winter's drawing and the weather's on the turn

any suggestions on a heater for the garage? needed for keeping me warm, warming anything i touch, and using to help paint dry when i've been spraying

was thinking about an infra red heater mouted on the garage roof, but they only heat solid objects don't they? seems the best idea to me, but they don't heat the air do they? so if i get too hot and turn it off, its instantly cold, right?

not keen on gas heaters in the garage, and electric fan heaters cost too much to run

any better suggestions than infra red?

Move to a warmer climate for winter

wear a jumper and stand on cardboard in true locost stylie

oil drum and a lighter, might need to keep the doors open

one of these, think i may have one kicking around unit ill take a look on sunday will let you know if interested


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Originally posted by tomgregory2000
oil drum and a lighter, might need to keep the doors open

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I'm interested in the heater if you don't take it.. I am a southern jessy who doesn't like the cold!

Dave B

Cheers guys, but i'm looking at something electric really. not keen on the fumes from fuels being used in enclosed spaces.

Fan heater may be the most expensive, but it's also the most efficient way of electrically heating a space to make it feel comfortable, quickly.

I've tried everything, and in the end have found that nothing works as well as a fan heater. Oil filled radiators are OKish, but they are not so good at getting the heat where you want it, andin the end cost just as much to run (bar what the fan itself uses)

John

I blagged a bloody great woodburner from a pub, fits in the corner nicely, -2 and it's Tshirt time, i'll try and dig out a photo

If you've got any metal around (machinery, and so on) don't get a gas or paraffin heater - they put moisture in the air, which later on condenses onto cold metal surfaces... and causes rust.

I've heard of people who have wood burners in their garage (the closed-in stove type). Sounds good, but they take a while to warm up and also require cleaning out.

Damn - phil just pipped me to the wood-burning topic!

[Edited on 23/9/08 by David Jenkins]

I have a 4Kw infrared patio heater in the garage.....keeps me warm, and helps with painting, but it is really annoying having everything orange...

Usually have it on for 15 mins to warm me up, then once im moving I dont really need it...

Having said that, im not looking forward to another cold winter in the garage!

I use thermal overalls in the winter. After a few minutes moving about I am comfortable.

Locost and envioronmentally friendly

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Originally posted by Slater
I use thermal overalls in the winter. After a few minutes moving about I am comfortable.

Locost and envioronmentally friendly

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Originally posted by David Jenkins
I've heard of people who have wood burners in their garage (the closed-in stove type). Sounds good, but they take a while to warm up and also require cleaning out.
[Edited on 23/9/08 by David Jenkins]

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Is your garage internal to the house or a stand alone one?

If its a stand alone garage we re-roofed a guy at works leaky asbestos type roof by fastening battons of wood ontop of the existing roof and putting cheep insulation imbetween and then screwing a new cladded steel roof down onto the battons and just extending the weatherboards, he says it toasty warm now and best of all no leaks!

Obviousley not as cheep as the padded overalls but serves 2 very good purposes in 1 go!

A wooly hat ought to be high up on your list as well!

well, garage is stand alone, single skin brick with felt flat roof. a good solid double garage. half of one wall joins to the house. got a lot of stuff stored between the roof beams, though some sort of insulation in the empty ones might be a good idea

I'm still leaning toward IR i think. my main thing is i've got pretty bad circluation in my fingers. touch cold metal for a few minutes and my hands won't warm up fingers get pretty stiff too.

Like Tegwin says, IR heater on for a few minutes should warm me and all the stuff in the garage up for long enough to keep them touchable for a decent time. though it won't warm the air up, but thats all good.

IR heaters can be had off ebay for about £35. think that might be the way... plus a small fan heater on stand by...

this one for example

[Edited on 23/9/08 by blakep82]

Sounds daft but if cold fingers is your main problem I find two pairs of Nitrile gloves works a treat. Otherwise I find a cheap halogen heater works quite well.

I had this dilema last winter. Didn't like infared for the reasons already stated. Nearly went for a propane space heater, but worked out I'd be getting through a big gas bottle every day - hardly cheap or environmentally friendly.

In the end I bought a couple of 3Kw fan heaters for £15 each from B&Q. I point these at wherever I'm working and I'm toasty in no time.

[Edited on 24/9/08 by AdamR]

Tried all sorts....
Both the 'normally aspirated' butane/propane heaters and the fan-propelled propane jobs dumped far too much moisture in the air (I live in the South West, so too much of that anyway, everything rots and rusts before your eyes).
Wood, Coal and Oil just hasn't been practical, for one reason or another (fumes/flames/attendance/etc).
Solution has been an E7 storage heater (keeps the damp off things 24/7 beautifully), with 1kW Halogen floodlights burning on the wall either side of the car when working on it (I like lots of light).
Electricity bill is frightening, but what the hell, life isn't a rehearsal.

You say the garage is partly attached to the house.
So, if you have gas central heating, why not put a radiator in.
If you can build a car, you can handle the plumbing.
Despite increased gas prices, gas is MUCH cheaper than electric heating

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Originally posted by blakep82
well, garage is stand alone, single skin brick with felt flat roof. a good solid double garage. half of one wall joins to the house. got a lot of stuff stored between the roof beams, though some sort of insulation in the empty ones might be a good idea

I'm still leaning toward IR i think. my main thing is i've got pretty bad circluation in my fingers. touch cold metal for a few minutes and my hands won't warm up fingers get pretty stiff too.

Like Tegwin says, IR heater on for a few minutes should warm me and all the stuff in the garage up for long enough to keep them touchable for a decent time. though it won't warm the air up, but thats all good.

IR heaters can be had off ebay for about £35. think that might be the way... plus a small fan heater on stand by...

this one for example

[Edited on 23/9/08 by blakep82]

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i didn't, no... it didn't get as cold as i expected outside. until today...

I'll let you know how i get on. just out to the garage now, if i freeze my knackers off (like i did last nite) i'll probably order one tonight. as long as the IR type will heat solid objects, like me, my engine, the steel i'm working on, the chassis etc, and make them radiate heat