Heating a workshop.

[Chris DentonParticipant @chrisdenton53037]

[Chris DentonParticipant @chrisdenton53037]

Preformed concrete panels with asbestos roof, gaps between wall and corrugated roof etc.

What is the best way to heat this? I can't seal the holes etc as there is too much junk in the way, I'll hopefully do it in the summer!

I believe my choices are convection heater or a fan heater.

Thanks.

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Reduce the volume being heated to half or less with a plastic sheet wall. Get a pastic sheet tied to the beams to define a sealed ceiling to stop the hot ear escaping.

Fan heater is better than convector as the latter starts by heating the roof while the former can be directed at whichever bit of you is feeling cold.

[NJHParticipant @njh]

Chris

You have a big task here – I used to have a garage, just like yours, and it leaked heat like a sieve! I did improve matters a bit by making an "insulated capsule" within the garage which made it a bit better. I already had a concrete partition in the garage and I lined this with plasterboard and added loft insulation between the board and the panels. I also put in a plasterboard ceiling with insulation over. This helped a bit but it was still pretty unfriendly in the winter. I have since moved and have a block built double garage now. I did a similar insulation task in this which makes it easier to heat. The problem is though that if you let it get cold and then add lots of heat you will get condensation and consequent rusting. I find that constant low heat from an electric oil filled radiator just keeps the temperature high enough above the dew point to avoid condensation then I just add extra heat if I'm going to work out there. My "extra" heating source is a convector heater as, whilst I accept Bazyle's point, I find it more pleasant than a fan heater.

Norman

[MM57Participant @mm57]

Sort of related to heating…if I wanted to run a dehumidifier in my insulated but unheated and, this weather, largely unoccupied, workshop for just 12 hrs per day via a (multi-periods per day possible) timer, what time period(s) would you suggest?

The choice of 12 hrs per day is pretty arbitrary – just doing the KWh cost sums shows that 24 hrs per day is a bit on the costly side. Dessicant dehumidifier spec'd to work from 1C to 40C and it pulls about 2 litres of water out per 24 hours at the moment (need to close up the gaps round the door methinks) and provides a small heating effect and uses 360W – Ecoair DD122FW Classic Mk5 if anyone's interested.

[ChrisHParticipant @chrish]

I'm running a dehumidifier continually at the moment as whilst I was away the autumn rains caused the wooden door and frame to swell – after a week the door has already shrunk nearly 2mm with the action of the dehumidifier, so well pleased! The walls, being thick mud and stone walls ½ a metre or so thick also absorb water a bit so the dehumidifier helps in that respect too. When I put the dehumidifier on timed, when I am happy with the workshop dryness, I have it on during the night as I think it helps take the edge off the cold as the temp drops overnight! Well, that's my theory anyway!

For heating, I have two little Dimplex 500W heaters which I leave on continually on a frost-stat setting. When I'm in the workshop either I light a small wood burner stove running on charcoal, or just recently, wound the two Dimplex heaters up and run a fan heater my daughter gave me (as she wanted me to be warm whilst playing!). The electric heaters this past week have very quickly got my little 2.5 x 3.7m shed up to 65 deg.F which is getting to be too warm when working, so I have to turn the fan heater down quite a bit but I like it cozy!

Chris – preoccupied with turning some hardish cast iron and now realising I'm doing it all wrong! Carbide tools ordered.

Edited By ChrisH on 11/12/2014 19:34:17

[Alan RawlinsParticipant @alanrawlins60482]

My garage, now my workshop is fairly well insulated, the only draughts you might say were those coming in thro' the garage up and over door. I used door draught excluder to seal most of these. As the garage is built on the end of the bungalow I ran some central heating pipes from the bungalow to the garage to a 2m radiator. So when the bungalow heating is on so is the garage heating. When it is very cold and the radiator has only taken the chill off the air, I light up an electric gas blower for about 10 to 15 minutes. This soon gets it warmed up and it is only the smallest heater I could buy, about £110. If it cools down I set it off again for 5miutes or so. I bought the large red bottle of propane and one bottle lasts me about 18 months.

[Chris DentonParticipant @chrisdenton53037]

Thanks for the replies. I tried a convector heater earlier and it didn't really do anything. I'll buy a replacement fan heater and put it on the floor to warm my legs as that's what goes numb first!

[Farmer DaveParticipant @farmerdave]

I've just bought a 2kw Stanley workshop heater from screwfix its a blower heater with thermostatic control,not very noisy, it doesn't seam to get very hot but it quickly raises the temperature in my 8ft x 8ft shed. I am very pleased with it.

Regards farmer dave

[Michael Smith 22Participant @michaelsmith22]

My workshop is also an area in the end of a concrete walled/corrugated cement fibre roofed garage, but lined and partitioned off. I have insulated the space between the metal rafters with 50mm polystyrene – available from builders merchants in 8'x4' sheets and may put some more on the top if necessary. The floor and walls are 3/4" chipboard acquired free many years ago – very important to insulate the floor as the concrete gets very cold and I have old carpet over it for more comfortable standing. The triangular eave spaces are closed with proprietary eave filler also available from builders merchants (looks like a very large scale toothed rack!) which just tucks in on top of the wall. The chipboard make a nice firm level base for the lathe as well. Background heat is from a 55w tubular oil heater (which cost about £20) left on all the time and so far this winter the temperature has not fallen below 4 degrees C overnight. When in the workshop I have an old radiant bathroom heater (but have had to cover the ceiling poly above it with litho plate to stop it melting! 60w and 100w lightbulbs, if still available, are also a great source of heat as well as light when using the place. I have got some expanding foam to squirt between the chipboard and concrete walls one of these days when I have got hold of one of those "round tuit" jobbies! Needless to say the machinery is left all snug under its covers when not in use.

[pgk pgkParticipant @pgkpgk17461]

When i first bought this farm I was over moon by a huge brick barn but keeping it dry enough to avoid rust is impossible. I ran a diesel space heater in there at 25KW equiv and wsn't able to wamr a corne enough to work in and feel my hands on a cold winter day and obviously running it long term would be mad on cost. My expensive rc helis corroded their bolts – fortunately the rest is carbon fibre and alloy.

The new hobby shed is lined with 4in of celcon walls and ceiling and skinned inside with ply and has a midsized wood burner – toasty to the point of having to open windows on the coldest day. The celcon isn't cheap but then nor are good toys and tools..

[Chris DentonParticipant @chrisdenton53037]

Posted by Farmer Dave on 11/12/2014 21:53:54:

I've just bought a 2kw Stanley workshop heater from screwfix its a blower heater with thermostatic control,not very noisy, it doesn't seam to get very hot but it quickly raises the temperature in my 8ft x 8ft shed. I am very pleased with it.

Regards farmer dave

I've seen those at Screwfix and wondered what the difference is! Surely a 2KW fan heater is the same as any 2KW fan heater, although that one looks like is designed to take a lot of knocks.

I'll probably go for the £11.99 one at Argos! Or treat myself and buy two.

[UJ NewtonParticipant @ujnewton33659]

I will soon have a newishbrick garage to use and am going to line as much as I can afford(about half of it) with cellotex..Floor included..For heat I m going to buy a cheapish solid fuel stove and put a heat powrred fan on top..Exactly as I have on my narrowboat but for the thickness of the cellotex/sorayfoam 2 inch thick on the boat but that is expensive!

[JonParticipant @jon]

For little outlay try the interlocking chip boards on battons. Cuts noise down and make s a big difference lining the walls.

Roof that's just 1/4" ply on to rafters. Recent years has loft insulation and now floor board on top .

Concrete floor spent decades being cold as it travels up your bones. Two years ago bought 3M of the thin ribbed rubber matting which needs replacing since it don't like coolant. Best thing ever did.

Ceiling first will reap best rewards followed by cold coming through floor. Couple that with the efficient oil filled massive radiators on thermostat and calorgas fire.
Seen how much fan heaters cost to run, scary.
As above partition off unneeded space and hang up some decorators sheeting especially over garage up and over door. 20 mins will be quite warm when white over outside.

[Bob Brown 1Participant @bobbrown1]

Before we moved I had a standard single brick detached garage which had no insulation and single glazed window and up and over single skin metal door. I heated the space with a fan heater but due to the heat loss could not get the space very warm on cold frosty days. If I was going to stay put I would have insulated with Celotex or similar and the cost of heating or at least the electricity bill did take a hit.

I have almost completed the new workshop/garage and that is cavity wall with insulation in the walls and at roof level. Tried a fan heater in there yesterday and the place warmed up nicely with a fan heater on the lower setting which I did as I was lining the walls with plaster board to make painting the walls easier, a bit of heat to get it dry quicker.

Once I get the other wall done I will be hanging a radiator on the wall off the bungalows central heating system with it's own controls.

A concrete garage without insulation is going to be difficult to heat but if you need to wait till the summer before you can do anything about insulation I would suggest you could reduce the draughts with a tin of building foam filling them from the outside.

Bob

[UJ NewtonParticipant @ujnewton33659]

cant put a kettle on a fan heater.Well just once perhaps!

[Farmer DaveParticipant @farmerdave]

Chris its a workshop heater not for a bedroom or kitchen and not nearly as noisy as these domestic ones . By the way I'm a Scot and don't like spending more than I need

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

something for the Christmas list.

You don't need to put a dehumidifier on a timer, just get one with a humidistat and it will turn itself down as needed. However you must make the effort to stop draughts or you are just trying to dry out the whole northern hemisphere. Get a proper one with a compressor, not the <£100 that just use a semiconductor plate.

[ManofkentParticipant @manofkent]

I'm with Farmer Dave on this. I tried a cheap 2kw fan heater for a while and was cold. Then I bought the Screwfix workshop heater 2kw. It is quieter, has a "black" heater element and is much warmer.

Money well spent in my opinion.

[john fletcher 1Participant @johnfletcher1]

A KW is the same no matter where it comes from. 10 X 100 watt bulbs = 1 KW. Some fan heaters maybe quieter running but 2KW is the same. 22 years ago I responded to an advert in the local evening paper an Ebac dehumidifier for sale and it been running in my wooden workshop every winter since. They switch on and off as and when necessary and don't use much energy. I have a recording wattmeter and have checked it quite a few times and I think it excellent and would recommend it/them to anyone. I don't need to cover up the lathe or mill at the end of a working day. It is important to ensure that the building is well sealed up otherwise you are trying to improve the world. Before buying the manufactured dehumidifier, I made one from an old fridge using the ice box and an ex computer fan, it worked but was bulky. Several years ago there was an article in ME regarding making your own dehumidifier. Those people with damp houses should ventilate better especially bathrooms and buy a dehumidifier.Ted

[Roger Williams 2Participant @rogerwilliams2]

UJ Newton, could you outline your method on installing a woodburner in your garage please. I would like to install one in mine , but am a bit unsure about the chimney ,ie, out through wall and then up or straight up through roof !!!. Oh , and would I need permission or just plead for forgiveness ?. Cheers.

[Gordon WParticipant @gordonw]

Woodburner stove- Chimney can be straight up thru' the roof or thru' wall with bend. The roof is often easier, so long as you can seal the hole well. Any bends must slope down, you get a lot of tar and condensate if the stove is set on low. You must be able to clean the flue. Make sure there is no chance of fire, keep at least 12" clear from flammable stuff. Don't know about planning, where I live I could build a power station and no-one would know. If you need more info' just ask,- I've installed a lot in all sorts of places. I use a fan heater in workshop, just to get the tools warm enough to touch, soon warms up when working. A infra-red heater on the wall is good for keeping my back warm and reasonable cost to run. My wife said I could build a bench in her office ! Just for clean jobs tho' no welding or grinding. I'm getting worried, she was making cakes last week.

[Bob Brown 1Participant @bobbrown1]

If fitting a wood burner and you live in a smoke control area you may need to fit one that complies to the regulations.

[dave greenhamParticipant @davegreenham19379]

Hi Chris.

Che k you're inbox.

Dave

[UJ NewtonParticipant @ujnewton33659]

dave..I m not Chris and there is nothing in my inbox!

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