recommend me a heater

Can anyone recommend a greenhouse heater?

Requirements:
* cheap (under �£50)
* electric
* no hot bits that cats (or silly humans) will burn themselves on
* keep jack frost at bay, but no more in a 6x8 insulated conservatory
* economical

Thanks!

 

I would suggest an fan heater with an anti-frost setting. That is probably as economical as you could get. You should be able to get one for around �£20 if you search around.

Be sure it has thermostatic control AND anti-frost setting.

 

have a look here, Sparkle
http://www.twowests.co.uk/TwoWestsSite/category/HEATING_ELFANHEA.htm

and they have the bubble wrap insulation, which you might find useful. It's fiddly to put up, but saves a bit of money on your fuel bills.....

 

also here

http://www.garden4less.co.uk/greenhouse-heaters.asp

 

According to Gardening Which the Parasene Frost Shield 559.

For me I use Two Wests Hot box - powerful fan for moving air, and thermostatically controlled heat.

 

Hi Sparkle. The system I have is Parasene Frost Shield, as above. Electronic thermostat http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/SMET05.html . Power consumption meter http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?ModuleNo=38343&doy=4m6&QV=Y and an inside and outside max/min thermomiter.

I only got these at the end of last winter - so they are unproven at the moment. The Parascene heater looks OK, but my intuition makes me suspicious of its internal thermostat. I suspect that it is a bimetallic strip, which is a bit cheap and nasty. They may switch on at say 4C but they might switch off at a temperature several degrees higher - wasting energy. So I override it with a purpose made thermostat that I can set to any temperature I want. I also have a max/min thermomiter to check that it is doing its job. And a power moniter to tell me exactly how long it is on for and how much it is costing me.

Also Fran may have a good point about a powerful fan for moving air. The Parascene fan is not at all powerful. This could result in an uneven temperature. The way to test this is to collect/beg/borrow as many max/min themometers as you can and put them in differant places, and see if they vary.

 

Peter I also have the Parasene Frost Shield and agree entirely about the control on the thermostat you have solved my problem by using the plug in stat thanks for the links

 

Walnut, I don't plug the external thermostat into the wall socket because that would mean that I was measuring the temperature at that point. Rather I plug it into an extension lead which can be moved anywhere. That means that you can experiment with where you measure the temperature.

 

Thanks Peter

 

Thanks all - I got a Parasene one, and I will carefully monitor the temp and see whether it's worth getting an external thermostat.

 

I use a tubular heater on a time clock. If you are in the right place you could find one off a demolition site but get an eletrician to check it out.

 

I purchased a Parasene 594 Frost Guard from Garden4Less, �£26.99 inc vat and free delivery. It's suitable for damp conditions. I also purchased from Maplins a Plug-In Mains Power & Energy Monitor �£13.49, it records the power consumption through the unit. So my lead to the greenhouse is plugged into it so that I can tell how much power is used. By noting the reading each day I will know if the heater has switched on or not. It's got to be cheaper than paraffin which you light "just in case".

 

Well done Larkshall getting a power monitor. This has been discussed before so I will not repeat other than to say try it in the house on all your electrical appliances. It is interesting and informative to know exactly how much fridges, freezers,TV on and on standby etc use.

 

Got a plug in themostat off e-bay as advised by you Peter last night was its first test it works a treat lowest temp. recorded on the max min thermometer was 10oc after setting the plug in at that temperature,well chuffed

 

Glad to hear it works all right Walnut - but I assume you won't be maintaining 10C all winter. :D