heaters (patio heater?)

I'm spending a lot of time in the garage and I'd like to be able to heat it whilst I work in there. I was wondering about these quartz patio heaters which are advertised as "the only heat that doesn't blow away". Are they any good? I notice they are only rated at about 1.2kW, whereas a fan heater might be 3kW. Is this because they are more efficient or would they not warm me as much as a fan heater?

I see they say they must be mounted 2.7 metres high. Is this because the higher they are the wider area they will cover? For a patio, that's fine, but who has a 2.7m high garage? Could I mount it lower?

I'm wondering if I need some frost protection in there to keep the odd tins of pint from freezing and too keep condensation off the tools to prevent rust. Would a tubular heater on a frost stat do, and if so is there a formula to calculate what size heater I'd need?

Reply to
nospam
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Reply to
Robbo

Yes this is exactly what i am thinking of but why are they only rated at just over 1kW, compared to 2 or 3 kW for other heaters? Are they more efficient?

Reply to
nospam

I think the theory is that they warm 'you' - rather than 'your surroundings' - and, as such, require less power for the same effect.

This was true at the last house where my outside 'studio' was heated by a single 1kw 'bathroom'-style radiant heater. The studio itself remained fairly cool, but people in there felt warm - all except for the toes which tended to freeze ! (concrete slab floor)

New studio will have radiant heating and a suspended chip floor on insulation !

Hope this helps Adrian

Reply to
Adrian

If 2.7 is higher than the roof, then lower would be strongly suggested! (unless you want warm roofing felt!)

The radiant heaters are good at keeping you feeling warm, but do not heat the air in the same way as conventional heating. Surfaces in line of sight of the heater will warm and then convect heat, but the absolute power input may be a bit low depending on the building size and construction. Tubular heaters may do what you want they will work best if the building is well insulated or you are just heating a tool cupboard. Something with active circulation is best for getting a room up to temperature fast. I find a small wall mounted fan heater set on low power (800W), controlled by a thermostat set at about 5 degrees C does the trick in my (reasonably well insulated) workshop.

Reply to
John Rumm

All electric heaters are almost exactly 100% efficient and all produce the same amount of heat per kW. All that changes is how you circulate the heat. Radiant heaters put more out as directional radiated heat so if the heater is pointing at you you get warmer but other parts of the workshop are colder. A convection heater would heat all parts more evenly. Radiant heaters are fine if you tend to be in one place and can point the heater at that place. If you want the whole garage temperature raised equally they are not terribly good.

The most efficient way of raising your comfort level in a cold workshop/garage is to wear thick socks and shoes with well insulated soles and, especially, a warm hat. The soles of the feet are in contact with the cold floor and conduct heat away quite well, the scalp capillaries are the only ones in the body not to constrict in the cold so far more heat is lost through head/scalp and feet than the rest of the body combined.

Reply to
Peter Parry

I'm afraid that the garage isn't well insulated; it's just a single brick wall as far as I am aware. That's why I thought of having two heaters: one for me and one for frost protection.

Reply to
nospam

Have you thought of using something like this?

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You'd have to make sure you had good ventilation, of course.

With regard to frost protection, the formula is exactly the same as that used for calculating normal heating requirements, but the numbers are different. Decide what temperature you want to maintain under what conditions - e.g. 5 degC inside when it's -5 degC outside (say) - then work out the heat losses, taking into account the U value and area of each external surface (walls, windows, doors, roof, floor). Whatever heater you put in there needs to be able to replace the heat which is going out. A greenhouse heater of a few hundres watts may well suffice, but you'll need to work it out.

Reply to
Roger Mills

"> Have you thought of using something like this?

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You'd have to make sure you had good ventilation, of course.

Radiant heat heaters heat YOU if pointed at you - not too close though, else you may combust !!

Little point in trying to maintain the whole room above ambient - it would take a load more heat input to do that without good insulation.

Nick

Reply to
Nick

Not if you consider the efficiency of the overall system (i.e. heat in you / power in). That's the aspect where the more recent long-wavelength IR heaters (flat white ceramic plates, no quartz and definitely no visible glow) have the advantage. Losses in the air are less at this wavelength, so you receive more of the heat personally.

Although I still wonder about the justification of heating an outdoor patio. Why not just burn whale oil to keep warm, or get a nice panda skin coat ?

Reply to
Andy Dingley

because it smells so bad.... swan fat is better ;-)

Reply to
John Rumm

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