# heating a garage/workshop



## euge07 (Jan 15, 2011)

Hi

I am nearing the last few stages of my newbuild and I am looking into heating options for my garage

Off the top of my head I think it is approx 11Metres x 10Metres

The cavity walls are all insulted with the pellets, the electric doors are not insulated,

There is a loft upstairs in it which is all open space at present so I could see it losing heat that way,

I am not keen on a space heater so what other options would there be that would be cost efficient?

Edit- Might be worth noting that the my boiler is in the garage


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## Bero (Mar 9, 2008)

This is what I'm planning for my garage....well two of them. I guess you could put in radiators, but may have to be careful of freezing? Your boiler may have an anti freeze feature, but the radiators will not.

Insulating the walls and not insulating the ceiling (and less so the doors) is nearly as bad as having no insulation at all.


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## kvn618 (Feb 11, 2010)

the most cost effective way will be sticking couple radiators in and plumbing them to your boiler


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## kvn618 (Feb 11, 2010)

Bero said:


> This is what I'm planning for my garage....well two of them. I guess you could put in radiators, but may have to be careful of freezing? Your boiler may have an anti freeze feature, but the radiators will not.
> 
> Insulating the walls and not insulating the ceiling (and less so the doors) is nearly as bad as having no insulation at all.


Combine 6kw...26amps.... make sure your electrics can handle it.... Also £0.70 every hour, will be expensive in the long run


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## Bero (Mar 9, 2008)

kvn618 said:


> Combine 6kw...26amps.... make sure your electrics can handle it.... Also £0.70 every hour, will be expensive in the long run


Yip, 1.5sqmm dedicated cable each.

Costs is fine for ad-hoc usage. Cheaper that a space heater and a nice installed look. 70p/hr is assuming they're on full blast constantly, with some decent insulation they should only be on a a % of the time. If it's insulated 1/2 decent even 3kw would be enough to raise the temperature 10degC in my 94M^3 garage which would be more than enough to take the edge off even on the harshest winter.


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## JJ_ (Oct 26, 2005)

Some electric heaters would do the job just fine, in my old garage I had a 3000W electric heater - but we did have kingspan everywhere and an insulated door.


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## euge07 (Jan 15, 2011)

I will be insulating the loft and it will be turned into a decent room but wont be right away!

Also regarding the electric heaters, I would imagine I would only be using the garage for hobby use, few hours during the week and say 4 hours on a saturday, 

the reason I didn't like the space heaters was I would be afriad of them blowing dust if there was any onto a car you would be working on, and also you would need proper ventilation for them


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## JJ_ (Oct 26, 2005)

euge07 said:


> I will be insulating the loft and it will be turned into a decent room but wont be right away!
> 
> Also regarding the electric heaters, I would imagine I would only be using the garage for hobby use, few hours during the week and say 4 hours on a saturday,
> 
> the reason I didn't like the space heaters was I would be afriad of them blowing dust if there was any onto a car you would be working on, and also you would need proper ventilation for them


I used to use something like this in my old hobby garage http://www.key.co.uk/en/key/3kw-con...gclid=CNik0puNmskCFYqRGwod7XQMAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds

I popped it on about 1 hour or so before I went out and it was up to temperature, it then went down to 1kw.

The most important thing for me was using a convector as the heat was instant, no noise and no extra light coming from it such as infrared or halogen.


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## euge07 (Jan 15, 2011)

JJ_ said:


> I used to use something like this in my old hobby garage http://www.key.co.uk/en/key/3kw-con...gclid=CNik0puNmskCFYqRGwod7XQMAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds
> 
> I popped it on about 1 hour or so before I went out and it was up to temperature, it then went down to 1kw.
> 
> The most important thing for me was using a convector as the heat was instant, no noise and no extra light coming from it such as infrared or halogen.


For the size of my garage I would probably need a few of those? was it hard to run?


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## JJ_ (Oct 26, 2005)

euge07 said:


> For the size of my garage I would probably need a few of those? was it hard to run?


I'd possibly start with two. The heaters aren't very quick so I got away from them quite easily :lol:


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## Rock Lobster (Aug 19, 2013)

I'm looking at the same sort of thing with my garage and have picked up a small dehumifier to help with keeping the garage dry, which is supposed to make it easier to keep warm. I used to use a propane space heater but they produce a lot of moisture and I was getting a lot of condensation, I will most likely try an electric heater and see how it goes.


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## euge07 (Jan 15, 2011)

JJ_ said:


> I'd possibly start with two. The heaters aren't very quick so I got away from them quite easily :lol:


haha very good:thumb: Hard to know if I would be better off with a few electric heaters, or a few oil rads piped into the boiler


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## JJ_ (Oct 26, 2005)

euge07 said:


> haha very good:thumb: Hard to know if I would be better off with a few electric heaters, or a few oil rads piped into the boiler


I know, you could get them to tie you over before you bite into the central heating.

John


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## Peirre (Jun 29, 2015)

How about using a compact oil fed drip heater?
You can burn old engine oil as fuel, keeping costs down


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## James_R (Jun 28, 2007)

A dehumidifier would be well worth investing in, not only because you can move it anywhere else in the house if needed.

I've got the Meaco DD8L from Morethanpolish.com
Its great in the conservatory and I occasionally leave it one in the garage when I've waxed or sealed to avoid condensation overnight.

Bear in mind very humid or damp air requires something like twice the energy to heat than dehumidified air.

With the DD8L you get warm air out of the top (+12C warmer than incoming air)


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## Rock Lobster (Aug 19, 2013)

That's the one I picked from airconcentre, but the junior version for about 150 notes, perfect compact little unit and working wonders in the house so far. The dessicant ones are the ones to go for as they work down to 1degC, they can also be wall mounted and can drain continously through a tube, ideal for a garage.


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## euge07 (Jan 15, 2011)

see now would be a good time to decide on the oil rad as the plumber is currently busy with my house doing the second fix


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## markcaughey (Apr 3, 2015)

Jacket and a hat ! thats what i have settled for. 

My garage is roughly the same size maybe a little bigger, it has open loft and non insulated roller door. it was just working out too expensive for me to properly insulate and heat the place. I have two large rocket heaters which I'm planning on selling as they make little to know difference and caused outrageous condensation 

I will keep an eye on this post though for some ideas


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## euge07 (Jan 15, 2011)

markcaughey said:


> Jacket and a hat ! thats what i have settled for.
> 
> My garage is roughly the same size maybe a little bigger, it has open loft and non insulated roller door. it was just working out too expensive for me to properly insulate and heat the place. I have two large rocket heaters which I'm planning on selling as they make little to know difference and caused outrageous condensation
> 
> I will keep an eye on this post though for some ideas


Did you try any electric heaters? I Would just be looking it warmed up enough to take the chill off and that if i was polishing and waxing a car that the paint wouldnt be too cold to work on


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## paul.cherry (Aug 4, 2008)

This is what i'm using in my garage at the mo. Slightly smaller than yours but takes the "nip" out of the air

http://www.sealey.co.uk/PLPageBuild...rogroup=1167&analysiscode=&requiredresults=16


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## euge07 (Jan 15, 2011)

paul.cherry said:


> This is what i'm using in my garage at the mo. Slightly smaller than yours but takes the "nip" out of the air
> 
> http://www.sealey.co.uk/PLPageBuild...rogroup=1167&analysiscode=&requiredresults=16


Any problems with it blowing dust etc? Is it expensive to run?


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## Bero (Mar 9, 2008)

euge07 said:


> Any problems with it blowing dust etc? Is it expensive to run?


What tariff are you on? :lol::lol:

An earlier poster said it would be appx £0.70 p/h for 6kw, so this heater would be 1/2 of that (assuming it stays on 100% of the time and does not cycle on and off once up to temp).


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## paul.cherry (Aug 4, 2008)

euge07 said:


> Any problems with it blowing dust etc? Is it expensive to run?


I usually just switch on & leave it running in the corner when i'm in the garage. Have no issues with dust blowing but then i do try & sweep up & keep as tidy as i can, when i can. Dust depends a lot on your floor surface too (have mine epoxy sealed). Honestly haven't checked cost of running but haven't noticed any "big" hikes. Being electric it doesn't create any condensation or fumes either which is a plus


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## JCoxy (Dec 21, 2011)

Propane space heater


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## realist (May 11, 2011)

If you have kitchen type units in there what about a couple of kick space heaters, run off your boiler but with built in fan to spread the heat around a bit better than a radiator and not using up wallspace:thumb:


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## 47p2 (Jun 17, 2007)

euge07 said:


> ...Edit- Might be worth noting that the my boiler is in the garage


It's going to cost a fortune to keep the garage hot, but to take the chill off the air you should add a couple of radiators to the boiler but only if the boiler has the extra capacity. Space heaters are great for a quick heat-up but they spew out gallons of condensation, electric heaters are expensive to run.


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## big ant (Mar 31, 2015)

me and my father in law made a wood burner out of old calor gas bottles for his old workshop, a bit caveman but was extremely cosy.


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## stangalang (Nov 27, 2009)

Have a look at tecnik wood burning stoves. They are much better quality than a lot of whats around and way cheaper. Very efficient too, kind of like a rocket stove burning off gasses and smoke


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## carrera2s (Jun 28, 2009)

Electrical tubular heaters most use same electricity as a 60 watt lamp. Silent and no fumes. You can have them on a timer to come on a couple of hours before you need them. Also fit against the wall on brackets so no floor space taken up.Also you can plug them into a socket no problem.


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## Darlofan (Nov 24, 2010)

I have a small fan heater from Dunelm like this http://www.dunelm.com/product/flat-fan-heater-1000054163?searchTerm=heater

Heats my single concrete garage with no insulation and an old asbestos type roof quite nicely. I pop it on and within 10 mins I have no need for jacket on. Couple of those I would think would do you fine if only as you say hobby stuff. Plug in too so you could put on a timer just to take the chill out of garage.


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