CARRYING OUT DELICATE AND INTRICATE REPAIRS on a truck is
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difficult at the best of times but in the winter, fingers stiffen and for some, crack open. If your workshop hasn't a permanent hot air heating system, then a portable means of space heating is essential to keep the workforce happy and able to work well. A cold workforce is an expensive workforce. Owing to the difficulty of testing several space heaters we just took for granted they would heat up the air and looked at price, apparent quality of build, ease of use and ease of manoeuvrability.
Some are fuelled by diesel or paraffin and others, propane. We assessed five heaters just to get an idea of what the market has to offer. The advantage of diesel and paraffin in this industry is that it's cheap and plentiful, you would of course run them on "red" diesel for choice, especially if your firm uses it for fridges and other plant. Another advantage is that the fuel tank is integral to the heater and you don't have to connect a separate fuel source like a gas bottle. The disadvantage of liquid fuel is when the heater gets out of "tune" it can leave an oily film on everything in the workshop, which might be handy for rust prevention but it doesn't make for pleasant working conditions. Gas is more expensive and is not so readily available as diesel but leaves no film and the heaters themselves are quieter, not having the need for a compressor to pump the fuel.
As in all things, it's horses for courses: we hope this will help with your choice.
DRAPER PSH 100
PRICE OUTPUT FUEL WHEELED WEIGHT CONTACT
COMMENTS: Simple to start—press the piezo ignitor button while holding down the "gas-on" button, keep it pressed for 30 seconds and the heater stays on. Nice big gas tap so you know whether the gas is on or off. Terrific amount of heat for a medium-size machine. Easy to move about on its lwo wheels but remember there is a gas cylinder attached. Not too noisy in operation.
£299.00 100.000Btu PROPANE YES 15kg 01703 266355
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PRICE OUTPUT FUEL WHEELED WEIGHT CONTACT
COMMENTS: Smallest space heater in the line-up, very effective and easy to move about at just 5kg. Frugal, with gas consumption at 0.8 kilogram/hour it's not going to break the bank. Starting is simple but this one does not have a regulator so it's 34,400Btu an hour whether you like it or not. Excellent for the small workshop where there isn't any petrol or thinners to ignite.
£119.95 34,400Btu PROPANE NO 5kg 01992 565300 PRICE OUTPUT FUEL WHEELED WEIGHT CONTACT COMMENTS: Good-value heater, auto-start, just fill up with fuel, switch on and away it goes. Can burn paraffin or diesel but it must be adjusted to the right pressure. Sealey sends these machines out adjusted for paraffin; to change to diesel, you need a special pressure gauge that fits the tapping of the spark plug. The pressure gauge costs £44.95; part number is 172/2400007. £229.25 70,000Btu PARAFFIN YES 25kg (dry) 01284 757500
SEALEY LP80
PRICE OUTPUT FUEL WHEELED WEIGHT CONTACT £224.00 4.2,000-106,400Btu PROPANE NO 12kg 01284 757500
COMMENTS: Extremely neat and compact for the excellent heat output. Simplicity itself to start—as with all gas fired space heaters—and like domestic fires and boilers, you switch on the fan, press the gas button, click the piezo crystal ignitor and it starts straight away. Hold down the gas button for 30 seconds and gently release and you have up to 106,400Btu an hour at your fingertips. Very easy to move about at 12k9 but remember it's attached to a gas cylinder.
CLARKE XR70
PRICE £299.95 OUTPUT 70,000Btu FUEL PARAFFIN WHEELED YES CONTACT 01992 565300 COMMENTS: Auto-start, just throw the switch and it's off. It can burn paraffin or diesel without much adjustment. What you do is start it up outside and adjust a lock-nutted screw at the rear of the machine to eliminate any flames or smoke. Also, there is no need to buy any equipment to change from one fuel to another. You can put either fuel in and it'll warm you up. A little dearer than the opposition though.