Outside workshop

robfosters

robfosters

robfosters

Caporegime
Joined
1 Dec 2010
Posts
53,721
Location
Welling, London
My boat building hobby is taking over my house. It's ridiculous. Trust me, to build large scale models takes more than a desk, a craft knife and a pot of glue.

I'm considering buying a workshop for the bottom of my garden, but does anyone please know what the best and most economical way to heat it would be so that it would be comfortable to work in, in the winter?
 
Yes.

Never had any issues with it,never burnt down the workshop in 10 years, did considered bottle gas, but too expensive, as was electric.

I use to burn sawdust, wood, coal and wood shavings, was rated about 4-5kw.
 
Last edited:
Depends on size of shed, my 14' shed, probably 30- 40 minutes, I could stoke it up with coal & close it down & it would go for quite a few hours.

I am building a 14' workshop here soon, also been considering heating options, thinking about multi fuel, or wood burning stove, or even a small gravity feed solid fuel central heating boiler,like Trianco or similar, & a couple of radiators, they use anthracite grains or beans, fill the hopper & it will run for 12 hours or more before refilling, but they are rare now.
 
Last edited:
robfosters said:
what the best and most economical way to heat it
Click to expand...
Not just a function of the heater, but also the insulation value of the shed.
A wooden structure with say 50/100mm of Kingspan in the wall is going to heat up quickly and retain that heat for longer. You may find an electric fan heater is capable of keeping the room warm but only if the space is well sealed.

A 4-5Kw heater is capable of heating a large space but they are a bit expensive unless you get lucky on eBay, plus the double skinned stainless steel flue pipe is about £100/m new (you can't just run single skin through a wooden roof, they get very hot)

You may be able to find one made from a old gas tank and you could run a flue up the outside of the shed, which would be cheaper.
I like the idea of a wood stove, but I'm not sure the economics work out compared to better insulation.
 
Been looking at all my options, a Halogen Quartz Heater is the way to go.
You can get them with a adjustable thermostat & some with a remote control

Depending on size you can easily heat an area of up to 25m² (269ft²), & cost about 12p per kW hour to run,or less depending on your heater & tariff.
If I mount one in the eaves or the gable end in my workshop, I can cover the whole workshop with just one heater.

Something like this.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-5kW-Wal...Patio_Covers_Heating&var=&hash=item4d10144f8d

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Firefly-Mounted-Heater-Thermostat-Control/dp/B00DJ62RLM

http://www.primrose.co.uk/firefly-18kw-wall-mounted-quartz-heater-with-power-settings-p-52405.html
 
Last edited:
They sound great. A normal heater would be useless for me as I need to keep the doors open to let the dust out.
 
Mark A said:
They sound great. A normal heater would be useless for me as I need to keep the doors open to let the dust out.
Click to expand...

Haven't you got a dust extractor.:D

Mine use to live in a little lean to, attached to my workshop.

**********************************

4T5: Wood burning stove was epic, was great for doing toast.
 
Last edited:
Just a cheap shop vac, but the air still gets full of fine dust. With that being a patio heater and not working by heating the air, it seems to be perfect. Bit expensive to buy, but worth it if they work.
 
Nightglow said:
Been looking at all my options, a Halogen Quartz Heater is the way to go.
Click to expand...
Heh, my Gran had one of those over the bath (H&S would have a fit! :D), I didn't realise they were that expensive though :eek:

I seem to remember that the advantage was being mostly IR it didn't heat up the air, but just the object you point it at.

edit: oh duh, that's what the ebay advert says too, sorry :o
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom