Propane greenhouse heater

[Paulieb]

Hi peeps,

I've just purchased a greenhouse heater - a Lifestyle eden 2kw propane heater.

I have an 8x12 glass greenhouse which I plan to use it with. I appreciate its on the small side, but can insert a partition (or similar) to only heat what is required.

I do have a useful very low cost supply of propane with which to experiment with which should be helpful.

My initial plans are to try to establish how much it will cost, to keep the area frost free (so min 4 degrees). Initially to get a head start in Feb/Mar/Apr as we've no south facing windows and SWMBO doesn't like seedlings and potatoes on east and west facing windowsills.

Then in the future there is the possibility of continuing to grow certain crops right through the winter (salads, some brassicas, etc) that will struggle to actually grow in a cold greenhouse.

Does anyone have any tips? Ideas? Thoughts? that might help me.

I'm aware that minimising heat loss is equally important as getting the heat going in, so will be making sure the GH is bubblewrapped when heating is required.

[vikkib]

I don't know the answer but I'm keen to find out too!

Realised over the last few days my greenhouse isn't as 'frost free' as I thought it was! As a result our dining table is covered in seed trays as the shallots and broad beans I was hoping would germinate in the GH don't stand a chance!

[SarzWix]

I've got the same heater, and used it to heat a 6x12 from March through May, keeping it to 10c which is what tomatoes prefer. That was in a largely uninsulated plastic covered g/house. I had a mid-sized gas bottle (19kg) and it lasted through the whole time.

The main thing that I found difficult to get right was the ventilation - the heater will shut off if there's too much build of gasses, so you need to make sure that some clean air can get in near to the heater. Because mine was plastic covered, I just put a small slit in the bottom and put a piece of drain-pipe through it which was enough.

Also, I'd run it for at least a week with a max/min thermometer in the place your plants will sit, and check it every day to see what sort of temp you're maintaining. Aim for the high side, because the thermostats aren't the world's greatest...

[Paulieb]

Thanks for that, thats great. I've got a couple of min/max thermometers so was going to monitor it for a week or 2, and also monitor what the outside temp is. And have also read that ventilation is important so very useful information.

I'm definately going to use it for a boost from March to May, and yes a minimum of 10 degrees is what toms need, so will aim for that in those months.

Perhaps only testing this time but will, monitor the temps throughout end of Jan and Feb, to perhaps use it all next winter for increased production, and overwintering.

[The Large One]

I've got the same heater, and used it to heat a 6x12 from March through May, keeping it to 10c which is what tomatoes prefer. That was in a largely uninsulated plastic covered g/house. I had a mid-sized gas bottle (19kg) and it lasted through the whole time.

.

can i ask roughly how much a 19kg bottle is to get refilled nowadays ?? have not done for so long just thinking i might go the same option as still not got the electrician in for powering my GH and will need some heat soon

[Paulieb]

can i ask roughly how much a 19kg bottle is to get refilled nowadays ?? have not done for so long just thinking i might go the same option as still not got the electrician in for powering my GH and will need some heat soon

'Go outdoors' are quoting about £30 on their website, with lots of others online around the £35 mark. It may be possible to find a cheaper local supplier.

Supposing you ran it for the complete 3 months then that equates to about 30 pence a day. Obviously there are lots of variables, but to keep a greenhouse at 10 degrees I wouldn't say thats a large amount - although without a comparison to electric it could be really expensive!

[The Large One]

thanks
well its allot cheaper than parafin heaters and they get no where near the heat i would like

[SarzWix]

That's what I found TLO. Electric isn't an option at the allotment, and the paraffin was both expensive and smelly...

Having changed my set-up on the allotment, I'll be testing and then using the heater in an 8x6 glass greenhouse this year, so I expect the gas useage to go down a bit from last year

[The Large One]

ok, taken the plunge on a 2kw propane heater
need to reduce the size of the GH by making a compartment with wrap as mines 16 x 10 which is a bit bigger than recomended but only looking at min temp of 4-5 degrees
one thing i noticed on the description (on amazon) it says max propane useage 0.350kg per hour, now i'm hoping thats menat to be grammes and not kg as that would mean at full chat a 19kg bottle would only last 10 days
when it arrives i'll get it setup and post my findings

[Potstubsdustbins]

Strange I make the usage at that rate to last 54.28 hours at max burn.

0.350kg is just over a third of a kilo.

Potty

[Paulieb]

Got mine off ebay and it arrived today, so may set it up on sunday and test it for a week. Will try to remember to report back too.

[The Large One]

sorry to replay this thread but can anyone who has one of the Eden propane heaters tell me somethign about theirs
i set mine up a couple days ago and it seems the adjuster for the burner is not working
the flame is the same height whether its on 0 all the way through to 6
i would assume that these numbers should regulate the amount of gas burn and maybe mine is faulty
or whether it needs to run for a few minutes for it to reach temperature before it works correctly
any advice welcome

[Potstubsdustbins]

As I understand it this heater is thermostatically controled. Therefore it will always start on full fire no matter what number the thermostat is set to. What you should be looking for is that the flame modulates down as the GH warms up.

Check what temperature each number is supposed to give you, check your GH house thermometer and compare. When the set temp is reached the flame should then start to reduce.

Don't site your thermometer higher than the heater thermostat phial during the test as this will give you false readings.

And don't forget to allow free fresh air to the appliance.

Colin

[The Large One]

Thanks Colin, will give it a full run out tomorrow, only had chance to put it together and fire it up before I lost the daylight
Will crack open a side vent to allow fresh air in as well

[The Large One]

ok an update
i purchased the item through Amazon so thought i'd email the seller which is quite a large well known greenhouse company
anyhoo, seems like the heaters were shipped with parts of the instruction manuals missing...doh
where i thought the control knob ( graduated 0-6) would regulate the flame height etc this is not the case the numbers are a guide to temp control and you need to pull the therm sensor out the unot and expose it to the greenhouse temp and when the temp is reached the flame stops just leaving a pilot light so the flame is always at a constant height/burn rate
as it was warmer in the GH this weekend i was able to work it properly and in fact it seems to be a clever bit of kit
if anybody else has one of these and would like an updated manual pm me their email address

Nick