Advice please!!! Heating an outhouse

secretsquirr

In our house our kitchin is tiny so the plumbing for the washing machine is in the outhouse. The first winter we were here the pipes burst and it flooded so we had to disconnect everything and not use the washer for 2 weeks until it began to warm up.

As the pipes were all bare I bought extra thick lagging, even lagging the flexi pipe to the washing machine hoping to avoid this happening again. Well last winter I kept my fingers crossed but as the temperatures dropped we had the same problem burst pipes but this went on for well over 6 weeks .

So this year I have warm lined the walls and ceiling but want to get a low power consumption heater that I can leave on low over night that won't break the bank to buy and is safe enough to leave on unattended whilst not fleecing us financially to use it.

Any ideas what I should look at?? :question:

Thank you!

HappyMJ

If you purchased a mini oil filled radiator rated at about 800W and ran that 24/7 it should keep the temperature above freezing. I have one in my bedroom it consumes power half the time due to the thermostat cutting in and out and over 24 hours 7 days a week at 15p/kWh costs £43 a month to run. (400W/1000*24*30*£0.15). Substitute 15p for your secondary rate on your electric bill to get a more accurate figure.

WestonDave

Depending on the layout you might be able to get away with one of the greenhouse style heater tubes mounted on the wall very close to the pipes. They are pretty low power - often around 100W (similar to a lightbulb) but should give out enough heat near the pipes to stop them freezing, without trying to heat the whole room.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Long-Tubular-Heater-120w-Cream/dp/B001HAQQ7I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327934589&sr=8-1

secretsquirr

Thank you both of you!! Have just compared loads of different ones and that tubular one was reviewed by someone that is using it for the same purpose as me so have just placed an order.

Thanks so much, and fingers crossed they get here before it gets very cold this week!!

McKneff

Does it have a window, is it single glazed, you can buy window packs, its like a plastic sheet that you put on the inside frame and really keeps a lot of the cold out.

muckybutt

If its purelyto stop the pipes freezing have you heard about trace heating ?

Trace heating wraps around exposed pipework and gives off a small amount of heat directly to the pipe, available in different lengths and very cheap to run, its also flexible so will be able to go around the flex connections etc to.

Below is a link nothing to do with me but there as a guide :

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Index/Cable_Index/Heat_Tape/index.html?source=adwords&kw=heat+tape&gclid=CPS01PuP-K0CFUNTfAod3ntArQ

If its a general back ground heat you require then tubular heaters wont give you that much heat, but will stop the pipes freezing if placed underneath the pipework. For a general type low cost heat I would look at Skirting Heaters, google it there are many to choose from.

ormus

a tubular green house type heater is the obvious choice.
my FIL got one last year after many yrs using a simple paraffin heater.

if the building is well insulated, then a 100 w light bulb will probably do the same job.