Heating your Woodhaven

[CATNAP]

In the next few months I need to think about heating the garage / woodhaven.
Would like to keep the room at an average temp of 10 to 12 Celsius so its usable in winter.

Course I'm going for insulation and draught excluders to minimise heat loss.

Someone has recommend Gel heaters as they are very efficient.

Worth the money?

 

[9fingers]

Any electrical heating is 100% efficient so it is not worth forking out extra on efficiency grounds.
Something that remains safe with dust ie enclosed elements should be fine.

I use a 750 watt oil filled radiator with a thermostat as background and top up with a few minutes with a fan heater if needed. Volume of my shop is about 80 cu metres, insulated and very draught proofed.

Bob

 

[Mike G]

Any electrical heating is 100% efficient.........

Bob! Come now, we've had this before........

 

[9fingers]

Any electrical heating is 100% efficient.........

Bob! Come now, we've had this before........

Yes because it is correct.

Every kWh you pay for comes out as heat in your workshop and that is true for any electrical heater.

The generation and distribution efficiency, which may be behind your comment is irrelevant when choosing an electric heater.

Bob

 

[Mike G]

Yeah, that bit is true*. The overall efficiency, though, is less than burning your off-cuts in a woodburner.

*Near enough. We won't quibble about light from elements, and friction and sound losses etc from fan heaters.

 

[9fingers]

True. I was keen that the OP was not distracted by any specious claims about Gel heaters or other faddish schemes on the grounds of efficiency over the simple cheap electrical heating devices.

Bob

 

[Mike G]

........and I heat my workshop electrically, in an almost identical fashion to you.

 

[CATNAP]

The ones you can mount on the wall seem bloody expensive gel or not. Suppose I'm not paying for efficiency I'm paying for low profile.

 

[9fingers]

The ones you can mount on the wall seem bloody expensive gel or not. Suppose I'm not paying for efficiency I'm paying for low profile.

You can easily mount standard Dimplex oil radiators on the wall and they dont take much room.

Keep you eyes open on Freecycle and the like and you can get them for nought. It's the same for fan heaters.

I don't think I have ever bought a new electric heater!

Bob

 

[AndyP]

I use an electric convector heater, wall mounted.
Like this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2000W-POR...hash=item43b3d6f089:m:mSpuwKnobM76YzrcZt66xYg
Not liked by some because of the risk of dust ingress onto the element. I prefer this type over oil filled. My perception is that they appear to warm the air quicker. Note my perception
When needed I switch on an hour before needed and switch off well before I leave the workshop.

If you are creating a lot of unextracted airborne dust you may want to avoid.

 

[CATNAP]

I use an electric convector heater, wall mounted.
Like this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2000W-POR...hash=item43b3d6f089:m:mSpuwKnobM76YzrcZt66xYg
Not liked by some because of the risk of dust ingress onto the element. I prefer this type over oil filled. My perception is that they appear to warm the air quicker. Note my perception
When needed I switch on an hour before needed and switch off well before I leave the workshop.

If you are creating a lot of unextracted airborne dust you may want to avoid.

I'm sure that would work OK but it looks terrible. I've spent fortune on this mega shed structure so want it to look smart.

 

[Tusses]

Log burner for me

I think there could be an issue with insurance though with some companies.

Mine is not declared, so if it burns down, I'm not covered.