Paraffin!

fox0512

Hi all

Im a newbie so be gentle with me..aand i hope this is the right section...

Im looking for some advise regarding Paraffin/Kerosene...The thoughts of another cold winter like the previous 2 is causing dizzy spells and shear panic in terms of heating my greenhouses...The paraffin heater I am going to use is quite thirsty (Wick type)

Can I use a good quality kerosene as apposed to paraffin??...Paraffin is easy to get hold of..but at 9.00eur for 4lt

Any help will be much appreciated..

Regards
Michael

Foghladh

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056096199

Hope this helps you

fox0512

Hi

Thanks for the link...

Some mixed opinions there it seems...I would like to imagine kerosene would work (a good quality one)..I dont see why not, would be a lot cheaper..I think paraffin is just a cleaner version of kerosene...I think

Foghladh

I do know that there are grades of kerosene. Jet fuel is a highly distilled kerosene for example and at the other end of the spectrum is home heating oil. Paraffin, as far as I know, was always the UK name for kerosene but as you said a cleaner or more distilled type. I'd be loathe to give you advice on going with a different type of fuel because frankly I've never tried it and god forbid I'd be wrong and you burn down your greenhouse or gas yourself! Personally I have an electric heater but I don't really use it that much. My greenhouse is only used from spring onwards. If it were me though... I'd try a high grade kerosene and see how I got on. I might have to renew the wick a bit more often but maybe not

fox0512

Hi Thanks again..

yes, I think your spot on with your advise on this...kersene burn hotter I think..and would be a much cheaper option to replace a wick than run it on paraffin..

Many thanks

sponge_bob

running a kerosene heater in there will probably work out expensive.
i was reading that you could line the inside of you house with bubble wrap to act as a cheap form of insulation. i presume that you could take it down during the day to leave in the sunlight and just clip it back up again at night. i also read something about soil warming cables, but these use electricity so i don't know how efficent they would be.

fox0512

Hi Sponge Bob

Thanks for the reply,

I will also be using bubble wrap in greenhouses but its not enough to prevent the inside of the greenhouse from freezing...I need to keep it at 5c min...Have some very rare expensive plants to worry about...Last year I lost many rare seedling due to a power cut so I dont want to take any chances this time around...

I will give the grade A kerosene a shot I think and see what happens...but of course you a correct in saying that this form of heating will be expensive if I cant get the heater to run on kerosene and have to use paraffin!

Time will tell I guess...I have bought the paraffin heater

I hate the winter

redser7

fox0512, look at this clip ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GruPPyo2Ho8

Was reading elsewhere about the heat retension/protection using cloches inside polytunnels and greenhouses in winter. They get and keep impressive temperatures. The tealights should be enough to keep temperatures up overnight and are extremely cheap. You can get bags of a hundred in the likes of woodies, b&q and 2 euro shops.
You could work on your own design but it should be easy enough to build one big enough for seedlings and a bigger one for plants.
Hope it helps.

redser7

much easier and cheaper to heat a small space than a large one.

fox0512

Hi Redser

Thanks for your reply...

The main greenhouse has some large plants in there so this area will have to be kept at 5c...This been said I do have a lot of small seedlings that would benefit from a smaller little greenhouse inside the large one...Some of the seedlings are tropical and as you said I can keep this smaller area now at a higher temp at lower cost!

Great idea ...thanks for the link...

redser7

Here are some statistics on temps in winter outside a tunnel, inside a tunnel and inside a cloche/cold frame inside a tunnel ...

Night time:
Outside tunnel = -4 degrees C
In a cold frame outside the tunnel = 4 degrees C
Inside the tunnel = 2 degrees C
Inside a cloche inside the tunnel = 10 degrees C

Clear sunny day:
Outside tunnel = 5 degrees C
In a cold frame outside the tunnel = 19 degrees C
Inside the tunnel = 12 degrees C
Inside a cloche inside the tunnel = 29 degrees C

Overcast day
Outside tunnel = 9 degrees C
In a cold frame outside the tunnel = 13 degrees C
Inside the tunnel = 15 degrees C
Inside a cloche inside the tunnel = 19 degrees C

Also, if you have a sunny location you could consider using mass storage to help with heating. Fill a dark coloured water butt or barrel with water. It will heat up during the day and slowly release it at night as it cools down. The more space you have, use more barrels.

If you have access to fresh manure, you could also set up a compost heap in the greenhouse. As it rots down it will heat up. You could sit the pots up on top.

Some great ideas out there :-)

yakyak

fox0512 wrote: »

Hi all

Im a newbie so be gentle with me..aand i hope this is the right section...

Im looking for some advise regarding Paraffin/Kerosene...The thoughts of another cold winter like the previous 2 is causing dizzy spells and shear panic in terms of heating my greenhouses...The paraffin heater I am going to use is quite thirsty (Wick type)

Can I use a good quality kerosene as apposed to paraffin??...Paraffin is easy to get hold of..but at 9.00eur for 4lt

Any help will be much appreciated..

Regards
Michael

Hi there, you should check out heaterking.com i got one of their portable heaters for the garage and it operates on parafin or kerosene, serious job and really efficient to operate, and best of all value for money.

An Ri rua

fox0512 wrote: »

Hi all

Im a newbie so be gentle with me..aand i hope this is the right section...

Im looking for some advise regarding Paraffin/Kerosene...The thoughts of another cold winter like the previous 2 is causing dizzy spells and shear panic in terms of heating my greenhouses...The paraffin heater I am going to use is quite thirsty (Wick type)

Can I use a good quality kerosene as apposed to paraffin??...Paraffin is easy to get hold of..but at 9.00eur for 4lt

Any help will be much appreciated..

Regards
Michael

Hi Michael, personally I wouldn't use normal kero if the unit states that it needs Tozane or paraffin. Definitely not for indoor house heating anyway. Partly because of impurities and odour.

For a greenhouse, I would say you would be fine. But again, mind what the seller told you.

For good quality and price 23L drums of paraffin / Tozane, try MCL i.e McLoughlins Oil in North Dublin (Balbriggan?) and Newbridge (www.mcloil.com) I bought an Inverter 5006 last year and was the only house in an estate of 200 to retain working water pipes and my house was rented and supposed to be a minefield. Not so....

But if you look up Dempo1, on the Laois forums, he happily uses a set-up like yours to burn normal kero and changes the wick often. He will also advise on wick supplies and you'll see our banter over the subject.

Best regards and I hope we don't have a repeat of that winter but having said that, I took all of the winnings I made on a white Christmas in 6 Irish and UK cities lat year on PP, and threw it on again !! :rolleyes:

ps the url is http://www.jhmcloughlin.com/Heaters.html and they call their paraffin 'ROLF'. Reduced odour. I have to say that it is INDEED reduced, as its sweeter smelling and more pleasant than the old Tozane they brought in. IIRC it was approx €24 a drum, so still a good bit dearer than kero on the PPL. Best to get yourself some advice from Dempo1, he's using that set-up of yours happily.

Thank God for Boards.ie (and AAM). And Money Saving Expert :-)