Garage Heater

[oo7ml]

Hi,

Can anyone recommend a heater for a garage for the winter months? Something that I can put on a smart plug so that it comes on 2-3 times a day for an hour to keep the air dry.

I have a Dyson heater, but unfortunately when you flick the power on the socket, the Dyson heater also needs to be turned on... so I'm looking for something that has a hard switch that can be left on - i.e - if the power is turned on, on the socket, then the heater is on.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

[Ferruccio]

Surely you need a dehumidifier, not a heater?

[993rsr]

Bit of both, the air will be less humid with higher temperature as the air can hold more water molecules as temperature rises.

You need a reasonably accurate humidity monitor to find out the humidity, should aim for 50-60% RH. If you are not going to be working in there frequently and it's well insulated a dehumidifier would be your best option. We have used Calorex commercial units which are very good and UK made.

[Octoposse]

I have a basic Lidl / Aldi (never know which I’m in!) dehumidifier. Air coming out is definitely slightly warm!

[siman05]

https://probreeze.com/products/dehumidifiers/20l-c...

Works perfectly. Worth keeping in mind the air that comes out is warm. So will have the effect your after

[oo7ml]

Thanks all.

My garage is well insulated, so it is dry but can get very cold.

Would you still recommend a dehumidifier over a heater.

[anonymous-user]

Definitely a dehumidifier, which when working will also give off a little heat.

[LemonTart]

You need a desiccant type of dehumidifier, these work in lower temperatures.

A compressor type will lose effectiveness as the temperature drops, they become less effective progressively from 7 degrees.

As 993 says aim for between 50 to 60% RH.

[griff7]

https://www.dimplex.co.uk/product/cfs30e-3kw-bluet...

I had 3 of these in 2 garages from 4kw to 12kw but found the 4 kw was good enough most of the time.Can be termostatically set or timer.

[mty01]

oo7ml said:

Hi,

Can anyone recommend a heater for a garage for the winter months? Something that I can put on a smart plug so that it comes on 2-3 times a day for an hour to keep the air dry.

I have a Dyson heater, but unfortunately when you flick the power on the socket, the Dyson heater also needs to be turned on... so I'm looking for something that has a hard switch that can be left on - i.e - if the power is turned on, on the socket, then the heater is on.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Dehumidifier all the way - having a heater cycling on & off throughout winter would actually cause a condensation problem

[blueg33]

I use a dehumidifier. Keeps temp at around 11 degrees and humidity at 50%

The best dehumidifiers for potentially low temps are dessicant types. I use a Meaco ddl8

[Taffy66]

I have a new garage which has a floor area of 900 feet square with a 10' to eaves and a vaulted ceiling. Pretty big air space but the walls and roof are very well insulated with no heating. I need to buy a desiccant dehumidifier but not sure which one to buy and what size because of the large area.

[Mave]

oo7ml said:

Thanks all.

My garage is well insulated, so it is dry but can get very cold.

Would you still recommend a dehumidifier over a heater.

It depends what you are trying to achieve. Originally you said you wanted to heat it to keep it dry - in which case a dehumidifier is a better choice than a heater - especially if you are going to turn the heater off and on. If you've got equipment which is sensitive to cold, rather than damp, then I'd go with any cheap oil filled radiator.

[dhutch]

As per the above post.

Almost all heaters will kick in as soon as turn on, looks like you have got unlucky and found one that doesnt, bust just avoid anything with a flash looking control panel rather a switch and a knob? And or read the small print.

Convection heater, or oil filed, used of facebook......

[karpetkeith]

I run a meaco platinum dehumidifier in one of my garages also but keep the car in an airchamber as well.Dehumidifier is plumbed to continual drain and air temp and humidity remain pretty constant as car is effectively in a sealed environment.Cheap as chips to run but requires a little investment upfront,but well worth it if you want to keep your car 100%.

[ARHarh]

As asked what are you trying to cure? If it is condensation on a car then you need to move the dew point https://www.calculator.net/dew-point-calculator.ht... by either heating or drying.

if it needs to be warmer so something doesn't get cold then you can only heat it. To eliminate condensation on cars the easiest way is to ventilate it, I have an unheated garage and never have a problem with condensation because there is a big gap around the roof and wall join which keeps it ventilated

[Jonny_]

I use a fairly cheap EcoAir dessicant dehumidifier in my garage. Did have a compressor machine years ago, but it used to freeze up in winter, which is what I suspect ultimately led to its demise.

The dessicant machine is comparatively tiny and works perfectly in cold conditions. Mine runs for 4 hours a night on a timer (to take further advice of the cheap period on Octopus Go). It's effectively a 600 watt heater as it heats the dessicant to extract the moisture and regenerate.

Seems to work pretty well at keeping the garage and the Capri dry. Every couple of days I have 2 litres of water to empty out of the reservoir that it's pulled from the air.

(This one, chosen specifically because it's "dumb" - leave switched on, set the humidistat, and let a plug-in timer turn it on and off as required: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00474K8SY/ref=cm_sw_r... )

Edited by Jonny_ on Tuesday 21st December 08:35

[Mike_k]

Anybody used one of the cheap deisel night heaters they offer on ebay / amazon ?

they look quite good but what are they like day to day

[GT4RS]

Taffy66 said:

I have a new garage which has a floor area of 900 feet square with a 10' to eaves and a vaulted ceiling. Pretty big air space but the walls and roof are very well insulated with no heating. I need to buy a desiccant dehumidifier but not sure which one to buy and what size because of the large area.

You you be better installing a split air con system if it’s 900 sq ft. These can be run on auto and set a dehumidifier setting. As long as the building is well build and not just a cow shed!

[kambites]

Mike_k said:

Anybody used one of the cheap deisel night heaters they offer on ebay / amazon ?

You'd need an external chimney/flue. When you burn a hydrocarbon it takes oxygen from the air to turn the carbon bit into CO2 and the hydrogen part into... water.