Looking at options for heater for the workshop/shed. It’s 10ft x 8ft, insulated with rigid insulation (except the floor), 9mm ply lined and external cladding is about 20mm.

Previous house had a rad in the garage which was ace for taking the chill off when working on the bike and drying/airing kit in the wet months.

Ideally whatever I get will have a thermostat so its something that I can leave on a timer.

I’m just not sure on the output I’ll need. The shed/green house heaters I’ve looked at are rated between 60w and 180w, whereas the oil filled radiators are 800w to 2500w. Obviously the higher the number the more heat output it’ll give, but as to how much is enough I’m stumped. Sometimes more isn’t always better.

Any recommendations on specific heaters or what sort of output I should be looking at.

Cheers
Carlos

I just picked up one of these all in one chinese webasto van diesel heater copies to go in my workshop, I will run it on heating oil as the house has a big tank.

about £100 on ebay plus you need a decent 12v power supply https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/333901824177

Actually thats not the best install lol, the psu needs to go in another box as he has bare 240v wires

also the exhaust should exit down as he will get condensation collecting at the low point

I’m currently looking at infrared heaters for my very cold double garage/workshop

Infra red panel ?

Oil filled radiators are affordable, portable, adjustable, safe and very effective.

Perfect for your needs IMO.

Depends how you want to heat it. An oil filled rad will probably be the simplest and safest. They can take a while to heat up though. If I’m doing a quick job and don’t want to freeze then I have a little fan heater. I point it at me and it gives an instant warmth without using much energy. For a shed session I’ve got an old gas heater. These are cheap second hand (although mine was free with a nearly full bottle of gas). On max it heats the space very quickly, then I drop it to min to keep the heat level. It wheels around so I can have a bit of direct heat but it keeps the whole space warm. I shut everything down when I leave.

Why are you wanting to heat it?

If it’s just for an hour or so while working on the bike, then a simple blow heater aimed in your direction and a couple of layers. But if it’s for all day office work, then something equivalent to central heating with a timer and thermostat.

I’ve got one of these 2kw heaters from Machine Mart.

It’s really good actually. Works well if you only want heat when you’re there and the heat comes up real quick.
I wouldn’t leave it on a timer though. No point, and dangerous maybe.

Machine Mart heater

If those Chinese diesel heaters are anything like the ones I’ve seen actually installed in vans then they absolutely belt out the hot air. That’s what I’d install. They only sip tiny bits of fuel as well.

Can you run them on vegetable oil like you can with an old diesel car?

In fact, my garage is freezing I might actually buy one.

They are the very same van heaters.

Thanks for the replies.

I’m not interested in a gas or diesel option, it has to be electric.

I thought about a blow fan heater but can’t leave them on like you can with the green house heater or oil filled rads and they do not have a thermostat.

I’m thinking the oil filled radiator is the way to go

I bought an electric stove fan heater which would do the job nicely. Think Screwfix sell them for £50 although I bought mine from homebase a couple of years ago.

Also got a couple of veito infrared heaters with a carbon element which are great and belt out some heat but lot more expensive. These are mainly used for BBQs to keep everyone warm.

I just use a simple electric heater from B&Q. Seems to do the trick, it can be moved around to where you want it and has an adjustable thermostat.
Heater

And they’re £23. And when you don’t need it they’re pretty compact to stash out the way

We have just fitted a Hershal infrared panel to the ceiling in our spare room/office, been amazing so far. Silent and a very nice heat to sit under Vs the electric fan heaters I have at work, the infrared doesn’t dry you out. It just feels like sitting in the sun. And because you aren’t trying to heat the air then convect it about the place you don’t need to leave it on all the time. The programmable thermostats are easy. And while they are a bit more expensive to buy, the one in our room is 900w vs the 2500w oil or fan rads from work. So thumbs up from us so far, and thinking about converting the full house when the boiler packs in.

I use an oil rad in my garage workshop.

I found using foam floor tiles helped a lot with retaining heat.

I’m gonna get a wifi plug for the radiator so I can warm up the workshop when I need to.

I’ve used a Delonghi Vento when working in a garage all day installing benches, cupboards and shelving until the late evening, it has three settings and adjustable thermostat and worked really well, only needed to be on the first setting and the thermostat wasn’t even cranked up so they seem fairly economical.

I can create a lot of fine sawdust in my workshop. The fan heater can start to smell really nice at times, makes me wonder if it’s all going to go up with a flash.