Heating option for Garden shed

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Hi All

I have an old wooden shed about 9x15 ft. It is really old and in poor state. The hardwood board floor is sagging in various places, and also dampness is seeping through it making the tools and contents in the shed getting wet and damp. The walls are also just single layer with no insulation, so inside the shed is really cold and damp in the winters.

Not wanting to spend much, because the shed is very old, and will need replacing with a new one some time in the near future. But meanwhile, just trying to get out as much as out of the old shed as is, I am planning to do some bare basic insulation inside the shed using some bubble wraps stapled on the walls, and then screw OSBs onto the walls. On the floor, I will staple waterproof membrane, and then screw OSBs on the top of it.

It will be really slow and time consuming process because the shed has a lot of stuff in it and 3 - 4x shelves which need to come out the shed for the work to be done.

But before that, I was also thinking of some kind of heater putting on. Options seems a simple cheap electric fan type heater or paraffin heater just to get some heat when trying to find something in the shed, because it is really damp and cold in there, and also on some days I would do some work in the cold shed such as sharpening the garden hoes on the stone wheels.

Although it may give out far more heat than cheap electric fan heaters, I have suspicion that Paraffin heater will be smelly and can be bad for health if it was emitting CO2 when someone is working in the shed.

Which would be better option? Also was wondering what heaters you are running in your own shed during winter just trying to get some ideas for my own shed heating option for the condition of the shed. Thanks.
 
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What about an oil filled radiator? Probably cheaper to run than a fan heater.
 
do NOT do parafin it gives out around 100% moisture to amount off fuel burnt
bubble wrap forget it ????heat the shed forget it you need a minimum off perhaps 50mm insulation iff the shed leaks then thats not really an option
what height is the shed ??
fan is best for quick heat but any electric needs a second mortgage, even with say 100mm insulation as in several £££ a day dependant on size as heat loss is massive

my shed is 10x12ft apex about 7ft average height a mixture off 4" rockwool and foam insulation 20 mins off 1kw fan will raise the temperature from about 10 to 15 degrees but as the heat spreads out to the colder parts will drop to around 12 degrees then within an hour or so back to 10 so at 20p a kw the 20 mins burst cost 7 ish pence so perhaps the average to raise 2 degrees would be 7p an hour so at zero outside keeping to say 8 degrees would be perhaps 28p an hour in a well insulated shed ??
but there is no knowing without trying ??
 
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Have you seen the price of OSB recently? Personally, if the shed is old and rotten I would move immediately to plan B and replace it with a new insulated structure. Anything you spend right now bodging it is frankly wasted. Insulation is only beneficial when you also have a heat source you are trying to insulate. a 9 x 15 badly insulated shed is going to soak up power and still be cold.
 
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My shed is 9x15 ft, and the height is about 7ft also. The other day, when I went into the shed, it was colder than outside. It was so cold, I couldn't stay in the shed too long. But I had to find some tools, and it was going to take sometime. So I pulled out the old paraffin heater from the corner of the shed. It was there maybe for a couple of years without being used in that time, so it was rusty, and also the flame spreader was damaged. But it still had the old paraffin in the tank about 1 litre. I lit it up, and it burnt nicely albeit with organgish flame due to the old stale paraffin and also the damaged flame spreader (supposed to be blue flame for the best combustion).

It gave instant heat, and the shed was getting toasty warm. I had to open the shed door, because the paraffin heater smelt bad as it was burning. I was able to find all the tools I was looking for which took a while while the paraffin heater was burning and giving out good heat. But the smell was not nice. On that night, I felt a bit raw in my throat due to the bad air from the paraffin burning inhaled in the shed earlier I was guessing.

As you said, replacing the shed with the new one would be best, but it will need some funds, actually considerably big amount of fund if bought. If I made the shed by myself, well it will still need considerable amount of fund and time too. So it is left as one of the upcoming project. But meanwhile for short term strategy, I was thinking of the cheap temporary insulation of the shed, and also the heater options.

Yes, the price of OSBs were not cheap in B&Q the other day. One I was looking at (can't mind the the size of the OSB, but not too big I recall) was £20 per a sheet. But a new shed project will cost me roughly about £2000 - £2500 from rough estimate for the same size of the current old shed.
 
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It will not be making sense running electric heater or paraffin heater all day, as you say, it will need a second mortgage. Paraffin price also has gone up from £ 5.99 for a 5 litre bottle to now £7.99 in B&Q. That's about 34% increase from a couple of year ago. But getting some heat while I am in the shed for a half hour to a couple of hours on odd weekends, some sort of heating is a must it looks.
 
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Get a set of insulated overalls, it's like wearing a duvet.
Add more vents to the shed.
 
Heating a shed will have no affect on damp, needs ventilation , your ideas are pointless and will achieve nothing.
 
It will not be making sense running electric heater or paraffin heater all day, as you say, it will need a second mortgage. Paraffin price also has gone up from £ 5.99 for a 5 litre bottle to now £7.99 in B&Q. That's about 34% increase from a couple of year ago. But getting some heat while I am in the shed for a half hour to a couple of hours on odd weekends, some sort of heating is a must it looks.
its the very worst thing you can do you might as well half fill a watering can and spray the shed as every litre burnt adds a litre off water to the air that will go strait to the cold metal

just to add it could be an old wives tale that its quart for quart or gallon for gallon burnt but it is a heck off a lot :D
 
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My paraffin heater is a similar one to the smaller Aladdinette II in this video, and it works quite nicely. For quick heat in the cold damp shed cutting some woods, it seems OK as long as the shed door is kept open for the ventilation.

 
If the paraffin is £1.60 a litre it would probably be cheaper to run an electric heater
 
If the paraffin is £1.60 a litre it would probably be cheaper to run an electric heater

This is true. Only thing is a small electric heater was not giving out much heat for 9x15 ft shed. Maybe needs more powerful electric heater, in which case similar running cost?

My small Aladdinette II (2 inch wick) was burning far less paraffin than the larger Aladdin 3 inch wick heater (had this before - burning paraffin fast as if no tomorrow) making it more economical to run without reducing the amount of heat output. I replaced the broken flame spreader with a new one, and it is burning far better than before.
 
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By the sound of this shed, a coating of paraffin and a match to the shed itself would be the best way of warming it :)
 
By the sound of this shed, a coating of paraffin and a match to the shed itself would be the best way of warming it :)

Yes, it is an old shed. I think it is slightly better condition than the above Youtube video " the Rotten Shed". It goes well with old paraffin heater. I was wondering what others use for their OLD shed heating, and if there would be some better ideas for heating old sheds. :)

Not going to fork out £2k for a new shed now, because the old shed is still solid and useful shed albeit with the problems.
 
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This is true. Only thing is a small electric heater was not giving out much heat for 9x15 ft shed. Maybe needs more powerful electric heater, in which case similar running cost?

My small Aladdinette II (2 inch wick) was burning far less paraffin than the larger Aladdin 3 inch wick heater (had this before - burning paraffin fast as if no tomorrow) making it more economical to run without reducing the amount of heat output. I replaced the broken flame spreader with a new one, and it is burning far better than before.
the amount off heat with parafin is fairly closely matched to the amount burnt ??
 

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