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Post by ladybird on Feb 22, 2014 17:03:00 GMT
Just been talking to my brother in law who dose cactus plants, he said he uses heating cable with a thermostat but NO sand, he lays the cable on a sheet of metal and has small wood blocks in-be-tween and then a second metal sheet on top, then his seed plants, he said he has done this for over 5 years. Now I have been in his greenhouse and he heats the house all through the winter "he must have loads of money". I have had my 4x2 bench going now for 2 to 3 week and have not noticed if I'm using much more electric but have only set the temp to 10c. I have only 1 or 2 bits in there so far as it is to cold for me let alone seeds. I see we was on the tv news as there was 50 homes evacuated last week end with the floods, only 2 miles away, sorry went of track there. Reg It certainly sounds a cheaper option caretaker , I am loosing the will to live here costing the wood and sand ( over half a ton needed according to my calcutations  ,that couldnt be right surly ? ) anyway being a person who likes to stick to the rules and the instruction say the cable will burn out if not laid in wet sand I don`t want to take the chance . I am presently researching the benifits of quarry dust ( as I still have over half a ton in the driveway which is a constant irritation to my husband  ) it holds heat and water well and some places are considering using it to replace sand in mixes . |
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Post by caretaker on Feb 22, 2014 22:56:19 GMT
Quarry dust sounds fine to me and as you already have some give it a go.
I think the sand is only to keep the temp constant.
Next time I'm at my brother-in-laws I will take some pictures of his set-up.
He is very keen on his cactus plants, he go's to America once a year just to look at them.
Back on the table come sand, come quarry dust, just look out for how heavy it all is, I was convinced it was making my greenhouse sink.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2014 15:46:07 GMT
Just been talking to my brother in law who dose cactus plants, he said he uses heating cable with a thermostat but NO sand, he lays the cable on a sheet of metal and has small wood blocks in-be-tween and then a second metal sheet on top, then his seed plants, he said he has done this for over 5 years. Now I have been in his greenhouse and he heats the house all through the winter "he must have loads of money". I have had my 4x2 bench going now for 2 to 3 week and have not noticed if I'm using much more electric but have only set the temp to 10c. I have only 1 or 2 bits in there so far as it is to cold for me let alone seeds. I see we was on the tv news as there was 50 homes evacuated last week end with the floods, only 2 miles away, sorry went of track there. Reg It certainly sounds a cheaper option caretaker , I am loosing the will to live here costing the wood and sand ( over half a ton needed according to my calcutations ,that couldnt be right surly ? ) anyway being a person who likes to stick to the rules and the instruction say the cable will burn out if not laid in wet sand I don`t want to take the chance . I am presently researching the benifits of quarry dust ( as I still have over half a ton in the driveway which is a constant irritation to my husband ) it holds heat and water well and some places are considering using it to replace sand in mixes . Ladybird, built my propagating bench in December. My greenhouse is 8' x 12', so I built the bench across the back end. It's just under 8' long, and 22" wide. I took out the metal trays on top of the staging, and made my box to fit into the space left. The box is made out of OSB board, and our local builders merchant cut the board to size. The board cost £24. I insulated the box with 25mm insulation board, with again came from the builders merchant, and cost £8 for a 8' x 4' sheet and is easy to cut with a Stanley knife or any sharp knife. I then covered this with damp proof membrane, which cost a few pounds only from B&Q. I then added 3 and a half bags of sharp sand, which made the depth 5cm. Damp sharp sand is the most recommended as it radiates the better throughout. The sand costs £1.85 per bag and for a bench this size you'll need 7. At this stage I connected the thermostat, which is a Parsene 200, to 24 metres of soil cable, looped at 10cm intervals. Before you place the remaining 3 and a half bags switch on the power to make sure it's all working. Once you've covered the cable by another 5cm, give the sand a soaking with water from a watering can with a fine nozzle. Switch on thermostat to 30'C over night to heat the sand. It's best to cover the sand with plastic sheeting to keep the moisture in. Set the thermostat to your required temp. The thermostat and 24 metres of cable cost me £56, bringing the total cost to £101.00. If you do not have a builders merchants nearby, the big B&Q's with wood cutting facilities will be able to help. The electric this takes up costs me £2.79 per week, and this is set at 25'C for my dahlia tubers and is on all the time  . I hope this helps a little. Mark
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Post by ladybird on Feb 25, 2014 1:44:07 GMT
Thanks Mark that was very informative ,I will be calling into a builders place tomorrow to pick up my drainage pipe , so will have a look around, though I think they are trade . I don`t drive so everything I generally need I will have to get delivered like the sand and wood so I am trying to source it all in the one place . my table too will be accross the back , I have a 6` wooden table which I will remake. you got your materials at a great price mark, b&Q are quite expensive, though if 10 bags of sand is all thats needed it works out cheaper. The insulating board sounds great.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2014 10:13:34 GMT
Glad the information was of use. Builders merchants are much cheaper, and quite lucky to have one that offers free delivery locally, and another that's a bit cheaper, that let's you cut large sheet materials with a hand saw on the premises. This one is called Buildbase, and I know they have a few depots dotted around the country, they also deliver at a reasonable price. Will take a picture and try to post it a bit later. Mark |
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Post by ladybird on Feb 25, 2014 12:33:38 GMT
Glad the information was of use. Builders merchants are much cheaper, and quite lucky to have one that offers free delivery locally, and another that's a bit cheaper, that let's you cut large sheet materials with a hand saw on the premises. This one is called Buildbase, and I know they have a few depots dotted around the country, they also deliver at a reasonable price. Will take a picture and try to post it a bit later. Mark I`d love to see a picture Mark the more the merrier . I made my GH table myself it`s just a frame but sturdy and strong. I use old doors for the top, the hollow kind, and cover them with plack plastic .I doubt if this would be strong enough to set the bench on so I`m now thinking of no top and just plonking the finished bench, with an OSB or plywood base, on top of the frame. did you make the side of your bench with OSB as well ? I hadn`t thought of that. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2014 16:13:46 GMT
Glad the information was of use. Builders merchants are much cheaper, and quite lucky to have one that offers free delivery locally, and another that's a bit cheaper, that let's you cut large sheet materials with a hand saw on the premises. This one is called Buildbase, and I know they have a few depots dotted around the country, they also deliver at a reasonable price. Will take a picture and try to post it a bit later. Mark I`d love to see a picture Mark the more the merrier . I made my GH table myself it`s just a frame but sturdy and strong. I use old doors for the top, the hollow kind, and cover them with plack plastic .I doubt if this would be strong enough to set the bench on so I`m now thinking of no top and just plonking the finished bench, with an OSB or plywood base, on top of the frame. did you make the side of your bench with OSB as well ? I hadn`t thought of that. Sorry Ladybird, I have taken some photo's, but are to big to attach as the limited is 1mb. I'll try and convert to a smaller size, so I can post them. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2014 17:46:01 GMT
I`d love to see a picture Mark the more the merrier . I made my GH table myself it`s just a frame but sturdy and strong. I use old doors for the top, the hollow kind, and cover them with plack plastic .I doubt if this would be strong enough to set the bench on so I`m now thinking of no top and just plonking the finished bench, with an OSB or plywood base, on top of the frame. did you make the side of your bench with OSB as well ? I hadn`t thought of that. Sorry Ladybird, I have taken some photo's, but are to big to attach as the limited is 1mb. I'll try and convert to a smaller size, so I can post them. Looked on the forum about up loading photo's. Tried photobucket but that doesn't work either. But I'm not going to give up just yet!!!
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Post by ladybird on Feb 26, 2014 4:00:48 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2014 12:31:24 GMT
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Post by ladybird on Feb 26, 2014 15:01:27 GMT
Thanks markymate , a picture speaks a thousand words. great job I like the idea of the insulation sheet. I got a few quotes from the builder yard yesterday and as you say a lot cheaper than B&Q , unfortunately they don`t cut the plywood I will be using . Doing my final list and costing today , will order tomorrow , and get stuck in at the weekend . I`ll post a few pics as I go along . |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2014 16:48:01 GMT
Thanks markymate , a picture speaks a thousand words. great job I like the idea of the insulation sheet. I got a few quotes from the builder yard yesterday and as you say a lot cheaper than B&Q , unfortunately they don`t cut the plywood I will be using . Doing my final list and costing today , will order tomorrow , and get stuck in at the weekend . I`ll post a few pics as I go along . That's great Ladybird. I always like to take a look at some photo's, as I think it gives you a much better understanding of what people are trying to explain Good luck with the bench, and will look forward to seeing some pictures soon... |
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Post by ladybird on Apr 4, 2014 0:42:44 GMT
I finally got started on the heated bench. the outer legs are 3x3 and the inner legs and top edges are 2x2 for sturdiness and as I had it all already. I had to use very long screws all 76 to date my poor hands are red and swollen Here is a picture. please ignore the dishes  they will get done ....eventually  I have still to screw battens between the legs at either end and either side of the front. The only problem now is HOW DO I GET IT OUT OF THE HOUSE it`s way to long  |
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Post by ladybird on Apr 4, 2014 0:51:29 GMT
I was intending to cut some battens to put every so often inside like the ones attached to the inner legs , but the thought of all that screwing fills me with dred . The finished box should sit on the outer edges of the table, the plywood is 18 mm thick so I am now thinking of just setting the box on top of what I have made ? Would the plywood sag ? with the weight of all that sand do you think ?
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Post by ladybird on Apr 4, 2014 14:33:52 GMT
Phew got the table out into the back garden ok  its now painted now all I have to do is take ALL the rest of the tables in the greenhouse out and hope this goes in easy. |
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,that couldnt be right surly ? ) anyway being a person who likes to stick to the rules and the instruction say the cable will burn out if not laid in wet sand I don`t want to take the chance . I am presently researching the benifits of quarry dust ( as I still have over half a ton in the driveway which is a constant irritation to my husband 
) it holds heat and water well and some places are considering using it to replace sand in mixes .
. 
