Cheapest way to heat work area this winter?

[tom2207]

I’ve got an ex French army tent heater.

Burns heavy oil so DERV, Kero, Red Diesel, JET A1 when I get it. Whatever Dino juice I find. It isn’t fussy. Uses about 20l every three days and that’s 8 hour days.

There’s one at Jackson’s at the moment as I’ve just sent my mate the link

Deville - Multi Fuel Heater | L Jackson & Co

Workshop heaters for sale, diesel heater for sale, oil burner, garage heater, Deville, L Jackson& Co

ljacksonandco.com

That link says 1.5l/h in the spec. That’s on maxi chat. You can’t be near it when it’s balls out like that. About a pint is more accurate / sensible. That’s what the night heater in truck uses as well, for comparison

thats very similar to the one we run on transformer oil ,, its a mighty bit of kit.

 

[Pete.]

Whenever I've had to call it a day and come in from my unheated, uninsulated workshop, it's because of cold toes. Doesn't matter how good your boots are, standing on a cold concrete floor will suck the heat out of you, so duckboards are probably the best single change you can make. Dirt cheap too, just chuck a couple of pallets down. As a bonus, if the boards have a bit of give to them, they'll act as anti-fatigue matting.

The other big cheap change you can make, which I don't think has been mentioned yet, is to eat more, just have a bigger breakfast when you'll be in the workshop, it makes a world of difference.

Toes get cold if the blood circulting to them loses it's heat before it gets there. Keep your legs warm your toes will benefit.

Wear overalls, you get the benefit of warmth plus your clothes stay cleaner and you don't get swarf in the washing machine. I have a precious pair of cotton overalls that are just great for both jobs.

By far, the cheapest way to keep your legs warn that I've found is to wear two pairs of track suit bottoms. Dirty pair on top, clean pair underneath (obviously). Work all day outside in winter wearing those.

 

[stuvy]

The problem with the motortrade and heating workshops - it the big roller shutter doors keep being opened and cars being driven in and out.

Most of the time on a busy day - you are just wasting your time and money trying to raise the workshop temp!

Iv been to a few places that have super fast plastic doors that open and shut really fast

One of these places had x4 forklifts running in and out all day everyday

 

[Myles1970]

Great replies

It's rented and I'm only there 1 - 2 days a week so not spending money and time attempting to insulate or make small warm area.

Current plan now is duck boards and rubber mats, walking socks, layers, overalls on top, and wooly hat.
With a red rad (i think) for a blast next to me now and then

I've always found I loose the majority of my heat through my feet, so apart from the thermal long-johns and top, heated insoles are a must! The plug-in ones are too much of a faff, but these are really effective, although they're supposed to be single use. You can seal them in a bag if you're gonna be using them for less than 8 hours

 

[DAPPH]

If you're looking for a hardwearing floor covering that keeps your feet off the concrete, I can recommend stable mats. They generally come in a range of sizes, even tiles, they're very tough, easy to clean and generally too heavy to move about much.
Then there's these...

RUBBER MATTING, Stable Matting 6ftx4ftx10mm, 1.8m x 1.2m,10mm FREE DELIVERY | eBay

10mm Thick Rubber Matting. Insulation Matting. Horse Matting. Dog Agility Matting. they may contain traces of sand. They have originated from underneath 3g sports pitches. They are 10mm thick and we have supplied for many many years.Size is approximate.

www.ebay.co.uk

Most of your local livery & feed suppliers have such mats for sale

 

[julianthegypsy]

I’m mostly stuffed where gloves are concerned - not safe where moving machinery (lathe and mills) are concerned. But a hat, these days, most certainly helps - it replaces the insulation that used to be there!

It's a long standing myth that you lose 10% of your body heat through your head. It comes from some experiments that the septics did a long time ago measuring people with sensors in a cold room. The participants were wearing insulated clothing, everywhere, except that they were bare headed. Idiotic. The results could be predicted by any idiot.

 

[not done it yet]

The results could be predicted by any idiot.

Yes, there are tests and fair tests. In my case every little helps and the more I am insulated, elsewhere, the larger the percentage of heat loss is from my bonce. I don’t wear gloves, which could get caught in moving machinery - particularly as I am working alone and do not wish to get wrapped around a lathe or mill.

Flawed experiments were a major problem with school children doing practical assignments. It’s why I often question ‘supposed facts‘ which are spouted out with no real evidence of their authenticity.

The earliest area I remember well, from over 50 years ago, was accounting for dead-time losses when using a Geiger type radiation counter for assay work. With those, dead-time losses increased with count rate. At the extreme, the counter would simply stop counting. With some workers, that could occur with checks for personal/clothing contamination!

Look up ‘tickling the dragon’s tail’ from 1940s - when it went wrong in a big way! Zero counts does not necessarily mean no radiation present.

 

[julianthegypsy]

Yes, there are tests and fair tests. In my case every little helps and the more I am insulated, elsewhere, the larger the percentage of heat loss is from my bonce. I don’t wear gloves, which could get caught in moving machinery - particularly as I am working alone and do not wish to get wrapped around a lathe or mill.

Flawed experiments were a major problem with school children doing practical assignments. It’s why I often question ‘supposed facts‘ which are spouted out with no real evidence of their authenticity.

The earliest area I remember well, from over 50 years ago, was accounting for dead-time losses when using a Geiger type radiation counter for assay work. With those, dead-time losses increased with count rate. At the extreme, the counter would simply stop counting. With some workers, that could occur with checks for personal/clothing contamination!

Look up ‘tickling the dragon’s tail’ from 1940s - when it went wrong in a big way! Zero counts does not necessarily mean no radiation present.

You lose heat equally all over your skin, so it makes perfect sense to insulate as much of it as possible. The bonce has quite a lot of skin, so loses a fair bit of heat. I love seeing pictures from the forties. If you were a bloke, you were wearing a hat.

I remember as kids being wrapped up in a jacket, balaclava and mittens... And shorts!
That link looks interesting, I'll check it out later thanks.

 

[Morrisman]

My electric socks are too warm, particularly in my insulated Canadian boots. That is when I am out in the fields. I don’t bother with them when in the workshop these days - can’t be working for long periods whether hot cold or even just right.

Mate of mine wears a heated waistcoat on his bike, has a small rechargeable battery in one pocket. He reckons it's great and didn't cost a lot. Keep the main torso warm and the extremities look after themselves.

 

[Morrisman]

Toes get cold if the blood circulting to them loses it's heat before it gets there. Keep your legs warm your toes will benefit.

Wear overalls, you get the benefit of warmth plus your clothes stay cleaner and you don't get swarf in the washing machine. I have a precious pair of cotton overalls that are just great for both jobs.

By far, the cheapest way to keep your legs warn that I've found is to wear two pairs of track suit bottoms. Dirty pair on top, clean pair underneath (obviously). Work all day outside in winter wearing those.

Back in my youth the thing to wear under coveralls in our icy machine shop was a pair of tights. They supposedly work very well, like a sort of mini string vest theory. Of course I never wore them, macho biker and all.

 

[colnerov]

Heat the smallest area possible. -



Colin

 

[Cato]

A decent pair of overalls and a headband will take care of most situations.

Unless you're having a BBQ at work, in which case just add sunglasses.

 

[Cato]

Around £10 per hour by my calculations

Not commercial and not even private/domestic after Oct 1st!

I've just checked and it's a business three year fixed rate with EDF, three phase supply. kWh rate is 39.80 pence and the standing charge is 25 pence a day. No idea if that will be good or bad in the longer term, but it's handy to know it won't change for a while.

So you were damn close @AVI_8 I make it £12 ph with a little rounding.

 

[500e]

You cant get cheaper than sawdust we built one for a friend about 5 years ago, he is only in workshop week ends so heat to keep machines dry is expensive our stove is about 25 ltr drum with outer skin about 120mm bigger, the chimney is a length of scaf pipe also used as the charging rod.
When filling with saw dust fill in layers and tamp down really tight as you go remove the charging rod /chimney fit the lid and insert the pipe in the socket light the bottom with a few sticks, his runs between 18/22 hours on one fill.it lives out doors and the outer skin has holes to pipe the heat into the building with a small fan on the other side to blow through the heat exchanger, we did this because he did not want anything burning in work shop.
Our chimney is in the middle of the lid if we insulated the outer case it would be more efficient.
Here is one that that is more or less the same but no heat exchanger being in doors.
Most wood work /saw mills will give you the saw dust the finer the better

 

[Cato]

Some of these fuel burning heater ideas are really good. Unfortunately I can't use any type of fbh as it'd be the end of any insurance cover and also the workshop lease.

 

[premmington]

Anybody had a go with heated jackets and bodywarmers - Milwaukee sell them.

Just a question....?

 

[Cato]

Anybody had a go with heated jackets and bodywarmers - Milwaukee sell them.

Just a question....?

Not personally but a couple of lads on site had them last winter. They were given them as a promotion.

The feedback was very good if you're standing still but too hot when you were moving and didn't cool down quick enough in the way opening a non heated jacket does.

 

[James1979]

Not personally but a couple of lads on site had them last winter. They were given them as a promotion.

The feedback was very good if you're standing still but too hot when you were moving and didn't cool down quick enough in the way opening a non heated jacket does.

Pretty much what I’d heard.

I’ve a friend who has one. Says much the same. He’s an auto electrician so isn’t moving loads. Kind of wriggles into a space and stays there!

I had a pair of bike gloves which were the same. Really good bit of kit. Wore them loads through the winter commuting. They went bad and I got a burnt hand. The replacement pair were fine. Reason I’m saying that is it may depend how harsh you are on the jacket as to the life expectancy of it.

I rate carhartt padded overalls. The ones with the zips up the leg. Don’t need a heater with them on really. I use them when im out and people have big unheated barns

 

[Morrisman]

Anybody had a go with heated jackets and bodywarmers - Milwaukee sell them.

Just a question....?

I mentioned this earlier, electric waistcoat with a small rechargeable battery, my biker mate swears by it.

 

[stuvy]

Anybody had a go with heated jackets and bodywarmers - Milwaukee sell them.

Just a question....?

My mate had the snap on one(also has one for evenings and weekends)

He loves it as you don’t loose mobility with all the layers on.

He is a plant fitter and you can imagine how cold an old airfield and barn can get