# Gas or electric?



## LeetleGreyCells (2 Jan 2022)

Calling on the wise and good people of CycleChat!

After having moved house, I'll be spending quite a bit of time in the new garage for fettling the fleet and on Zwift. The garage is insulated, but will still be very cold in winter.

I've been thinking about getting a heater, but do I get _*gas*_ or _*electric*_?

*Gas* will be cheaper, but with an open flame and having to get a gas bottle refilled regularly.

*Electric* will be more expensive, but instant on/off and electricity is always on hand.

*Which do I buy?!*


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## cosmicbike (2 Jan 2022)

If you are going to be in an enclosed, unventilated space then perhaps electric is best for your own health.... Use a small oil filled radiator, or perhaps pedal harder and it's free!!


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## classic33 (2 Jan 2022)

Gas needs the same air you do, electric doesn't.

Would you be able to warm it prior to use.


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## LeetleGreyCells (2 Jan 2022)

classic33 said:


> Gas needs the same air you do, electric doesn't.
> 
> Would you be able to warm it prior to use.


I wouldn't want to leave a gas heater turned on unattended.


cosmicbike said:


> If you are going to be in an enclosed, unventilated space then perhaps electric is best for your own health.... Use a small oil filled radiator, or perhaps pedal harder and it's free!!


When I would be in the garage, the door would be closed. I take your point.


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## Sittingduck (2 Jan 2022)

Have a couple of oil filled electric ones for our summer house and conservatory, quite effective and one of them has a timer built in.


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## LeetleGreyCells (2 Jan 2022)

Sittingduck said:


> Have a couple of oil filled electric ones for our summer house and conservatory, quite effective and one of them has a timer built in.


I like the idea of a timer.


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## fossyant (2 Jan 2022)

I don't bother heating the garage - cold, yes, but leave the fan off first using Zwift, then put it on. I rarely heat the garage even in winter - I'll occasionally use a fan heater if it's minus something.


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## gbb (2 Jan 2022)

In a small packing shed at a firmer employers, we had infra red heaters mounted on the walls.
More efficient than many other kinds of electric heaters but they dont (particually) heat the air, rather they warm you when youre near them /it.


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## stephec (2 Jan 2022)

You won't need a heater when you're on the turbo, and surely if you're a northerner you won't need one any other time either, maybe wear a long sleeved t-shirt if it gets a bit nippy?


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## LeetleGreyCells (2 Jan 2022)

stephec said:


> You won't need a heater when you're on the turbo, and surely if you're a northerner you won't need one any other time either, maybe wear a long sleeved t-shirt if it gets a bit nippy?


It's mainly for when I'm working on the bikes. 

I tend to go on Zwift in the very early morning or late evening when the winter temperature has dropped. In the old house, I had my Zwift setup stationed in the conservatory where it was considerably warmer than the garage, but it's definitely going to be the garage at the new house.


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## LeetleGreyCells (2 Jan 2022)

Having just had a look at electric heaters available, I guess my next question is fan, convector or oil-filled?

I've never had to buy one of these before!


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## Alex321 (2 Jan 2022)

Open flames and wood shaving don't mis - or some might say they mix *too* well.

Oops. Wrong forum. Forgot I was in the cycling forum rather than the woodturning one


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## cougie uk (2 Jan 2022)

No need for heating if you're zwifting.

In winter I will start off with my trusty Aldi winter jacket on and take it off after about 5 minutes.

Then I'll start turning on fans.

Save the cash from the heater and spend it on the biggest strongest fan you can buy.

And for fettling - just put an extra Sweater on.


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## Dayvo (2 Jan 2022)

If a woodburner with a long pipe out through the roof on a concrete floor isn’t a possibility, maybe go for a gas stove.


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## tyred (2 Jan 2022)

Oh I thought this would be a thread about welding.


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## cosmicbike (2 Jan 2022)

LeetleGreyCells said:


> Having just had a look at electric heaters available, I guess my next question is fan, convector or oil-filled?
> 
> I've never had to buy one of these before!



Oil filled if you are going to be there for a period of time. Fan heaters provide instant heat, but by the same token turn them off and the heat is gone. Convectors are OK but tend to cool quickly also, oil filled maintain their heat better.


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## slowmotion (3 Jan 2022)

If you choose gas, unless you have a flue to vent the combustion products to the outside, you'll end up with a shedload of condensation.


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## Chislenko (3 Jan 2022)

Your best bet is an electric roller garage door, eliminates all the draughts thus keeping the cold out and no need for a heater. I have been out in the garage all day today doing some plaster boarding and fitting new downlights just in jeans and a jumper.


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## si_c (3 Jan 2022)

Oil filled electric radiators are by far the best for your use case, they come in varying power levels. I use one periodically (on it's lowest 800W setting) for my home office (roughly garage sized) to heat it up on a cold day when I don't want to, or don't see the need to heat the whole house. They are by far more economical than a fan heater, which don't dissipate heat through the room properly, and standard convection heaters where the temperature starts to drop the moment the heating goes off. The downside is that you don't get instant heat, so you would need to turn it on about 15 minutes before the room starts to warm.

Also if you are going to be using it frequently, consider a properly insulated garage door - this may help preclude the need for heat entirely.


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## newts (3 Jan 2022)

Carbon monoxide kills, I wouldn't use an 
unflued gas heater in an enclosed space. Portable gas heaters create high humidity, also not very healthy.


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## Drago (3 Jan 2022)

If you have the ventilation and a CO2 detector, then gas.


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## DRM (3 Jan 2022)

gbb said:


> In a small packing shed at a firmer employers, we had infra red heaters mounted on the walls.
> More efficient than many other kinds of electric heaters but they dont (particually) heat the air, rather they warm you when youre near them /it.


One site I go to for work has 2x large freestanding versions in the workshop area, which even in summer is probably an ambient 3 or 4c, and they make a noticeable difference, it's at the bottom of a larger room, warehouse high roof, the reach trucks have a 10.5 meter lift height and go nowhere near the ceiling, it's a cold store, so the warehousing freezers are at around -23c, hence it being so cold in the ambient areas, so I think you'd be ok in a garage, but wouldn't have gas in there unless properly flued, carbon monoxide poisoning isn't nice, I've had it.


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## Once a Wheeler (3 Jan 2022)

Battery-powered electric charged from your static bike and solar inputs.


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## gbb (4 Jan 2022)

We had a Calor gas type heater years ago, put too much moisture into the room and cost an arm and a leg to run, just my experience.


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## MontyVeda (4 Jan 2022)

LeetleGreyCells said:


> Having just had a look at electric heaters available, I guess my next question is fan, convector or oil-filled?
> 
> I've never had to buy one of these before!



Or an Infra-red panel?





not cheap to buy... mine was £135 for a unit measuring 100cm x 60cm, but at only 600w, it's relatively cheap to run.

Whilst it won't blow you away with the amount of heat emitted, it does work... but the trick is to stay under it (mine's mounted on the joists above my bench). It's a bit odd since it doesn't heat the air, so whilst feeling the warmth, you're still exhaling a cloud of condensation so something in your brain says it's still cold. 

Mine's in an uninsulated double garage so it seemed pointless trying to heat the air when all i need is a warmish corner.


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## Dayvo (4 Jan 2022)

@LeetleGreyCells 
Saw this and wondered if this might be of use!

https://vauni.com/?utm_campaign=202...0yJZn3luE89e8XPuTeOvNGKGo0ofy8DC4lIeFdR129InY


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## LeetleGreyCells (5 Jan 2022)

Dayvo said:


> @LeetleGreyCells
> Saw this and wondered if this might be of use!
> 
> https://vauni.com/?utm_campaign=2021-10:+Q4+Paid+Social&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=paidsocial&utm_content=home&hsa_acc=18854254&hsa_cam=6251179707154&hsa_grp=6251182480554&hsa_ad=6251182480354&hsa_src=fb&hsa_net=facebook&hsa_ver=3&fbclid=IwAR2QeIfoLb6G-W0yJZn3luE89e8XPuTeOvNGKGo0ofy8DC4lIeFdR129InY


Very cool . May be a little too flash (and expensive) for my garage though


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## MontyVeda (5 Jan 2022)

LeetleGreyCells said:


> Very cool . May be a little too flash (and expensive) for my garage though


looks like a bioethanol burner to me... cheaper/smaller ones are available. Have a look on ebay... although I'm not sure how efficient a small burner would be in a large space.


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## oldwheels (5 Jan 2022)

In my workshop which was the old lifeboat station and corrugated iron clad we used coal and wood in a cylindrical stove about 3ft high and 1ft diameter. The shed was 6 metres x 5metres and 5 metres in height. Once warmed up was very comfortably but in morning we had a calor gas heater as well to give a quick boost before any workers arrived. The stove flue was mostly inside the shed also and added to the heating area. 
An old cast iron bath lay outside in a secure area as a coal bunker.


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## Ming the Merciless (5 Jan 2022)

You won’t want any heating when on Zwift


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## mistyoptic (5 Jan 2022)

My turbo is in the garage with no heating. Not an issue once one begins to pedal


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## Kingfisher101 (7 Jan 2022)

Put a coat on, you do know whats going to happen re the price of energy in the U.K?


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