Hello!
I hope it’s clear to everyone considering an answer that radiant heating is a different matter than heating intended to raise the overall room temperature.
Plan: Make a workshop shed usable in winter, which will be used occasionally and then spontaneously for just a few hours.
Problem: Not possible to heat the space, and a chimney is not an option, also not allowed from a building regulation / planning permission perspective.
Approach: Electric heating. Not as room heating, but as mentioned, large-area radiant heating. The room temperature can be as low as 10-15°C (50-59°F) or less. Possibly add solar air heating, but the roof is in an unfavorable position.
Advantages: Very fast response, affordable, simple.
My idea: Use an electric underfloor heating mat and convert a few square meters into radiant panels to hang overhead. I know the radiation angle isn’t ideal for me this way, but otherwise I don’t have enough surface area.
They have about 160 W/m (approximately 49 W/ft), which isn’t much, but the goal is just to prevent freezing.
If I make two strips of 0.5 x 4m (1.6 x 13 ft), that’s 640 W total, which would cost roughly 1 EUR for 6 hours of use. Just as a reference. I could increase the width a bit with an aluminum sheet as a carrier.
What I don’t know is whether this surface area and power output will be sufficient in the right order of magnitude? For now, I would skip any control system; it would be simple enough with a resistive load.
Does anyone have experience with this?
Best regards,
Dirk
I hope it’s clear to everyone considering an answer that radiant heating is a different matter than heating intended to raise the overall room temperature.
Plan: Make a workshop shed usable in winter, which will be used occasionally and then spontaneously for just a few hours.
Problem: Not possible to heat the space, and a chimney is not an option, also not allowed from a building regulation / planning permission perspective.
Approach: Electric heating. Not as room heating, but as mentioned, large-area radiant heating. The room temperature can be as low as 10-15°C (50-59°F) or less. Possibly add solar air heating, but the roof is in an unfavorable position.
Advantages: Very fast response, affordable, simple.
My idea: Use an electric underfloor heating mat and convert a few square meters into radiant panels to hang overhead. I know the radiation angle isn’t ideal for me this way, but otherwise I don’t have enough surface area.
They have about 160 W/m (approximately 49 W/ft), which isn’t much, but the goal is just to prevent freezing.
If I make two strips of 0.5 x 4m (1.6 x 13 ft), that’s 640 W total, which would cost roughly 1 EUR for 6 hours of use. Just as a reference. I could increase the width a bit with an aluminum sheet as a carrier.
What I don’t know is whether this surface area and power output will be sufficient in the right order of magnitude? For now, I would skip any control system; it would be simple enough with a resistive load.
Does anyone have experience with this?
Best regards,
Dirk
Dirk16 schrieb:
Proposed solution: electric heating. Not as space heating, but as mentioned, as a large-area radiant heater.
The room temperature may be only 10-15°C (50-59°F) or even lower. Because of the missing "not" and the 10-15°C (50-59°F) room temperature, I wasn’t sure if you really meant radiant heat.
Somehow, I recall a similar discussion about heating a garage.
Thermal insulation: Not an option for now—“a few dollars” won’t get you anywhere, because there are several building components involved and other reasons (the space might only be used temporarily).
Air heating is also too slow when you only use it sporadically: it’s a workshop where I occasionally or sometimes for longer periods need to “quickly get something done.”
A powerful fan heater would only make sense for very short use (30 minutes to 1 hour) or as a supplement when it gets really cold. But I might also need to work there for 3 to 4 hours at a time.
Regards,
Dirk
Air heating is also too slow when you only use it sporadically: it’s a workshop where I occasionally or sometimes for longer periods need to “quickly get something done.”
A powerful fan heater would only make sense for very short use (30 minutes to 1 hour) or as a supplement when it gets really cold. But I might also need to work there for 3 to 4 hours at a time.
Regards,
Dirk
Musketier schrieb:
Because the missing "not" and the 10-15° Celsius (50-59°F) room temperature, I wasn’t sure if you really meant radiant heating.
Somehow, I recall a similar discussion about a garage that needed to be heated.Oh, you’re right, sorry, that was confusing.
Of course, not as space heating, meaning not warming the air or contents of the room (I’m not 100% sure if that term fits).
The temperature reference comes from acquaintances who operate a more than 6-meter (20 feet) high industrial hall (auto repair shop) with 15° Celsius (59°F) air temperature, using water-based radiant heaters mounted on the ceiling.
Regards,
Dirk
I am still not sure whether an electric underfloor heating system produces adequate radiant heat. On the one hand, it is not designed for that purpose, and on the other hand, in my opinion, it is too weak.
I just found some information on a website about ceiling heating:
Guideline values for specific heating demand Depending on the building type, the heating demand per square meter of living space (with a room height of 2.5m (8 feet 2 inches)) ranges from 10 watts (passive house) to 120 watts (for houses without thermal insulation and single glazing).
The workshop probably requires more than 120 watts/m². However, you probably don’t need residential living temperatures. Still, with 650 watts for 35m² (12.2 square feet), I hardly believe you will actually feel any effect from the heating.
By the way, patio heaters typically have between 1500 and 2000 watts and radiate heat over about 10m² (108 square feet).
I just found some information on a website about ceiling heating:
Guideline values for specific heating demand Depending on the building type, the heating demand per square meter of living space (with a room height of 2.5m (8 feet 2 inches)) ranges from 10 watts (passive house) to 120 watts (for houses without thermal insulation and single glazing).
The workshop probably requires more than 120 watts/m². However, you probably don’t need residential living temperatures. Still, with 650 watts for 35m² (12.2 square feet), I hardly believe you will actually feel any effect from the heating.
By the way, patio heaters typically have between 1500 and 2000 watts and radiate heat over about 10m² (108 square feet).
Aha... that gives me some guidance, thanks! Maybe I should actually build a passive house workshop.
Or a middle ground: reasonably effective insulation and then live with lower indoor temperatures.
The underfloor heating provides 160 W/m² (15 W/ft²), so it ultimately depends on the area. I could even run two strips (positioned diagonally) side by side, with the lighting in the middle.
I’ll probably have to do a test with 1 m² (11 ft²) and hang it in the current (still open) shed.
The solution will likely be to combine different systems, depending on how cold it gets.
Later on, there will probably be some insulation added, which might then be sufficient.
Best regards,
Dirk
Or a middle ground: reasonably effective insulation and then live with lower indoor temperatures.
The underfloor heating provides 160 W/m² (15 W/ft²), so it ultimately depends on the area. I could even run two strips (positioned diagonally) side by side, with the lighting in the middle.
I’ll probably have to do a test with 1 m² (11 ft²) and hang it in the current (still open) shed.
The solution will likely be to combine different systems, depending on how cold it gets.
Later on, there will probably be some insulation added, which might then be sufficient.
Best regards,
Dirk