[Leisurely]

I am looking for a cheap and environment friendly way of heating my greenhouse.
Would a small wood burning pot bellied style stove be suitable?
What are the pros and cons of these types of heaters?
How efficiently is the combustion (do they give off a lot or only a little smoke) I do not want to annoy the neighbours?

[richyrich7]

we have a wood burner in the living room not much smoke is given off once it's running hot, it may be a little labour intensive for a greenhouse tho' who's gonna stoke it at night when you probably need it most ? also they kick out a lot of heat, probably too much for a small greenhouse. The victorians used them in their huge ones.

Ever thought of electricity ?

[Leisurely]

How long on average do they burn for without stoking?

[Gwiz]

Hmm, tricky
I would have thought that electricity at night, or parafin would have been the best option.
woodstoves in the greenhouse are a bit labour intensive, and can get too hot, they do give of a bit of polution regards spent carbon, but then again, there isn't much that wont.
What size is the greenhouse? if its quite large, you could try water barrels filled with ( surprisingly enough ) water, and painted matt black to absorb as much heat from the sun as possible durring the day. these will then radiate a little heat durring the night and keep the temperature above freezing ( a bit ) ( in theory )

[Leisurely]

Thank you I think I will give the stove a miss. It was just an idea. At present I have a small paraffin heater but thought that it would not give out enough heat to germinate seeds. My greenhouse is 8x6

[Gwiz]

you could just try making a warmed propagating bench with some soil warming cables and a thermostat,
the parrafin heater will stop things getting a bit too chilly at night.
I've had quite a lot of success in the past with a set up like that.

[richyrich7]

You could also just heat a section of it rather than the whole lot, I do with mine I create a "curtain of plastic" along one side this keeps the heat around the bench with the seeds on and no where else, if you can electricity is better  IMHO less humidity and more air flow ( using a fan type heater).

[Leisurely]

I just did not think about using electricity in a greenhouse (I guess I always thought it would be dangerous with all the water etc) I will look at running a cable.

[richyrich7]

Make sure you install a circuit breaker  

[potatopotato]

Do Greenhouses need to be heated then? Eek! Yet another thing I've not considered.....

[Gwiz]

Do Greenhouses need to be heated then? Eek! Yet another thing I've not considered.....

depends on what you're growing and when.

[neal]

Try thinking of gas (propane) you can get 2 to 4 kw heaters don't know cost though

[Gwiz]

trust me, it's festering expensive, creates a lot of condensation, and explosive if not set up right.
we have propane central heating at home.
It bankrups me every winter. :cry:

[richyrich7]

Try thinking of gas (propane) you can get 2 to 4 kw heaters don't know cost though

Try ebay for starters to get an idea, then try a gas supplier for the cost of a) the tanks, b) the gas.

[potatopotato]

Do Greenhouses need to be heated then? Eek! Yet another thing I've not considered.....

depends on what you're growing and when.

I'm growing tomaters in spring & summer.