Garage heater

Author
Discussion

85Carrera

Original Poster:

3,503 posts

236 months

Wednesday 12th October 2016
quotequote all
I've got a triple garage which is currently unheated. I'm going to be spending a bit of time in there this winter building a Caterham and doing bits and bobs on the other cars, so am looking for a heater.

Does anyone have any recommendations for one which would heat (or at least take the chill off) that sort of space?

Edited by 85Carrera on Wednesday 12th October 17:37

Peanut Gallery

2,418 posts

109 months

Wednesday 12th October 2016
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Random shout out for a small gas blower heater. Small ones start at about 10kw, whereas an electric one would stop at about 3kw.

If well insulated, then electric might work, but gas would warm the place up nice and fast.

Good luck on your build!

kambites

67,460 posts

220 months

Wednesday 12th October 2016
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Be aware that anything which burns hydrocarbons (like a gas heater) will push a lot of moisture into the air. However, electrically heating a space that big will be pretty expensive. I've got 3 three kw fan heaters in my garage, so over a pound an hour to run them, and it only just copes in the winter.

normalbloke

7,401 posts

218 months

Wednesday 12th October 2016
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Old Merc

3,486 posts

166 months

Sunday 16th October 2016
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I've spent the last 50 years in workshops of various types and sizes,I now work in comfort just for pleasure.Firstly if it's possible have it insulated and draught free.Then have a heater that is silent and does not give off any fumes.
Lets face it all you need is the chill taken out of the air and not having to work with stone cold spanners.

smn159

12,445 posts

216 months

Sunday 16th October 2016
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Take the chill off you say?


Old Merc

3,486 posts

166 months

Tuesday 18th October 2016
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Now that looks very nice and warm,but a bit dangerous in a car workshop.

That brings back memories of my time with my own business.We had a big heater that ran on waste oil,when it was up and running it was great and of course cost nothing to run.
Trouble was getting it going,oily rag and some thinners,light a match and stand back,woosh !!,it smoked and stunk like an old tug boat for a while,if the Health and Safety guy had seen that he would have had me locked up.

blueST

4,378 posts

215 months

Sunday 23rd October 2016
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I've got 3kw fan heater which is adequate, but melts cheap plug sockets (see my other thread) and probably costs a fortune to run. My Dad had a propane heater in his garage, chucks out loads of heat but leaves everything dripping in condensation.

S6OOH

1,068 posts

256 months

Sunday 30th October 2016
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Many garages are getting rid of waste oil heaters as the council have decide they need licences so seen quite a few on ebay recently. If you have access to waste oil they are a great heater

S0 What

3,358 posts

171 months

Sunday 30th October 2016
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S6OOH said:
Many garages are getting rid of waste oil heaters as the council have decide they need licences so seen quite a few on ebay recently. If you have access to waste oil they are a great heater
I've been told that a lot of medern waist oil heaters are duel fuel, running on diesel avoids the need for a licence, of course what you run it on when no-ones looking is up to you ?
Personly i find insulation more important than the heater, the better the insulation the smaller the heater needs to be, it's no good pumping out 30KW of heat if 20 escapes immediatly.

phillpot

17,105 posts

182 months

Sunday 30th October 2016
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Old Merc said:
That brings back memories of my time with my own business.We had a big heater that ran on waste oil,when it was up and running it was great and of course cost nothing to run.
A Salamandar ? Real quality heating equipment wink



GreenV8S

30,149 posts

283 months

Sunday 30th October 2016
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Alternative school of thought: don't heat the garage - heat the toolbox.

Wombat3

11,962 posts

205 months

Monday 31st October 2016
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Four options (I think!)

1) Electric (i.e. fan heaters or oil filled radiators) - cheap to buy, expensive to run

2) Electric ceramic/infra-red. This heats objects, not the atmosphere. Still not cheap to run either.

3) Gas space heater running on bottled gas - condensation issues & requires ventilation.

4) Gas wall heater on bottled gas (eg something like a Baxi Braxilia) Not especially powerful (around 2Kw) , not cheap to buy either but operates on a balanced flue through the wall so should be no condensation issues.



Old Merc

3,486 posts

166 months

Monday 31st October 2016
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S6OOH said:
Many garages are getting rid of waste oil heaters as the council have decide they need licences so seen quite a few on ebay recently. If you have access to waste oil they are a great heater
It's just another "Tax con". They say waste oil heaters are environmentally unfriendly so they need a licence?
Apply for a licence,pay the fee then its OK to use them.

rswift

1,179 posts

174 months

Monday 31st October 2016
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I've got a few old gas heaters, left over from my parents closed down garden centre (used for greenhouses) not sure how they work, what they are but they ran off the big red Calor bottles....you can have them for scrap value, whatever that is....but were all working a year ago....downside they would need collecting from NG16, I don't live anywhere near, and they look very heavy !

There's a fair old selection...big and small....this sort of thing.


Old Merc

3,486 posts

166 months

Monday 31st October 2016
quotequote all
Old Merc said:
It's just another "Tax con". They say waste oil heaters are environmentally unfriendly so they need a licence?
Apply for a licence,pay the fee then its OK to use them.
May be not? I`ve been checking up and came across this, http://garagewire.co.uk/news/garages-face-dilemma-...

Looks as if I retired at the right time.We used a waste oil burner,similar to the one shown in this article,for 22 yrs.No need of a licence then.Looks as if most garages will be forced to scrap their heaters now.
I understand all this and have to go along with it.Trouble is garages will now have to store waste oil,probably have to get a licence to store hazardous waste? A large tanker will regularly remove the waste oil,another licence would be required? then it would have to be disposed of or recycled,another licence?

hedgefinder

3,418 posts

169 months

Monday 31st October 2016
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if its connected to the house why not just t off a couple of heating pipes in the house and run them into the garage and put a few radiators in there connected to the C/H ?
I have left 2 tails in my garage with this intention... if it ever actually gets finished..... ( started my 1st extention 13 years ago... rolleyes)

85Carrera

Original Poster:

3,503 posts

236 months

Tuesday 1st November 2016
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Thanks for the replies.

Insulation is not too bad so will go for an electric heater of some description as I don't want loads of condensation and only want to take the edge off.

Hedgehopper

1,537 posts

243 months

Monday 21st November 2016
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For your own comfort heating of some sort is the way to go. For preservation of the car heat won't help but a dehumidier will. That's what I bought first.

AndyS2

869 posts

257 months

Monday 21st November 2016
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I've got one of these in a double garage and it's brilliant

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/little-devil-propa...

It's quite noisey, but you only need it on for about 10-15mins and the place is toasty!