Insulation in garage conversion help

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  • PolarityManPolarityMan Frets: 7273
    These are going for £349 on Amazon - Has anyone got one of these? Are they worth the hype? 

    Since converting my garage there's no central heating so been using a portable oil filled radiator to keep it warm. Usually an hour before I need to use the room I'll put it on a medium setting, which generates enough heat to warm up the room and then I put it on a low setting for another hour or so before switching it off. It retains the heat quite well to be fair, but it takes a long time to heat up, and only kinda warms up the area immediately around it. My roomm is quite big (25 square metres).

    With the Dyson it has this "disperse" feature to spray the heat around the room, or "Jet" which is directly pointing towards a source.

    Oil filled radiators are cheaper to run aren't they? This Dyson one has an electrical bladeless fan I believe. 

    I'm not in the room 24/7 so don't think installing a central heating system would suffice.
    For my garage conversion I hung an electric radiator, one of these jobbies:

    https://richmondradiators.com/product/adax-neo-wifi-electric-convection-radiator-smart-home-panel-heater/?attribute_pa_colour=grey&attribute_pa_power-output=800w&gclid=CjwKCAjwwtTmBRBqEiwA-b6c__68fTJx5Ek2nPqlrMgXK9O3LTYseQxAGSg4eKyzsxjksTBAMg9hCxoCzsoQAvD_BwE

    Mine is on a fused spur but it actually came wired up for a normal socket and the brackets just screw into rawl plugs I have never used the wifi option on it.
    ဈǝᴉʇsɐoʇǝsǝǝɥɔဪቌ
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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    We don't have (or need) the heating, but have a tower fan (AM07, I think).
    Bought for a Chinese New Year sale, so half off.
    I wouldn't have paid full retail for one.
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  • ESBlondeESBlonde Frets: 3576
    My garage workshop is not insulated. I use a cheap 1Kw fan heater that cost a tenner from Homebase years ago. It has a trip switch that cuts out if it tips over.

    Hot air is emitted with some force and then rises. I find warm socks and not standing on the concrete areas are my best tips. It's adequate for short hobby type applications, I'd insulate the roof and door gaps if I needed better performance, but since dust would be an issue I've decided not to. My air filter system also circulates the air in there every 3 minets.

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  • LestratcasterLestratcaster Frets: 1079
    A halogen heater is something to consider, or just as a measure to put some temporary heat in the room, running a fan heater for about 15 minutes as they're quite quick to generate heat I think.

    Its now approaching summer so its not as much of an issue to have heat in there so got a few months to look at different options.
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  • Ok so now the weather is a bit colder the garage is now being tested in its ability to keep a stable temperature.

    Yesterday I got one of those cheap electric fan heaters and put it on for about 15 minutes on one corner of the room whilst I used the oil radiator on the other. As the room is so large I don't think its enough to heat it up sufficiently.

    I had a look at some electric radiators, ones you just mount on the wall, no pipes or messing about with people coming to install it. 

    There are 3 windows in the garage so I'm going to need at least two radiators for ones on opposite sides of the room. For a 25 sq m room I will need 2500 watts wouldn't I? So either 2 x 1200w ones on each side or 1 x 1400w and 1 x 1100 watt, with the larger sized one being where the window isn't by a door as heat will escape faster?
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  • Blimey....that's 40p+ per hour to heat.  Say 5 hours per day (allowing for thermostat on/offs), that's (90 x 2), £180 per quarter !!!  It may well be less than that depending on requirement and management, but it's potentially a great deal of money to heat a garage.
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  • LestratcasterLestratcaster Frets: 1079
    edited November 2019
    I'm not in there 7 days per week, probably 5 days and only at 3 hours per day max at a time? And summer months I won't need it obviously.

    Or I could start with one electric radiator and see how that goes, use the oil one on the other side?
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  • WhistlerWhistler Frets: 322
    I bought a small (600w) oil filled radiator and an even smaller fan (about 20cm diameter) which I sit next to the radiator on its lowest speed to gently blow air through the radiator. It works fine, helping circulate warm air rather than let it float vertically upeards. YMMV, of course.
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  • phil_bphil_b Frets: 2010

     This Dyson one has an electrical bladeless fan I believe. 

    They have blades too but they are hidden
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  • Whistler said:
    I bought a small (600w) oil filled radiator and an even smaller fan (about 20cm diameter) which I sit next to the radiator on its lowest speed to gently blow air through the radiator. It works fine, helping circulate warm air rather than let it float vertically upeards. YMMV, of course.
    How big is your room you're heating though? My Delonghi one is 2kw I think and the the electric fan is the same. Tonight wasn't as cold but I left both on for about an hour and 20 minutes respectively. 
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  • WhistlerWhistler Frets: 322
    edited November 2019
    24 square metres. It takes a while but it helps lift a winter temperature to a working level, which in my case, I like 19°. Call me fussy but I don't want the room's temperature to change very quickly because I have wooden instruments in the room. Slower changes help them keep their tuning and with nitrocellulose finished guitars it helps avoid the usual aged cracked finish that so many have.
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  • Hmm so similar size to mine then. I don't keep any instruments in there overnight or anything though. How long do you run your radiator/fan for and how long does your warmth last for?
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  • WhistlerWhistler Frets: 322
    I think we should stop making comparisons as I suspect that our rooms will not be identical. For instance, mine is a rented office space so there is an element of insulation and heat that comes from being sandwiched between two other offices and not being on the ground floor. Also, I have a southerlay aspect and 4 large windows so the sun helps during the day.

    To answer your question, I have no set pattern but on winter days I have a timer which will turn the heating on at 8am. I generally tend to start work at 10am so it has 2 hours to take the chill out of the room. How long it stays on depends on how long I will be in there. When I turn the radiator off I usually leave the fsan running as I it helps circulate air a little bit.

    If anything, I erred on the side of undersizing my heater. My intention is not to suggest what size heater or fan you should get, rather it was to point out that a fan can be a great help to an oil filled radiator.
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  • LestratcasterLestratcaster Frets: 1079
    edited November 2019
    Wasn't really comparing just asking some curious questions lol.

    I conclude I am going to need at least 1 electric radiator by a window anyway, and then try the method you do with the oil filled one and fan perhaps on the other side of the room.

    Something like this:

    https://www.electricradiatorsdirect.co.uk/wall-mounted-electric-radiators/haverland-designer-rcwave-rc7w-electric-radiator-1100w/
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  • WhistlerWhistler Frets: 322
    I bought a radiator that looks similar to this one: https://www.argos.co.uk/product/8249186
    I place my fan close to it and facing it so that it blows air through the radiator.
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  • ToneControlToneControl Frets: 11789
    edited November 2019
    Whistler said:
    24 square metres. It takes a while but it helps lift a winter temperature to a working level, which in my case, I like 19°. Call me fussy but I don't want the room's temperature to change very quickly because I have wooden instruments in the room. Slower changes help them keep their tuning and with nitrocellulose finished guitars it helps avoid the usual aged cracked finish that so many have.
    I'm not sure it's advisable to keep guitars in a room that varies in temperature a lot
    The Relative humidity will vary drastically during the cold winter months 

    What construction is the room? Is this an external garage? Does it have DPC and double glazing, internal plaster walls, cavity walls, insulated floor?
    How is it affected by sunlight, does it get hot on summer days?

    What temperature is the room when it's unheated at 8am on a day when it's -3C outside? 
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  • LestratcasterLestratcaster Frets: 1079
    edited November 2019
    So I've got a couple of options with the electric radiators, I either get 2 x 1200 watt ones on either side of the room under the windows, or I get a 2400w and position it centrally? Surely if it heats a bigger area its better for me to have 1 larger one for a higher upfront cost but better savings as it won't have to run for as long.

    The 2400w radiator will cover 32sq m. The 1200w 16 sq m each.
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  • JalapenoJalapeno Frets: 6378
    Insultate and draught exclude it.

    I'll bet a s/h storage heater would do the job
    Imagine something sharp and witty here ......

    Feedback
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  • LestratcasterLestratcaster Frets: 1079
    edited November 2019
    Done insulation and we are going to sort the draught by the door.

    Storage heaters look a bit untidy in the room well the box type ones, a wall mount radiator looks neater. Plus I'm not sure they do storage heaters up to 2400w anyway. If they don't I will need multiple.
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  • JalapenoJalapeno Frets: 6378
    Just thought a more constant heat would be better if you are keeping instruments in there ....
    Imagine something sharp and witty here ......

    Feedback
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