Eberspaecher heater

[Whissgig]

After the cold temperatures this winter and having lost a number of plants in my greenhouse, my husband, who is an engineer, has suggested using an eberspaecher heater that he has spare to provide a heating system that will be cheaper than electricity. My greenhouse is an 10ft by 8ft lean to that is south facing at the bottom of our garden, it is on a wooden plinth so he plans to have an exhaust for diesel fumes passing through the plinth, so my question is will my cacti be adversely affected by heating the greenhouse this way?
Thank you Jackie

[NickHitchcock]

Hi Whissgig, I had never heard of them until reading your post. I have now read some of the questions others have posted on Google and one says this type of heater dries the air, so that would be a good thing. I am not technically minded but looking online it may well be a good idea. Would be good to know what others think.

[edds]

Like Nick, I hadn't heard until your post. I googled it and read a bit and hoped someone with actual experience would see your post and reply. Well done Nick for replying!

If the fumes are emitted outside of the greenhouse and cannot build up inside then I can't see a problem. Might be worth looking at where it takes the air for combustion from as if it is taking that from inside the greenhouse then it is always going to be dragging cold air in to replace the warm air it's using for combustion. If it's taking that air from outside too then I can't see a problem if the moisture and fumes are emitted out of the growing space.

As to the cost, electric cars are cheaper than diesel ones to run (just if you don't use those quick chargers.) Are you sure it will be cheaper?

[habanerocat]

The fact that he has the heater spare and the know how to install it makes a very viable option.

I remember hearing about these units years ago when they first came out. They are basically used to heat up a car's air space fast. As the engine heat up time is so slow. Gets you nice and cosy in a luxury car fast. Now it looks like they are used in yachts and boats also.

It depends on the unit but generally they are designed to turn on maybe twice a day during the coldest part of the year, so say about 400 times a year. Give your average car a life cycle of 10 years, I'm guessing they have a life cycle of about 4000 operations.

Greenhouse use would have a much higher duty cycle also. So I'm saying it might burn itself out faster than you might expect. Then you're faced with the cost of a new unit or changeover to electricity.

Basically I'm saying if it was me, I'd sell it and buy and electric heater and thermostat.