Fellow esteemed members of the fourum. I have a dry but very cold 8 by 3 metre detached garage with electrical supply. Looking at heating it in the most economical method possible. Bought a 6 foot 270w greenhouse pipe heater. Nothing. So returning that. Blow heaters will cost a small fortune over the next couple of months and no chance of central heating. Single brick and no gaps. I have been busy with expanding foam and silicone. Lol Any recommendations/advice greatly appreciated. Bikes have been coated in GT 85 and covered with dust sheets and bike covers. I was in there last night getting beer It’s bloody freezing in there.
No point trying to heat a garage that doesn.t retain it, it's never going to be economical. warm clothes and a small blower heater like the vesrions from machine mart are very good, if you can direct the heat at yourself while working it's a good place to be.
Couple of storage heaters would do the job. Charge up at night if you have economy 7 then leave on low to frost protect. Turn them up if you're planning on going in there to work. Failing that, an electric oil filled rad. Gas heaters work a treat but do create moisture/humidity which will lead to damp air.
Cold does not cause condensation. It's warm air on a cold surface that causes condensation. Hot cold hot cold hot cold will result in condensation. IME.
I asked a old bike mechanic / shop owner this question many years ago he advised that unless you can maintain a constant temperature its best to not bother just put a.breathable cover over them cold doesn't cause condensation Both use cotton sheets or blankets they just get damp
I used to get condensation in Feb/March as it was cold overnight followed by warm sunny mornings. The sun heated the air inside the garage faster than the motorcycles which were not in direct sunlight (and air seems to warm faster than metal) resulting in condensation. Just putting up curtains/blinds stopped the air warming so quickly as the light passed through the glass and made a massive difference.
Carpets on the floor with 1 x electric oil panel heater (approx size 1000W x 700H) turned on a low setting ticking away very nicely with 50mm roof installation and a tarpaulin dropped down in front of the garage to retain the heat dissipation,happy bikesP.s and my buell sits on a rug which many.many moons ago had the match box/dinky toys layout on
check you relative humidity - it should ideally be 50% - my log cabin garageshed is bang on due to the thick timber walls
The greenhouse heater placed under bike and thick insulated cover over bike. Job sorted. You can even wire heater via time clock
As has been said it’s the warm air coming into contact with cold surfaces. What I do is use a breathable cover which stops this, so far so good, I check every so often and there’s never any signs of condensation or moisture. I’m usually paranoid about these things, I also worry that the covers will scratch the bike, I know they won’t as they’re designed not to but it still plays on my mind.
I've been thinking about something similar, as I'm building a small shed, where 1/3 will be heated and 2/3 will be cold. As we get very cold temperatures here, I need to insulate it well. However, especially in spring, the problem arises with the warming sun, where the air outside can get warmer than inside the shed. That is why, a) I will not insulate the cold side, as it would increase the problem. b) I need to take care of the ventilation. On the warm side there will be a vent on the floor level to allow air in, and a vent and humidity driven ventilator on the ceiling level for air movement. Same thing on the cold side, except no ventilator. I think many of the problems occuring at least here in Finland, is when people want to save on electricity, the close all vents and everything when it's cold. You always need some ventilation, even if it feels odd to have cold air coming in, and you are trying to keep the room warm. And in the fall and spring, the ventilation is extra important. The more you insulate, the more you need to improve the ventilation. Just my 2c.
