Greenhouse heater - which one?!!

To avoid condensation and achieve accurate temp control/economy I'd go for electric. If you haven't a power supply: I wouldn't bother.

i have an oldish calor gas portable heater and only use it when frost orecast. so it is good value and relatively cheap to run.

~my husband put protected,waterproofed cabling down to the greenhouse so that I can use an electric heater and to be honest mine came from homebase cost about £15 and I have had it years.It has a thermostat and I keep it so that it maintains 10 degrees during the coldest nights and winter days when the temperature struggles!
However if she isn't keeping tender plants over winter could she just get away with bubblewrap insulation lining it throughout?~unless you have a mate or are able to put the power in yourself it could be expensive to install~
best of luck with whatever you decide ~I am sure your mum will appreciate it!
Arlene

I don't use heat in mine but I do sink pots of Fuchsias into the soil so that the roots don't get frosted. A little straw over them can help too.

I personaly would not concider electricity' the chap who lived nextdoor to us when I lived in Wales was incharg of all the electrican's in the local steel works and he had a green house all electric' he electrifyed himself , you can still get the water heater powerd by a parifin lamp they are grate for a cool house ,which is what we are talking about ,unless your mum wants to grow banarers, the added bonous is that the plants thrive on the parifin fumes,and she wont mind filling the lamp a couple of times a week, so dont give yourself worrie give your mum a warm and safe greenhouse,

These days, you are supposed to have a certified electrician to install any armoured cables and wiring and TEST it.

However, it really is much better than paraffin, which causes condensation, and possible grey mould (botrytis) however careful you are with ventilation.

You can also control the temperature with the thermostat, as Arlene says.

If you can, go for electricity every time! Once you have power in the greenhouse, you can have an electric propagator and extend your growing scope so much.

Spritzhenry that is what the chap next door said, he was just the chap to wire it up he was not only certified but inspected the work of trades men, and he died, as for parifin all the years I used it I never had condensation or mold of any sort and it is a known fact that the fumes are benefishal to tomatoes, so please do not knock it untill you have used it , at the time I used it I could have had the lot in a 31ft by 14ft with 9ft to the apex, just one lamp to keep the frost off witch is all you need ,and I was never more than three weeks behing the hot houses in ripening off,because it is not more heat you need but air curculation, my plants were 2ft apart with plent of room to work around them, they made up for tbe extra room with their crop.It sounds as if I was upset by what you said but that is not the case I some times feal that I dont come across as I wish.

Im in the process of bubble wrapping mine. Cant afford to heat it with electric and dont trsut myself with gas or parrafin.

x x x

take your pc in there we can surply enough hot air so that you don't even have the expence the bubble wrapp xxx

i had paraffin and one morning everything was covered in soot and lots of plants didnt survive the carbon monoxide. I didnt use it after that as i had planned to be working during the day with it.

I have electricity in the greenhouse for the propagators with a residual circuit breaker for safety reasons.

it tends to be a sad fact of life that the very people who should know better [electricians/plumbers/builders etc take short cuts that they wouldnt dream of at work where legislation is enforced. still sad for the people left behind.

hehehe cliffo
there was planty the other week wasnt there

think Il stick with the bubble wrap SBG that must of been heartbreaking!!

x x x

and yes cliffo is right, a slight increase in carbon dioxide does help crops but too much with no light [unless you run lights]would compromise the plants ability to respire. with unfortunate consequences. again a cautionary note that both carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide are odourless/colourless gases and can have dire consequences for us too.
i started a summer job in a comercial glass house and it was rather warm even on a night, in fact i only stuck it for 3 weeks as i was getting heat stress.

~Seaburngirl~you are right~I don't like fumes and am much happier with my electric heater which can always be turned off and unplugged should the need arise ~I personally would not feel safe with paraffin~each to their own!

this might surprise you, but I agree with 90%of what seaburngirl say's the only thing that she said which made others blow it out of preportain' and I do not neserly mean the people that posted' but what must of gon on in peoples minds when they read it, the fact that she had a bad experance, if the lamp and by that I mean the wick trimed and chimny kept clean is treated properly, then these things do not happen, at one time there were only oil lamps and candles and the lamps had to be looked after ,never heard of anyone geting gased with an oil lamp, it was someone's job to sort the lamp out on a sunday morning, some people on hear will rember and most of us know some one that dose.

I have 3 parrafin heaters in my bubble wrapped 8' x 6' hot house (greenhouse).

1st one was a double burner, white flame heater (Parasene). Not hot enough for me during winter.

2nd was a Parasene coldframe frost protection heater. Still not hot enough with both running.

3rd one is a Valor Modulette 2 convector heater (Blue flame) that I swapped a 6' section of aluminium ladder that I had no use for. Heat achieved.

Valor no longer make this model (if the company still exists). I think it was from the 1970's. This now lives half way along one side of the greenhouse using one burner. The cold frame heater is on a shelf under the ginger I'm growing near the door. The white flame heater is at the far end of the greenhouse only used during winter.
I try to maintain a winter night temp. of 50+ degrees F. I top up both double burners every 2/3 days and the cold frame one every week.

the only thing i knew about trimming wicks came from the biblical story of the vestile virgins and as i have never been one [ a vestil one anyway ooh errr and i am not that old!] i hadnt been told to trim it. and of course death by monoxide poisoning wouldnt have been recognised then either. :o)

Well, I'M glad you're here to tell the tale, Sbg!! :-))

mmmmm me too. you cant be too careful with any form of energy really.

funny how some biblical stories stick in the mind. probably the terminology caught my attention lol.

the best one I heard , was the old lady in a cottage in the Welsh hills, and they put electricty in to her cottage the enginer went to a lot of truble explaning how to use it' then a month later the chap went back to the cottage to see how the old girl was coping, he said to her what do you think of it, well she said it's lovley' all I have to do is push that little switch on the wall down and I can see to light the lamp'

Hi all, sorry been offline for a while - thanks again for all your help - I think I may get an electric one as Pa is going to get electric connected to the greenhouse by a proper electrician he knows well! I'm gonna go with bubble wrap this year as I only have a very small greenhouse (3 x 4!) and this should be enough (she hopes!)

A bit of controversy there, wasn't there! Glad you're (almost) sorted!

Welcome back.

Hmm..yes..rather! ...I'll choose my topics more carefully in future!! lol!

Cheers

x Mustang

ive got a small electric fan heater in mine , we got it from b and q or wyevale cant remember which , it has a thermostat in it and you can put it on a frost setting as well over winter