keen on throwing money away to our energy provider....the wife does that by having heating on full blast and lights all on in the house!!!!!!

[28hodge]

 

I 've got one of these

 

https://www.machinem...ctric-fan-heat/

 

probably not the cheapest but it does the job without having to bugger about with gas bottles and the like. Also a rubber floor covering helps.

 

 

Good call on the rubber (hence insulated if its more like foam) floor......I will look into that.

 

 

That heater you linked in....how much electric does it take to run something like that?  I don't mind the cost of the actual thing itself, but i'm not keen on throwing money away to our energy provider....the wife does that by having heating on full blast and lights all on in the house!!!!!!

 

Don't know if its possible/feasable, but if the garage is attached to the house can you run a flow and return into the house central heating system, then get a 2nd hand rad off ebay, even if you don't want to do the connection yourself, im sure you could run all the pipework yourself and then just get a plumber for a couple hours to connect it in. so wouldn't cost you much.

 

10mm will be big enough to run a single rad put a stop valve in somewhere convenient to the connection if you want as they it is easily removable. If the heating is on already then the additional cost of a single rad will be negligible. 

[Homersimpson]

I know a guy whose building a waste oil burner. Gets rid of all you old oil so free fuel and can be made to burn cleanly. Quite a project but if your handy with fabrication well worth it. Have a look on you tube

A mate of mine runs one of these in his professional workshop, its really good but it uses around 5 gallons a day which is quote some oil to obtain, especially as your only supposed to burn your own arisings.

 

He also has to have a licence for it from the local authority.

[Cookiez]

 

Gas bottle wood burner

Water jacket feeding a gravity fed radiator

 

Yes, using the wasted heat that goes up the chimney

 

 

I have put a baffle in the wood burner and used some old storage heater fire bricks above to keep a bit of heat in the burner

the baffle also helps with the smoke

[r3k1355]

 

I 've got one of these

 

https://www.machinem...ctric-fan-heat/

 

probably not the cheapest but it does the job without having to bugger about with gas bottles and the like. Also a rubber floor covering helps.

 

 

Good call on the rubber (hence insulated if its more like foam) floor......I will look into that.

 

 

That heater you linked in....how much electric does it take to run something like that?  I don't mind the cost of the actual thing itself, but i'm not keen on throwing money away to our energy provider....the wife does that by having heating on full blast and lights all on in the house!!!!!!

 

 

Listing says it's a 3kW max heater with adjustable power settings.

So depending on your tariff you might pay around 35-40p/hour or so to run it at fell belt

[Pistonbroke66]

 

I 've got one of these

 

https://www.machinem...ctric-fan-heat/

 

probably not the cheapest but it does the job without having to bugger about with gas bottles and the like. Also a rubber floor covering helps.

 

 

Good call on the rubber (hence insulated if its more like foam) floor......I will look into that.

 

 

That heater you linked in....how much electric does it take to run something like that?  I don't mind the cost of the actual thing itself, but i'm not keen on throwing money away to our energy provider....the wife does that by having heating on full blast and lights all on in the house!!!!!!

 

 

Its not noticably making a dint in the bill (got wife and kids for that!!)

 

as regards the rubber matting, check ebay out for horse/stable matting. Its anything between 8 and 16 mm although 12 was my preferred option. Its durable clearly as it can take the weight of a horse and the wee and whatnot the comes with it!!

Also because its not sold specifically as a 'motoring' product its about a quarter of the price. I looked at flooring at race retro last year and got a price of £2300. I bought the horse stuff for around £520 delivered. You can cut it to size but stock up on stanley blades or a professional carpet fitters knife as it will pay you back in spades. This man speaks from bitter experience!