Cheapest way to heat work area this winter?

[CaptainPugwash]

If you're soft enough to want some warmth for part of the day, in the workshop this coming winter what's likely the cheapest way?

Please can people mostly reply to this in mind of old school industrial space, ie too tall/ beyond hope / scope for insulation, and presumably out of scope for taxpayer/saver/gov borrowing funded energy price cap (a benefit of domestic garage workshops this winter?).

I believe recent rules on red diesel may make it difficult to buy?

Diesel heater? Red?
Parrafin heater?
Electric heater?
String vest and get involved with a forge?
Big coat?
Used engine oil? ( can this still be got for free with a reasonable contact?)
Gas?
Cheap 5 month cruise instead?

 

[gaz1]

rocket stove and burn wood with very little wood usage

i have 2 years worth of wood storage whilst small 4ft x 4ft x 4ft for one year and another same size for year 2 when i use one i repack into it

all wood is free from pallets and building materials wood

so free for me

whats the output well its very high x2 of 1000f of heat given off of the stove

what area can it heat 10x8ft and im cooked out of it so can run much bigger recorded length of one in use in canada 20ft x 40ft insulated building

smokeless within 3 mins of lighting

 

[gaz1]

If you're soft enough to want some warmth for part of the day, in the workshop this coming winter what's likely the cheapest way?

Please can people mostly reply to this in mind of old school industrial space, ie too tall/ beyond hope / scope for insulation, and presumably out of scope for taxpayer/saver/gov borrowing funded energy price cap (a benefit of domestic garage workshops this winter?).

I believe recent rules on red diesel may make it difficult to buy?

Diesel heater? Red?
Parrafin heater?

diesel heater can heat a workshop to comfortable but it has issues as can affect your lungs

height ive seen it heat a 20ft high x 40ftx 30ft wide building, however it dosnt last and it takes a while to heat it up

used oil cant be used anymore dont get caught doing so

your roof reference would need photos and size of building and roof height there is other references in insulating a roof internaly and cheaply

 

[Ross365]

In a small workshop, the genuine quartzray heaters (short wavelength) can be good.

 

[500e]

Sawdust stove

 

[premmington]

I have tried everything over the years. From gas/waste oil/derv/lpg.

This year there just will not be any attempt to heat my workshop. I have downsized so much - there is only me to keep warm now.

But I have ended up with this plan. Dress up - proper thermals from outdoor shops - proper thick wool socks - then layers - stay dry at all times - eat well - keep moving (thick rubber mats on floor as well).

If I stop for a cuppa - I got a couple of bottles of propane and a bullfinch gemini radiant heater to snuggle up to. Go for roadtest in a car - or shut up early when it gets dark and just go home are other options.

But to be honest years ago I used to do this - there are not many days in the UK - where it is too cold to work. But I am located sort of South (if I was further North I may not be saying this).

I am not looking forward to this winter to be honest - I am getting older and it tells its toll on me. While I have been silly busy all summer - I reckon winter tradewise is gonna be dire with the cost of living crisis about to really hit.

-------------

Paint sprayer opposite me is panicking - he is just out of an energy contact and he has banks of electric IR dryers to run. Lot of pre quoted work on - so an energy surcharge is not gonna go down well.

 

[not done it yet]

Without any real dimensions, suggestions are limited to heating the person - as heating the atmosphere is going to be expensive or extreeemly wasteful of energy.

Burning kerosene, in a chinese diesel air heater, seems to be the best option - after enclosure and insulation, of course - unless free/cheap solid fuel (wood) is available.

It is far more sensible to spend money on insulation, than use ever-more-expensive fuel just to let the energy float away.

My workshop is an enclosed, insulated space within an unheated concrete sectional garage. Only about 30-35 cubic metres (gross) with a ceiling height of 2.4m. That space needs to be dry at all times, to prevent condensation (and consequent corrosion) affecting my machine tools. No combustion gases (from the heater) are released to the working area, quick to warm up and far cheaper than using leccy. I have a small stock of diesel/kerosene which was purchased a long time ago.

I do run a dehumidifier to avoid any condensation, so that heat helps to keep the temperature reasonably well above freezing point most of the time. Last winter, that cost me about 50p/week - but I’ve no idea, yet, how much it will cost this winter!

 

[8ob]

If this tall industrial unit is not something you can insulate would it not be possible to build a smaller insulated work space within it?

Bob

 

[sako243]

Spend some money on some decent clothes. Okay I'm a young(ish) hardy Welshman with Scottish blood but I've got a Harkila stalking jacket and trousers. Long sleeve T shirt and underwear under that and wooly hat on my bonce, sometimes a snood around my neck and I'm quite happy sitting out on the hills at -15°C (and have done) waiting for beasties.

The main thing is to keep dry, that jacket despite looking like it gets wet never gets wet inside unless I've got more layers on and doing a lot of walking then I sweat.

I find protect your bonce and your neck and you'll stay a lot warmer. I tend to roll up my sleeves when I get too warm as I seem to be able to regulate my temperature via my arms and head quite well.

 

[addjunkie]

Think back a few years, it was all the rage for the old folk to go to spain in the winter for 12 weeks. With heating prices it may well be a thing again!

or

https://nordic-heat.com/ or the Milwaukee Equivelant

 

[Burdekin]

If you have a means to some form of cheap fuel then that's your only hope of doing it cheapy. To heat a big uninsulated space cheaply this winter will be hard. Best to layer up.

 

[Johnnybravo]

Set fire to a lard arris politician

 

[Johnnybravo]

These infrared heaters warm you up very quickly. Brilliant in spaces too large to heat the air. I have one surplus to my needs too….

 

[merryman]

We use a diesel space heater for our workshop which is 19th century barn. It works fine, though I am in padded shirt, long johns etc, as well as overalls. As the red diesel store is in the barn ***. However, isn't gas oil the alternative name for red diesel, when it is sold as heating oil? We have drums of waste oil, and had to pay for disposal last time we got rid of it, but DEFRA charges an arm and a leg for the licence to burn it, thus turning a useful fuel into a hazardous waste, overnight.

 

[Morrisman]

As above, keep well dressed with thin warm layers, not big thick sweaters, and wear a woolly hat whenever you can. You loose most heat through your head.

My little workshop is well insulated so needs just 15 minutes with a fan heater to get it up to temp, then as long as I'm moving around being busy it stays tolerable.

Is there any way you can make an insulated suspended ceiling to cut down the volume of space you're heating?

 

[not done it yet]

Went to Morrisons this morning. This is the first day I have worn a sweater for some months, but definitely needed it - and more - in that shop. It was quite clear that the temperature in the whole shop had been reduced since our last visit. Aldi, next time.

 

[DAPPH]

I worked on my own from the age of 19 till I was 44 (now 71 yrs old). Most of the time, much of it was outdoors in temps from plus 44 oC to minus 27oC , keeping the right temperature was imperative.
Here's a bit of what I learnt over the years .

I now have switchable black heat vivarium bulbs, one above the lathe and one over the work bench vice ...they run at about 25 watts each IIRC. If it's cold, they are put on, at the workstation I'm using move about as much as possible staying static slows your circulation. If it gets too cold after that & my hands turn blue it's time to come inside

Being dressed in several thin light cotton or wool baggy layers of clean clothing is the answer, as it traps heat. Wear something light & breathable on your back as a sweaty damp back is a route to getting cold quickly around the base of the rear of your ribs /lungs and kidneys.
I've often worn proper soft cotton string vests when it was down in the minus 20 oC's .

Nylon or poly cotton clothing's not much use. Neither are tight thick denim jeans ..here moleskin cotton is very very good. (All my winter trousers work & pleasure are some versions of warm soft moleskins )
If you can afford three sets of the outdoor thermal base layering of up to four or so thickness coverings, they are brilliant " Go for it ".

Put a baggy pair of overalls over everything & you'll be toastie warm so long as you have a thermal type of woolly hat ..you lose most of your heat ( 27 % or so IIRC) through hands & head if the rest of you is well insulated.

What you stand on is also important , cold bare concrete is a real sucker out of body heat, I've got three old runner & flock style kitchen mats along my mancupboard . They give a fair bit of insulation under my feet take some of the deadness out of walking over concrete and get stiff broom swept of nearly every day to keep them clean & still have a bit of insulation value underfoot.

I don't wear steelies & steel midsoles anymore but I still wear thick thermal socks all year round so my shoes are slightly bigger than if I had nylon dress socks on , tight shoes reduce circulation and make your feet feel cold and. The thick socks with a fairly high wool & cotton content are good , so are some of the specialist hill walking thermal socks at £15 or more a pair.
Changing my socks every day after showering and drying my feet well is essential, some guys wear the same work/ wellie socks for days at a time till they crawl off their feet . . Having two pair of work boots/ shoes allows you to put on a clean dry pair each day so less chance of standing in damp footwear & getting cold feet.
Wearing wellies day in day out is difficult have too pairs is good but whilst having three pairs may seem extravagant is best, so is using / having six canvass bags of 500 grams of a decent oven dryable desiccant..... made up in pairs on tapes \7 hanging a dry bag in each welly foot is a good way of getting your wellies really dry & ready for wearing in two days' time ( dry out the damp bags in the airing cupboard etc. .... unless of course you can afford an electric wellie dryer.

Being a type one or two diabetic causes most people's feet to sweat a lot, and as the pores are open you lose a lot of heat from your feet as well as you often getting serial bouts of athletes cheesy feet .

 

[not done it yet]

Put a baggy pair of overalls over everything & you'll be toastie warm so long as you have a thermal type wolly hat ..you lose most of your heat throughb hands & head if the rest of yopu is well insulated.

I know what you meant, but being a physicist (and a stickler for accuracy) may I point out that if the rest of you were to be perfectly insulated (ie no heat being lost) all of the heat being lost would be through your hands and head. And a woolly hat is not a lot of good to insulate your hands (nor a wolly hat either, for that matter).

I‘ll put the ‘wolly’ down to spelling but the others are physical facts.

 

[DAPPH]

Stickler .... Pedant is another word .......amongst many other applicable pertinent applicable ones.
I'm medically dyslexic, some days more than others ...........I rarely ever see any incorrect spellings or wrong words that spell check misses.
Woolly hats can be used as mitts and really big thick or thin socks can be made to fit like commando cap comforters ...

You've obviously, Not Done It Yet.

 

[Morrisman]

I know what you meant, but being a physicist (and a stickler for accuracy) may I point out that if the rest of you were to be perfectly insulated (ie no heat being lost) all of the heat being lost would be through your hands and head. And a woolly hat is not a lot of good to insulate your hands (nor a wolly hat either, for that matter).

I‘ll put the ‘wolly’ down to spelling but the others are physical facts.

Er, woolly gloves, as well as a woolly hat? Has that made your stickler feel better?