Kitchen Garden Forum

I've just brought a paraffin heater in the B&Q sale as I thought it would be fantastic to get my plants off to an earlier start, I was intending to use it to keep it frost free.

The heater is a parasene super warm 4. Now I've got it home I'm wondering if it will be dangerous to have it running in my 6ft by 2 ft mini greenhouse..... has anyone used these, and have any thoughts? The long list of "do nots" has got me worried...

Cheers!

Hello Acrylicspud
I have several small Parasene heaters (586 - I think) for my cold frames. These have a mesh over the flame rather than a chimney like yours.
I haven't had any probs. with them but all these sorts of things do need to be treated with respect.

Just a few points which are all pretty obvious!
Let the flame settle for a while after lighting before making your final adjustments.
Paraffin will not burn on its own but when spilt on anything that acts as a wick it can burn rapidly if ignited so KEEP it off your CLOTHES.
Don't light it until it is in its final position.
Don't carry the heater when alight.
Keep your fuels carefully labelled - confusing petrol with paraffin could have tragic consequences.

John

PS Shop around for paraffin - ready filled containers at garages can be expensive. Some places will fill a container for you and they're usually cheaper.

Hi Acrylicspud and John,
I feel the one thing not mentioned is ventilation.
Where you have combustion you need a supply of air.
If you manage to get incomplete combustion through lack of air it can have dire consequences for your plants. It doesn't need to be a howling gale but it is certainly needed.
JB.

Perhaps it wasn't a bargain after all.... oh well.

Does anyone have any other ideas for frost free heater? Perhaps battery powered?

Dear Acrylicspud, the only time you really get ventilation problems in greenhouses, is if they have been insulated with bubble wrap. Then you have to allow for extra ventilation to be put on for air.
I think the heater you have is just a single wick and burns with a yellow flame, so the amount of air that gets into your greenhouse through gaps, should be fine.

Just don't have the flame so high it smokes.
Just have a little play and you will soon get the hang of it.

Just thinking about it, is bringing memories back of working at the old Manor house when i was a boy, and tending one of the old greenhouses.

Hi,

I am thinking about getting a paraffin heater. I note that an earlier posting - Nov 2005 - talked about Parasene going into admin and their heaters being poor. I assume they are out of admin as their products are widely on offer. Are they now better?

What was the one on offer in B&Q? I have an 8 x 10 greenhouse and am wanting one basically as an aid for early and late - Feb - Apr and Oct-Dec - though I could change my mind! So what size would be best?

Also, bearing in mind light levels, what sort of temperature should you be aiming at in Feb? Too much heat and too little light and the plants go leggy?

We used just such a paraffin heater in an 8'x10' greenhouse for many years without great problems, but we always kept one of the top ventilators open just a crack (which one, depended on the wind direction). The heater was used from end of February to approximately mid April just to bring on seeds and seedlings.

The only difficulty we found was the temperature regulation. Sometimes we would have to leave the heater on early in the morning when going to work, when it was still very cold, and then the sun came out during the day and the temperature would rise dramatically, even in early spring, although we had an automated heat-regulated vent in the roof.

Luckily, our greenhouse is not far from the house and we now have an oil-filled electric tube heater on a very precise thermostat which works much better.

Price of Paraffin, I noticed last week, £5.40 for 5L
which is certainly dearer than electricity.
I appreciate that Greenhouses on allotments simply cannot get electricity so you are stuck twixt a rock and a hard place.
I have doubts that heaters are really a necessary
aid in a greenhouse for normal plants it's only for Tomatoes, Peppers and Aubergines and these do not need to be in a greenhouse for months yet. They can be sown in the house and transferred when they are mature enough then you might need some heat.
JB.

Thanks! Yes - I was wondering about the cost and also where I actually get it!! As you say, Johnboy, the really sensitive plants are best sown indoors and put on window-sills. I was just thinking that a little bit of extra heat might just help in extending the season at front and back ends.

I have used paraffin heaters for the past 20 years. As we get lots of late frosts (April/May) . heating in greenhouse is essential. I heat mid March nightly then mid April when really cold at night.

Need no ventilation: even closed windows and doors leak enough.

I place mine under the bench with the youngest seedlings at first.

I have two heaters: one blue flame, one ordinary. Blue flame used when really cold, other one rest of time.


Could not use greenhouse without them.

I agree with Madasafish, i wouldn't be without a little heat in the grenhouse in early Spring, it does help to extend the growing season.

And as gardening is my main hobby, it is lovely to get in the greenhouse early in the year doing bits and pieces, when the weather is horrible outside.

Have used paraffin heaters for years and provided you
don't let them smoke ie have the flame too high, seedlings usually do very well.
I have a temporary walk-in greenhouse inside my
polytunnel aprox 6'x6' and a two burner heater keeps
it cosy.
Toadstool

I have a two burner heater that I use solely when frosts likely. Biggest mistake I made when a beginner was to leave it with too high a flame. Got up next morning to a smut filled G/house!

I have one tiny heater I keep for the mini greenhouse and a bigger one for the 6 x 2 house; never had any serious problems with either and I only light them when frost is expected and I have tender seedlings on the go - pretty obvious I guess...

Hello MKPoshfan
Nice to see these old posts bouncing back into life!
Like wines the old ones are always the best - this one is worth reading again.

John

PS Does your moniker indicate that you are a fan of a certain Mrs Beckham?