Bloody cold shed!

[Cozzer]

6' square, shiplap shed, with 18mm ply on floor and interior walls.
12v lighting, courtesy of solar panel, a charge controller, and a couple of older 12 car batteries feeding the LED lights. Surprisingly bright.
Obliged to keep a few things in there that I'd rather not get rusty/affected by condensation/whatever, and occasional short visits by yours truly for various purposes, so is there a way of using any type of 12v "heater" just to keep the temperature above zero?
I'll not be in there wearing a T-shirt, but wondered if one of these car windscreen type blower things might work? Something I could leave on overnight to keep the chill off when required?!

 

[TheUnicorn]

typing '12v heater' into amazon gives you any number of results, some of which have decent star ratings in the hundreds of reviews so i'd start there, I know nothing about the subject, but i'd assume that the draw of a heater from a battery would be fairly substantial, well out of balance with what you are pulling on from a solar panel in the dead of winter. I think you'd need a good amount of insulation to at least stand a chance of not draining the batteries within a few hours, maybe add more batteries into the mix?

 

[Cozzer]

I feared as much....
I might have to try the clay plant pot x 2 with tea light candle trick!


Edit : Before folk point out the downside/danger of the above, it was only a joke! That said, I also came across this....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIZ_ByGv7CQ
Might be fun....?

 

[alex robinson]

Insulation? I put 2 layer of that silver bubble wrap (walls and ceiling) and then screwed 6mm ply over the top for the shed I use as my workshop and it made a huge difference. Improvement to warmth when in there is nice, but the big one was the decrease in damp. Everything used to go rusty, now none at all.

Even with plentiful insulation, I don't think you will get anywhere with an electric heater powered by solar. Despite all the scam claims of miracle heaters, there really isn't any shortcut. Resistive heating is nearly 100% efficient, so no gains to be had from any overhyped new idea. You can try doing the maths, but you will need a huge area of panels to collect enough energy to run even a small heater.

 

[Cozzer]

Insulation? I put 2 layer of that silver bubble wrap (walls and ceiling) and then screwed 6mm ply over the top for the shed I use as my workshop and it made a huge difference. Improvement to warmth when in there is nice, but the big one was the decrease in damp. Everything used to go rusty, now none at all.

Even with plentiful insulation, I don't think you will get anywhere with an electric heater powered by solar. Despite all the scam claims of miracle heaters, there really isn't any shortcut. Resistive heating is nearly 100% efficient, so no gains to be had from any overhyped new idea. You can try doing the maths, but you will need a huge area of panels to collect enough energy to run even a small heater.

Yes, I knew it really....just thought someone might've had a bright and lazy idea!
Got a spare roll of superFoil in the attic...might have to set to with that and the staple gun.
Just means taking all the LEDs down first....

 

[alex robinson]

Yes, I knew it really....just thought someone might've had a bright and lazy idea!
Got a spare roll of superFoil in the attic...might have to set to with that and the staple gun.
Just means taking all the LEDs down first....

Plenty of unusual options for heating, just they tend to have significant disadvantages. Could go for the Victorian greenhouse approach and use a huge pile of decomposing manure? Apparently that can keep the frost of a large glasshouse!

 

[Cozzer]

Plenty of unusual options for heating, just they tend to have significant disadvantages. Could go for the Victorian greenhouse approach and use a huge pile of decomposing manure? Apparently that can keep the frost of a large glasshouse!

Well, there's enough **** about these days!

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Fire this up 2 hours before you start work and it will be toasty.

 

[TheUnicorn]

Fire this up 2 hours before you start work and it will be toasty.

except it is more of a round the clock, keep the chill off the machinery he's looking for

 

[Harry Hare]

I have exactly the same dilemma, took on a workshop recently which is a big time shed. A couples people have said to pour in vermiculite behind ply sheets. Then silver multi foil on the ceiling

 

[clogs]

just to add.......
u must have 240v elec in there for tools.....?
I lived in a converted watermill and everywhere was damp......
all my machines were covered with old blankets and underneath was a low whatage curlywhirly bulb inside an old fashioned wire type work light ....never again did the machines rust....8 heavy machines.....left on 24x7....Oct-March....never noticed anything on the elec bill......
it never realy warmed the place as u expect......
the shop was 12mx6m and basically a barn so no way to heat it.....
decent shoes and body layers was how I got over the cold......reg got minus 5's and refused to work on the odd -20º.....
for a small enclosed shop those small oil filled rads are the way to go...set on slightly higher than frost setting....
I have one running in my caravan when the cold and damp starts.......
leave the manual work for tommorow morning...u'll soon warm up....
as said above ....forget the solar fantasy.....

 

[Cozzer]

No, clogs, no mains power. Work in there? It's only 6x6 don't forget! If I did need proper power for something it'd have to be an extension cable from the house. It's essentially storing a few bits and pieces that I can't keep anywhere else...

 

[Jameshow]

How about a gillie kettle / or saranovar and a length of aluminium ducting out an open window or better still through a hole in roof?

Hot tea and heat on tap.

 

[Stigmorgan]

Oil filled tube heaters are a good option, site them on the wall near the floor. We have them in a small building that's being demolished soon, I could save a couple for you if you want to try them out.

 

[Cozzer]

Oil filled tube heaters are a good option, site them on the wall near the floor. We have them in a small building that's being demolished soon, I could save a couple for you if you want to try them out.

Very generous of you - thanks! - but no easy way of powering them unfortunately.

No - it appears my options are limited to insulation, as many of you have pointed out above.
I'll be rescuing the spare SuperFoil from the attic and searching for the staple gun.
(Now....where have I put that staple gun?!)

Thanks, all.

 

[Oliver McDonnell]

What about one of those small paraffin heaters for greenhouses?

 

[Yorkshire1]

As an aside anyone suffering from cold
feet (in a cold shed) for a couple of years now ive had to resort to wearing crocs due to foot damage from wearing leather soled boots most of my life
I wear the crocs all the time inc for work no socks water/ snow etc and feet stay warm as toast lads at work with thick socks and boots and cold feet cant believe it
Hope it may help someone!

 

[mg123]

Have you considered one of the diesel heaters? They run from 12v and are relatively cheap to run. I have one in my 3 metre by 6 metre workshop and it really does blow out a lot of heat and keeps it very warm. I do have insulation in there as well.

 

[TheUnicorn]

maybe consider running out some armoured cable and investing in some low output heaters, its a cost somewhere, either in insulation and cabling or the cost of replacing tools

 

[Wildman]

no amount of insulation will heat up a cold space it will only keep it cold, ha ha