Cold workshop.

[A10 JWO]

My brick built garage is getting colder in my old age. I have a greenhouse heater which takes the chill off but is not ideal. Looking for ideas for safety and economy to keep my spanners warm. Thank you.

[Greybeard]

Is your garage adjacent to the house? Do you have hot water radiators in the house? If the answer to both is yes, what about teeing into the central heating system?

[lawnmowerman]

An electric fan heater is probably the easiest but most expensive option. Next is a paraffin heater but I would not like naked flames in the workshop.
When I replaced my oil fired central heating (no mains gas where I live) I kept the old rads and fitted them in the garage / workshop. They run on a seperate zone to the house and I fitted a frost stat in the garage set to zero. When I am working in the garage I turn it up to 10 C.
It is not a problem unless your garage is a long way from the house as you can run the pipes underground and use "zero loss" lagging. Mine is only 4 ft from the house so I went overhead and lagged and boxed it in.

Jim

[Greybeard]

In our conservatory I fitted an electric radiator. It has a remote thermostat/programmer. The construction of the rad is lightweight so may not be ideal for a workshop. It just runs off the ring main.

[Simon59]

Aldi are selling an electric fan heater suitable for garages this week - price £25. I've just bought one and it kept me toasty whilst working on the bike last night!

[RDfella]

How big is the garage? Is it single brick? Do you have access to most of the walls inside? If yes to the last two, I'd start by lining the interior (and roof) with thermal board. It'll help and if you then later use an electric heater it'll be way more efficient.
Had a pal once with an outside ex-chickenhouse workshop. Earth floor and all that. He used a small petrol heater, using petrol filtered from his parts washing bowl for fuel.

[Black Sheep]

Avoid paraffin or gas heaters - they produce loads of condensation as well as being a trifle unwise amongst flammable items. An electric fan heater pointed at your toolbox (oh err) warms up the spanners nicely.

[Nourish]

I use in my workshop a dehumidifier, not only does it keep my machinery from rusting it keeps the temperature up to a comfortable level. These are though somewhat dearer than an Aldi heater

[RoyC]

I use in my workshop a dehumidifier, not only does it keep my machinery from rusting it keeps the temperature up to a comfortable level.

What do they cost to run ?

[Rex]

More than a cup of hot tea and two jumpers, that's for sure...

[olev]

just move your shed to central Australia.
cheers

[RogerSB]

What about something like these:-

https://www.screwfix.com/c/heating-plumbing/oil-filled-radiators/cat7230008?cm_sp=managedredirect-_-hvac-_-oilfilledrads

Other makes available in lots of different outlets. I use to have one in my garage. It was really good and lasted for years but eventually it packed up and every winter I've been meaning to replace it.

[Greybeard]

I think Homebase/Bunnings are selling small oil-filled radiators for less than £20

[A10 JWO]

Thanks for replies once again. Regards..

[terryg]

A dehumidifier would have to be one of the dessicant types, not refrigerant, or it will freeze up when the temp is below a few degrees C.

We run a couple in carcoons in our garages.  Ecoair is the make, I think.

If you don't want to be emptying the tank every few days there are many that allow piping the water to a convenient drain point outside.

For a few pounds more a digital temp and humidity display is also useful.  It helps to see what the dehumidifier is achieving if there's no humidity display on the unit itself.

For speedy heating when work has to be done I find a small fan heater to be just the thing.  Cheap ones from Argos have worked for me.  But, as noted above, insulation is hard to beat when it comes to keeping running costs down.