I have a 12x8 wooden shed that I have insulated and boarded out inside with ply. I want to keep rust from my tools and stop papers wrinkling etc over the winter months. What is the best option to achieve this? A fan heater on a stat (I have a fan heater atm) or buy one of these 'frost watcher' type heaters? Or something else entirely? What do you do ? I also dont want to run the thing un-necessarily, but i do want to achieve my goal as stated above.
A dehumidifier would achieve the same result or better. If the tools can be in a fairly enclosed space these are good:
Axminster used to do them but I can't find them now. I use them in my tool cupboards and drawers in a garage workshop and they do what it says on the tin.
I am curious about your concern over tools rusting as I have a similar size of shed (concrete floor, no dpc, 18ft by 7 by 8 high, attached to a stone cottage) which only in relatively recent years has been insulated and I've never had a problem with tools rusting - and I'm in Scotland. I don't take any preventative action either - my new chisels are in a box but all the old ones and anything else, and we're talking about 35 years old, are in various bench drawers, hanging systems, etc.
About 10 years ago I insulated with expanded polystryrene, which does mean that the heater didn't have to work so hard to get me warm, but if you are having a problem with items rusting, then I think you need to look as to where the moisture is coming from. I may well be that your ground moisture level is higher than mine for instance.
However having said that, I about to replace my ancient workshop convector with one of these from TLC.
Rob I am also in Scotland (West) and to be honest with you I was pre-empting a solution to this potential problem as I am only just finished kitting the shed out. My fears are born from a friends experience with his brick built outhouse - tools in there rust and papers curl etc which I would really like to avoid. Maybe I am jumping the gun trying to find a solution to a non existent problem. I will leave it be for the time being and adjust the heating requirements if required.
In my similarly insulated workshop I have a 2kW wall mounted fan heater connected via an ordinary horstman room stat. The heater is left switched on to its 800W setting, under control of the stat which is set to about 5 degrees. That seems to work perfectly and stops any dew forming in the shed.
(in fact I don't find the need to turn the power up on the heater when I am in there in the winter - just tweak the stat up to 15 and it soon gets there)
I built a tool cupboard with a shadow board in it. Then I put a few sachets of silica gel in the bottom . I can now find my tools easy, see if any have been "borrowed" and they don't rust .
Gerry I would suggest it's the 'brick built', and probably lacking any DPC, etc. I do have to be a little bit more proactive against rust for the items in our brick bike shed, but only in using WD40 and the likes.
By the way I ordered the heater from TLC yesterday and it has come in this morning - give them a plug in the passing.
Air. Make sure the shed is ventilated. Drill holes low down at one end and high up at the other (or whatever). Cover with a grille if you are bothered about looks. Tools should be fine then but any that have unweathered surfaces (saw blades, well used spade blades etc) spray with WD40 before storage for winter.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.