I have a few Workzone hand tools bought from my local Aldi and the quality seems fair but hardly overwhelming. They currently have a Propane Space Heater at what seems a decent price and I rally do need some decent heat for my workshop as it's just too cold in there at times. On doing a bit of research the seems to be issues with the quality of some of the electrical items like drills etc. and other larger items that Workzone produce. There also seems to have been problems in some cases with Aldi not honouring the warranty when problems do occur. Does anyone have any experience of some of the larger Workzone products, how do you find them? I appreciate they are a bit cheap and cheerful but If, say, I purchased this heater I would want to get some value out of it and not find if goes wrong two minutes down the road and then I have to try and sort it out. I know about the sale of goods act etc. but I don't want to get involved in needless wrangling if basically the bigger items they sell are just crap full stop. Failing that can anyone recommend a really decent heater that works well, heats quite a large space and doesn't cost a fortune to buy or run.
a propane space heater will be expensive to run and if its the type i am thinking about can be quite noisy to..
From the box cover it looks like it is the usual vane driven hot air blown forward type. Maybe this is not what I need.
It's in a L shape and is 18' x 10' and 10 x 12'. Both parts connect so the area to be heated is quite large.
i give the boys a gas heater each, the type you would use in the house it just heats the area they work in . about £80 a month and quiet opposed to over £100 a week and noisy. they prefer it.
How about wall mounted Halogen units? The gym at work has them for when it's chilly before you warm up, they work really well but I'm not sure how much juice they consume?
If you can pick up a cheap wood burning stove and your not spray painting or anything its the best and most cost effective solution
For a workshop, radiant heat is what you are after. Something that warms the air is just not cost effective as a garage/workshop is typically leaky and often has its door open all the time. Radiant heating is what you need.
Thanks for the ideas so far, portability would be useful, but I do like the idea of a wood burning stove. I do sometimes spray in the workshop but try and avoid it due to the amount of dust it kicks up from overspray.
I agree that radiant heat is best for a workshop. It avoids the explosion risk too. But be aware that unless you maintain a constant temp, 24/7, then each time you reheat, any cold metal will run with condensation until it warms through, possibly causing corrosion issues. My shed is unheated and well ventilated for this very reason. My lathe (and my steel petrol tank) would be scrap by now if I heated it intermittently. How about one of those oil filled electric radiators ? You might pick up a secondhand one (or two) cheap in the local paper. And there's no worries about running out of propane. To be honest. I've considered fitting an old storage heater, as they're perfect for daytime use if you run them off night-rate electricity, and people often chuck them away. But for best cosyness and cheap fuel, a woodstove would be lovely. Somewhere nice to keep your tea hot too. Heck, I bet you could even boil the kettle on it, or brew coffee. And I can recommend a decent pair of one piece overalls for keeping the draughts out. Just avoid the ones with scratchy metal zips.
At the risk of saying something silly....what about a heated waistcoat? Heat you rather than the garage. No condensation. No wasted electricity/fuel. Hands etc. would still chill down a little but keep the core temperature up and it isn't too bad. Aldi/Lidl (I can't remember which) did cheaper heated waistcoats a while back. I looked into them for the bike but they didn't have a heat controller, you had to keep turning them on and off to remain comfortable. Rubbish on the bike but OK in the workshop. Wish I'd got one for wearing the garage. You could always wear it on the bike to if we get a "normal" summer! +1 for overalls as well. If your back gets cold then there's no hope.
The heated coats sound good i know milwaukee do a heated jacket they run off the rechargeable batteries,i have looked at them a few times for work but have not got round to one yet.
^^^ I am willing to consider anything that works, and that idea did not occur to me, so thanks for that. I do wear a lot of layers but it gets pretty cold after several hours. As I have a workshop full of bikes at times I then have to work outside which makes it even colder. What sort of cost are we talking about and do they restrict movement that much?
