Eltex greenhouse heater

Hi & welcome to GC.. Yes the lever on the left is to snuff out the flames & the two with the knurled knobs are to adjust the height of the wick & the size of your flame the higher the flame the hotter it gets, BUT don't have the flames too high as it will smoke badly.. Ideally it should be a nice rounded yellow flame I think if my memory serves correctly. You will need to trim the wicks weekly as well. Oh & one last thing.. Empty out the parrafin left in it at the end of the winter, don't leave it in over winter as it goes stale & will not light.... :thumb: That certainly was a lucky gift have fun as they are excellent heaters..

 

:dh: Gosh yes, I think you may be a tad optimistic for Oldham.. Don't forget to check & adjust the flame after 5 & 10 mins justsomeguy.. Forgot that bit sorry..:dh: :hehe: I maintain my greenhouse through the winter at around 10-12c.. I insulate it well.. I used to use paraffin but have switched to propane now..

:wink: Wilroda not sure what heater yours is but they all need fine tuning & you will find the height for yours without smoking.. I used to light mine while I was doing something else up there if I could because my rule was check & adjust after 5 mins, then check & adjust again after after 10 mins, well, that always worked for me anyway.. They do smell horrid if turned that little bit too high & smoking..

 

Hi Steve, no there is no grade as such as far as I know, but you can get the Parasene kind from b&q which is about £7 I think but it is supposed to be a cleaner not so smelly burn..
Or you can get regular old parrafin from the local garage at £4... Both per gallon size..

Paraffin just stinks full stop whether you by the expensive or the cheap I think, but the plants actually seem to like that..!!

 

Steve I found 1 gallon of paraffin lasted around a week, sometimes longer & sometimes not quite so long if it was very cold in an 8x6 greenhouse, but if you are only going to use it now with a double burner I would expect a around a week + from a gallon..!! :wink: You do have to set the flame properly or it will burn away though, are you sure they were not smoking..?? :wink: Have another try.. I know this is moving away a tad, but I do have to say now though that I am very pleased with my propane heaters in the greenhouses & after ripping through the first bottle at break neck speed :dh: about 2 weeks...!! I now use a lg bottle of propane every 5 weeks, or more hopefully as it warms up. So after the initiall out lay each of my greenhouses cots about £20 to heat per month with propane.. They are thermostatically controlled & they are working out very well... There is no smell & it is very clean. The plants are all enjoying it too..!! It is actually a pleasure for me now to do things in the GHs now & not come away smelling of paraffin..!! :D

 

I've used and no longer bother with parafin heaters, last year I tried an electric warming cable to take the chill off but that was not a success. So it's interesting to learn about your propane heaters Marley, I've never considered that. What make of propane heater did you get and was it expensive?

 

Hi John, this is what I have 2 of these..

I think they cost around about £100 John, you also have to add in the initial cost of the propane bottles, I now have 4 & I am always covered at run out time on both heaters but the cost doesn't really come into it as the benefits far outway the cost for me John..
I have lost precious plants when the paraffin heaters misbehaved or suddenly started smoking badly in the middle of the night & you are greeted by paraffin smoke damaged plants... That happened 1 time too many, hence the propane heaters for me now & I have never looked back.. :thmb::D

 

Thanks for that Marley. I too have had issues with paraffin heaters in the past going out and losing precious plants - its very disheartening.