Pariffin heater reconmendations and ways to help heat a greenhouse

[Samuel1988]

Evening all,

I was just wondering if anyone could reconmend any good greenhouse heaters? At the moment, I am giving my greenhouse some more insulation and have been searching amazon for some parrafin heaters but using the ratings of the products I am not confident about making any purchases as of yet.

Also, I was just wondering if anyone could spare some advice on alternative ways I can heat the greenhouse? I've read about using barrels of water painted black but I would struggle to fit these in. I was also thinking of placing my seed trays on a homemade tray composter to see if it would heat the seeds up but I am not sure how big this contraption in my head will need to be in order to generate heat.

Kind regards,

Samuel

[rustylady]

What size is your greenhouse Samuel?

[SarzWix]

It depends on the size of your greenhouse and your budget really. I was given a paraffin heater, one of those with the round green base and 2 chimneys, but I didn't really get on with it; it was too big for my 6x4 greenhouse and not big enough for the 6x12, it was smelly and the fuel was quite expensive (At least £7 a week). So I ended up putting an electric heater in the small one and buying a gas heater for the bigone. I got an Eden propane one for £100 and the £30 gas bottle lasted for about 3 months from March to May (the heater has a thermostat so by May it wasn't coming on that often). So it was a big initial outlay but is more economical over the long term.

[Alison]

I have an electric heater wired into my greenhouse (no worries about fumes or topping up fuel) but I've not used it for about 6 years as I find it's not really worth the bother and costs a lot - I find that if the weather is cold later than normal then this is usually just a sign I am getting too eager and need to hold of sowing a bit longer. I don't overwinter anything tender in there but still find that it's good for protecting things from the worst of the weather.

[Aberdeenplotter]

modern parafin greenhouse heaters are crud. I had one which rusted through If you can get your hands on an ancient parafin heater off freecycle.freegle or fleabay. go for that. They are made of thicker gauge steel and are much better engineered.

[crannman]

i use a parasene 4 in my 6+4 greenhouse keeps it warm problem i find is finding the paraffin and the cost of it from £7 to £9 for a 4ltr tub

[Madasafish]

I have one of these: NEW PARASENE TWIN BURNER PARAFFIN GREENHOUSE HEATER | eBay

which is adequate for cold nights but not frosts. As you are in London should be OK.

I have used that and a blue flame one (much hotter, uses twice the amount of paraffin) for 30 years.. but the smell and hassle has worn me down .

I went electric - with a temporary cable to greenhouse, a proper thermostat and a electric fan heater.

So much easier to run, and cheaper as well as only heat when needed.

Wish I had done it years ago,

Edit

If you buy a paraffin heater, paint the inside of the tank with a decent enamel paint and leave it to cure for a week before using. They are unpainted and rust through otherwise.

[Two_Sheds]

Do you even NEED to heat your gh? I don't. It's still OK for overwintering pelargonium & fuchsia (the pellies have kept their leaves green all winter in there), and I start my season in March when day length increases, with hardy sowings.

Tender sowings (tomatoes, peppers etc) are started in Feb/Mar on a windowsill in the house, and go in the unheated gh in April/May.

No heating required.