Eltex greenhouse heater

Thanks Dave, its certainly helped, thanks also to Marley.

Steve...

 

Hi Marley,

I don't seem to be able to get the snuff out lever to do anything. Is there a knack?

Thanks Sharon

 

I have been reading through this thread, bit of an oldie one. I used the latger Eltex, twin tanks etc plus a water tray above the flues. In fact it was only last year I dumped the heater. A few points to observe when using paraffin or any portable heater. Make sure it's standing firm and straight. Always, daily attend to the wick or in the case of bottled gas heaters the jet nozzle. This must be kept clean. Using paraffin heaters. Always remember that these under whatever conditions will cause condensation, within such condensation there will be harmful elements that may affect your plants. So allow suitable ventilation at all times, at the same time making sure drafts etc won't cause the flame to go out. The wick needs to be as SHORT as possible above the guide. A long wick will waste fuel, create more pollution and kill more plants. Take time in lighting the heater, wait and see and adjust. The flame. This principle applies to all types of gas and liquid fuels. The flame must be a solid BLUE and steady almost still. Problems with snuffing out the flame. Is the wick to high preventing the shut down. Turn the wick right down and operate. Sadly whatever method of heating a greenhouse has become a nightmare. There are other ways of protecting and overwintering plants. I will start a new thread on this subject.

 

I have just acquired an Eltex Paraffin Heater for my allotment greenhouse 8x6
(gas heater was stolen and was very expensive to replace) it is in good working condition but is minus the instructions has anyone any idea where i can get an instruction booklet? i know it is not rocket science,
thanks in anticipation.

 

Is it a 'blue flame' type heater? A pic would assist, or link to similar online.

That's with a circular wick with height adjustment that requires trimmimg to remove burnt stuff, a wick holder that has two flat wick ends sitting in the fuel tank, and a removable chimney above. If so, I've used several (Alladin) ones in the past, and ( I think) they all work the same way.

 

I've got a couple of old eltex paraffin heaters in my shed, they are the twin wick yellow flame types.
Paraffin is so expensive these days I dont think I could afford to run them anymore.
And to be honest the smell is bad, and the plants really dont like it.

 

It was the ever increasing cost of DIY store containers of parafin when places with pumps where you could fill your own small barrel ceased operating, plus the high cost for wicks for old heaters, that made me give up on them.

 

Yeah, we used to have a van come round in the 70s, used to buy 4 gallons for something like a pound, but now for some strange reason it costs more than petrol.

 

I used to use an Eltex (round wick), but I couldn’t ever seem to get it to burn properly, no matter how many times I fiddled with it. These days I just use an electric (2 kw) heater.

 

I used to use a double burner type with water tray above the flus. Each burner had twflat wicks. The idea was to keep the wicks low, thus giving a blue flame. Yellow flame was wrongly set and would give off the fumes.

 

I still have a parrafin heater that performed much too well. So I switched to a natural gas one run from the mains. The parrafin has a battery spark and was pretty safe but as others say, stinky and if the levels aren't bang on, your greenhouse will have a nasty coat of suet inside in no time.

I suggest trying it outside and then when you are comfortable, take it in. Wish I could send you the several gallons of parrafin I have left here. Or maybe I'll take it and the heater to the patio of my local. It's going down to freezing every night from now on....

 

Heating a greenhouse really has become very expensive. Paraffin was fairly cheap at one time, most homes had some kind of paraffin heater. Then the gardening fraternity developed and many gardeners began using greenhouses. This opened up a new world of gardening. Prior to this. Visits to botanical gardens was probably the only chance you would have of seein more exotic plants, unless your finances allowed you to travel.

The average gardener soon found him/herself out of their depths. To maintane a constant temperature under glass can become tricky. To quote my own feeble attempts. I used an Eltex twin heater. Fuel went up in price. I then bought a LPG heater. LPG, liquid petrolium gas, calor gas, butane gas. Here problems arise. The usual calor gas can actually freeze in very low temperatures. So fitting a special diaphragm valve had to be fitted. The gas cylinders for this are the red ones. This gas doesn't come cheap. So in my case. Enough is enough. So summing up. In my case. Privately heating a GH, was it worth it? Professionally I had used electric and hot water heating. Thankfully the MOD paid the bill. So back to basics. How to heat a greenhouse.

I'll tell you later. Rhat's if you are interested.

 

I found the 'yellow flame' flat wick types needed constant attention to ensure they didn't produce a load of fumes and greasy soot, difficult enough for use in a back garden, let alone a remote alloment.

 

Definitely agree that the blue flame ones are better.
Domestic indoor ones were always blue flame ones, I think they burn cleaner.

 

You must have kept the flame low
Mine would never burn blue how ever low you set the wick.
What the hell the water tray was for is a total mystery to me

Bearing in mind burning paraffin gives off water and making winter green house condensation even worse.