I know it’s been done before, but I couldnt find anything easily…

I have a concrete block shed, 6 x 3.5m, detached from the house.
Double glazed window, good solid door. No drafts, but no insulation.
And it’s obviously freezing out there.

I need some heating, ideally something that can provide pretty instant heat.
I don’t get much of a chance to get out there, and when I do its pretty spontaneous, so i cant be waiting 3 hrs for it warm up slowly.

I have a small oil filled electric rad, which is a bit rubbish. Any alternatives?
Gas heater? bit scared of gassing myself
Other type of electric heater?
Woodburner is too much work to fit and to slow to warm up.

thanks

Electric fan heater or radiation heater pointed at where you’re working…

How about insulating and then something to keep the temperature from dropping really low in the first place. Perhaps the heat generated from a freezer running might do that (if you have a use for a/another freezer)? Note that only certain models of freezer can work in lower outdoor temps.
Or an electric greenhouse heater?

Then when you go out a quick 5 minute blast with an electric fan heater should be all that’s needed to make it comfortable.

I have an oil rad which I usually stick on before dinner then its toasty when I’m ready to go out there.

Last night was a bit last minute so I had the oil rad on and my boot dryer.

Then when you go out a quick 5 minute blast with an electric fan heater should be all that’s needed to make it comfortable.

A bit optimistic, our 8x4x4m workshop has 6″ of Celotex on all walls and still takes more than 5 mins to warm up from ambient (which has been about 5C recently). Even with 5kW of heating, it only gets to low teens after an hour….

oil rad on smart plug so I can get it heated up before I get in there and have it on timer too

yeah i wondered about a smart plug for the oil rad.

what size oil rad for what size shed are you using?

Gotta be a space heater just to take the chill off the air, if you want it fast. Everything out there will be cold to the touch for a while though

I’ve got an old butane / propane (can’t remember which) gas heater, works fine, keeping meaning to get a carbon monoxide alarm though. I’ll put it on my Christmas list. Provides lots of heat quite quickly, the only issue is if it’s clean burning which it should be it will produce water vapor which I find can condensate on cold surfaces. I’ve also got two low level electric pipe heaters in the garage which keeps the temp around 6 degrees when it’s freezing outside so paints and things don’t freeze. They mean the garage is noticeably warmer than outside when it’s cold but not enough to work in comfortably.

Option B is an infra red patio type heater but you need to be in the beam to be warm and it won’t heat up the garage much. If you go electric makes sure your supply is up to the additional load.

Dont recall the size of heater but it was £25 off amazon. 3 settings and thermostat

size approx. 2.4x3x2.1

30 mins to get up to temp and be toasty even on the recent -4 evenings

I’ve got an oil filled radiator with a thermostat which is really just stopping things freezing in there. I’ll turn it up if I know I’ll be out there later though.

Also have a fan heater like this one which I put on the floor near where I’ll be standing and it’s not bad at creating a warm little bubble of air around where you want to work.

Also have a fan heater like this one which I put on the floor near where I’ll be standing and it’s not bad at creating a warm little bubble of air around where you want to work

+1, we use that one

2KW Flat panel heater warms up my garage in 15 mins, though that is definitely due to proper insulation across the whole building.

An infrared heater will work quite well.

Cheapest option is Infrared, this is what the brother in law uses in his workshop.

I’ve got a paraffin heater

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Corona-Inverter-Portable-Heater-3kW/dp/B0002XOYDY

that i used to use, they will heat up a space really easily, but if no ventilation can get a bit fumy.

Propane heater.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/bhp/propane-heater

I use a small fan heater but if I’m working at the bench I position the heater so it’s directly facing me and not too far away. It does eventually heat up the whole space but having it in such close proximity makes it bearable from the get go.

An oil filled radiator will be no better than a normal electric convector heater as both are 100% efficient.
In fact the convector heater is better in that it will produce heat immediately while the oil filled rad has to heat the oil before it starts emmitting heat – which is not helpful if you want heat at short notice.
As the owner of an electrically heated house I find oil rads annoying as they continue to produce heat even when the thermostat had stopped asking for it.
I personally think they’re good for constant background heating only.

Insulation will reduce the electricity used and speed up the temperature gain.