Diesel heaters for a cold garage.

[demographic]

Get one of them gas heaters that take the calor bottles, like what your nan had in her mid terrace in the 70's before she had central heating installed.

https://www.diy.com/departments/4-2kw-g ... 762_BQ.prd

Feck that, those bloody things chuck masses of moisture into the air and it knackers tools.

[fingerpuk]

They heat a garage very well. I've an all in one unit in the garage at the moment and its drying it out nicely.
It's the second one I've used, the other is in the van, and they've proved to be very reliable. I just run it on diesel and nothing else.

How do you pipe your exhaust out? Is it installed as a temporary thing?

[Bowman]

They heat a garage very well. I've an all in one unit in the garage at the moment and its drying it out nicely.
It's the second one I've used, the other is in the van, and they've proved to be very reliable. I just run it on diesel and nothing else.

How do you pipe your exhaust out? Is it installed as a temporary thing?

I cored a 28mm hole through the wall and poked a bit of 22mm copper pipe through as a temporary measure. When the garage is finished it'll be replaced by a through hull boat exhaust fitting, there's loads of different ones on eBay. Pretty cheap about 15quid. There's loads of videos on eBay about heat recovery lash ups for the exhaust but it's best not to bother I reckon, they usually seem to mess things up.
Is yours going to be fixed outside?

[David]

Just bear in mind that hot copper will burn you in a nasty way that will not heal......

[mangocrazy]

I would certainly use twin wall insulated pipe for the section that passes throgh a wall/ceiling, at the very least.

[Tomcat]

As long as you can vent the exhaust fumes outside, how about a gas caravan heater? I know from experience that they put out pretty good heat, and bottled gas isn't that expensive to run on. Deffo wouldn't use a free standing one that puts CO2 and water into the air inside thegarage.

[Sunny]

Decided to try the diesel heater. Will install it outside in steel box, drilling holes to get air in will be fun.

Out of interest, which one did you go for? Our workshop is twice the size you've quoted, and we were thinking about putting a wood burner in, but this might be a better plan...

[go_slow]

A mate of mine has a diesel heater in his shed, works a treat. He routed the exhaust through a couple of old radiators and then out, and those warm up really nicely as well - might as well use that exhaust heat!

They're also quite lenient on what they will burn, he's diluted old engine oil with diesel and it burnt it no problem.

[mangocrazy]

A mate of mine has a diesel heater in his shed, works a treat. He routed the exhaust through a couple of old radiators and then out, and those warm up really nicely as well - might as well use that exhaust heat!

They're also quite lenient on what they will burn, he's diluted old engine oil with diesel and it burnt it no problem.

Not sure how it is with diesel heaters, but with wood burners you need to keep the flue free of sharp bends otherwise they build up deposits which can later become a fire hazard. It's annoying to see heat disappear up a chimney, but flue gases need to be above a certain temperature to avoid build up of deposits that could otherwise catch fire.

[Potter]

I was thinking about a wood burner in my garage and another one in our annex.
There is no need for extra heating in the annex, it's got radiators, but it will be nice.

The garage is a different kettle of fish, it's a standalone double garage and it's built into a hillside, so built up on three sides up to about halfway, so damp seems to seep through the walls, humidity rarely drops below 80%, even my lathe chuck went rusty.
I don't know if there is a solution, but I might put a small wood burner in anyway.

[Skub]

I was thinking about a wood burner in my garage and another one in our annex.
There is no need for extra heating in the annex, it's got radiators, but it will be nice.

The garage is a different kettle of fish, it's a standalone double garage and it's built into a hillside, so built up on three sides up to about halfway, so damp seems to seep through the walls, humidity rarely drops below 80%, even my lathe chuck went rusty.
I don't know if there is a solution, but I might put a small wood burner in anyway.

A dehumidifier will drop the humidity,but you'll be running it 24/7. Anything above 60% will rust tools and stuff.

[Potter]

A dehumidifier will drop the humidity,but you'll be running it 24/7. Anything above 60% will rust tools and stuff.

Yeah I've got two, but as you say you have to run it 24/7.

[Skub]

A dehumidifier will drop the humidity,but you'll be running it 24/7. Anything above 60% will rust tools and stuff.

Yeah I've got two, but as you say you have to run it 24/7.

Fogging oil,WD40 or ACF50 everything metal,will slow some of the damage,at least until you find a better solution.

[Potter]

Yeah I ACF50'd everything and it's helped.
The humidity is only bad in one corner, it's air flow as much as anything, the damp seems to be in the back corner and the air doesn't move very well, so it seems to only really affect that bit badly.

[Taipan]

Age old problem. You either need to seal and insulate it and dry your vehicles before putting it away, or more realistic approach is to add more ventilation and airflow.

[mangocrazy]

Yeah I ACF50'd everything and it's helped.
The humidity is only bad in one corner, it's air flow as much as anything, the damp seems to be in the back corner and the air doesn't move very well, so it seems to only really affect that bit badly.

The only permanent ways to deal with the kind of damp you're experiencing is to either put in a cavity drainage system or get the walls and floor tanked. For either solution you'll need to pretty much empty the garage to get completely unimpeded access to the walls. Tanking is probably the cheaper option and you don't lose any internal space, but you're not removing the water coming through the walls, just blocking it.

This link gives a fair description of what's involved. I looked at getting my cellar tanked, but gave up when I realised the work and disruption involved.

https://www.permagard.co.uk/advice/tank ... llar-guide

[Potter]

This link gives a fair description of what's involved. I looked at getting my cellar tanked, but gave up when I realised the work and disruption involved.

https://www.permagard.co.uk/advice/tank ... llar-guide

Thanks - that might work, because three sides are buried into a hill it's probably more like a cellar than a garage.
There isn't really much to move out of the way, just a few shelves to move and a work top, it would take me less than an hour to clear that side of the garage.

I'll give it a try while we're there at Easter, if I can cut the amount of moisture that is coming in through all the walls and put a couple of high and low vents in then that might be enough to get the humidity <60%.

The walls have salt on them where it's dried out from time to time and left residue.

[mangocrazy]

Yes, your situation is analogous to a cellar but not as extreme, so tanking would be worth a shot I think. It doesn't need any specialised equipment either, which is good. With some tanking, better ventilation and judicious use of your dehumidifiers hopefully you can keep humidity levels down to manageable levels.

The only caveat is that when you block the moisture coming through one area, it will probably move to the next area that is porous...

[Rockburner]

The problem is probably being made worse by the shelves. Them, and the stuff on them, will be restricting the airflow into those corners and not letting the moisture be carried away.

We have to be careful on the ground floor of our cottage because the walls are stone/brick and there's no foundation, they're just resting on the ground, so moisture is carried up the walls and needs to exit somewhere. If we put a cupboard against the wall, that patch gets really damp because there's no airflow to carry the moisture away.

[fingerpuk]

Decided to try the diesel heater. Will install it outside in steel box, drilling holes to get air in will be fun.

Out of interest, which one did you go for? Our workshop is twice the size you've quoted, and we were thinking about putting a wood burner in, but this might be a better plan...

The cheapest one that came up on Amazon. Arrived with a massive hole in the package, sent it back. Weather warmed up so gave up for a while. Now looking again, want it done during the summer.

But I’ll get the £80 job, mount it outside in a metal box, pump the hot air in via an 80mm hole. Also take air from other side of garage back out to re-heat it. Don’t want it inside - risk plus noise.