Not car related - I can't find a 'General Chat' section!

[Lmafudd]

One thing I know from reading/following this forum is that there are some clever characters on board who appear to not only give good advice but do it in a non condescending manner.

I know it's not car related but could anyone advise on a method of heating and when I say that I mean basically just taking the chill-off my garage, using a solar powered heater? I see that 12v fan heaters are readily available (to thaw cars apparently) but can I just buy a 50w solar panel, wire-on a 12v aux port and plug in a car heater perhaps? Sounds a bit too simple.

Apologies to all if I shouldn't be asking here, particularly as there is no chance of my car ever fitting into the garage!

[PaulWhitt20]

General Chat section is Lexus Owner Club Lounge.

Sorry, Not sure about your heating question.

 

[ColinBarber]

47 minutes ago, Lmafudd said:

Apologies to all if I shouldn't be asking here

No problem, I've moved it into the correct forum.

 

48 minutes ago, Lmafudd said:

but can I just buy a 50w solar panel, wire-on a 12v aux port and plug in a car heater perhaps?

Not sure it would be worth it TBH. 50 W isn't much, most portable car heaters are 100w+ and they work ok in the small space of a cabin, but a garage is much bigger - you would probably be losing heat faster than you are making it.

Also worth considering that a 50 W solar panel is only capable of producing 50w in optimal conditions. In the winter, when you actually need the heat, it will product much less.

As an example I've a 6.7 kW solar array on my house, currently it is very overcast and drizzling so I'm only producing 226 W.

 

Low power tube heaters are quite good for taking the chill off a garage, but would needs a mains connection and be on for quite a few hours a day. e.g.:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hausen-Electric-Tubular-Heater-Greenhouse/dp/B01BPA18JU?th=1

[HPS13]

Apart from providing a heat source, I would look into ways of insulating the garage, especially the garage door where a lot of the heat loss occurs. 

Also, is your garage integral or separate from your home? 

[Spock66]

I remember my dad having an old paraffin heater that would be used in the winter months, something like this.

https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/engineheater.htm

[Malc1]

Can you still buy paraffin for heating ? 
used these heaters a lot in the 1970’s or so 

Malc 

[NemesisUK]

38 minutes ago, Malc1 said:

Can you still buy paraffin for heating ? 
used these heaters a lot in the 1970’s or so 

Malc 

Approx £3 per litre from B&Q. Gardeners use it for heating their greenhouses....

[Rabbers]

58 minutes ago, NemesisUK said:

… Gardeners use it for heating their greenhouses....

… and for starting a bonfire on damp days.  

[Lmafudd]

Thing is:

A. I wanted low-priced running costs and

B. I don't want to burn down the building.

Thanks for everyone's help though! 😜 

[Boomer54]

You don't say what sort of duration you need the heat for and you could also give some indication as the build of your garage. Are all the walls external for example. The roof, what's the construction and situation regarding current insulation.

There's a world of difference in terms of resolving your problem depending upon what you are trying to do. Prolonged usage that in effect means it's virtually an habitable space is one thing. Couple of hours for recreational manshed use is another. For the latter I would just get a simple 2kw (or multisetting) portable electric heater. The heats instantanteous and turns off when you leave. You can retain the heat and cutdown ongoing costs by lining walls and possible roof using a simple batten system in conjunction with either polystyrene ,or insulative wallboarding depending on how far you want to go. Really you cut the length of this 'string' according to what kind of usage you are envisaging.