Allotments 4 All

Just a tip for those people who are using Paraffin heaters in there greenhouses this season. Shop around for your Paraffin!

I went to my localish hardware store last Friday and bought 5 liters of Paraffin for £4.50 (had to take my own can). I went to the Wyevale and it was £7 for 4 liters.

Although having said that it seems that places that sell Paraffin by the litre are few and far between.

Living on the edge of a "depressed" inner city neighbourhood some of the "local" shops still sell it by the Litre...  ;D

homebase £4.99 not had any in for weeks, the only other place (loal garage)  £8.50 A GALLON, needed some so had to buy it, i might try diesel in the heater as its cheaper.

I'm delaying sowing this year because the paraffin is so expensive  :(

I wish I could have power in my greenhouse instead.
Anyone know of a good electrician?
Oh yeah, me, I'm married to one  ::)  ;D  ::)

Ours has just gone down to £2.75 for 5 liters from £3.50 from the allotment shop

Quote from: davyw1 on January 13, 2009, 19:46:47
Ours has just gone down to £2.75 for 5 liters from £3.50 from the allotment shop

show off   ;D ;D ;D

Quote from: les65 on January 13, 2009, 19:51:39

Quote from: davyw1 on January 13, 2009, 19:46:47
Ours has just gone down to £2.75 for 5 liters from £3.50 from the allotment shop

show off   ;D ;D ;D

OH THANKS.......May as well go the whole hog.......i don,t buy it my, heating for the hothouse is free

how pray tell?

I do realize this is really a chat about parafin but over the years I reckon a good controlled electric heater is cheaper. With a parafin heater you have to light it "in case" it goes frosty with an electric fan heater it only comes on if needed , so no waste. I bought a Parwin Fan heater 29 years ago at the cost of £27.30 and it is still going. I recently bought a new type of thermstat which makes it even more effiecent. They now cost over £100 but if I was starting again I would purchase one. You can only buy them from the makers but they do have a website if you google parwin. I promise you I am in no way connected with the firm.

I remember buying paraffin out of a machine at the local garage. 50p for a gallon my parents used to send one of us down when it ran out. I used to go to school stinking of the stuff. Happy days when we got a calor gas heater.

I mix parafin 50 50 with white spirt it seen ok and is not sooty, white spirt is cheaper so the parafin goes further....

When I was a kid (??years ago), the shop across the road had a bulk tank and they filled a gallon container for you for 2/3d (that's old dosh). How times move on eh!

You've made me feel a bit younger Terrier. I'm talking maybe 35 years ago. Is that an Irish terrier?

Quote from: les65 on January 13, 2009, 20:21:18
how pray tell?

Where i live on the coast of the north east you can pick coal off the beach by the sack full. If we go down  the basin at   Hartlepool you can fill bags of pure coal dust as if you were shoveling sand.

visited a car boot sale last weekend and picked up a NEW parafin heater in its box for a tenner so I went out to find the parafin.
Got some at homebase 4ltrs £7.00 >:(
Next day I was talking to one of the guys at the Lotty and he tells me the local hardware shop sells 4ltrs for £2.50 :( >:( :-[ :-X

My local GC sells it for £6.50 for 4 litres. I found my local Focus selling it for £6.00.  No Homebase or B+Q in the immediate area. Haven't found anywhere cheaper yet let alone anywhere selling it in bulk. When i first started using a paraffin heater 4 years ago I could get 4 litres for £4.50 or even slightly less in some places, and could get it for under £5 until last year when the prices went up for fuels.

I would say £7 for 4 litres was rather steep.

Quote from: northener on January 13, 2009, 20:40:16
I remember buying paraffin out of a machine at the local garage. 50p for a gallon my parents used to send one of us down when it ran out. I used to go to school stinking of the stuff. Happy days when we got a calor gas heater.

Yes, me too. Put your can in the front, sliding it under the stiff plastic tube and then put your money in and wait for it to fill.

So talking of 35 year old paraffin, how many people remember what comes after...

Boom, boom, boom, boom...

Esso Blue.

Quote from: Eristic on February 01, 2009, 19:01:12
Esso Blue.

Knew it wouldn't take long for someone to get it.

There was also pink paraffin but I can't for the life of me remember the advert for that.

I am a little concerned at some postings here.  Mixing different distillate fuels can be exxtremely dangerous and you take your life, and those of your family, in your own hands.

No-one has mentioned the advantge that hydrocarbon fuels have over electricity and that is their production of CO2 (and water vapour) which can have a dramatic effect on plant growth. I know it is a luxury but I use both, a small paraffin heater that provides minimum background heating which is supplemented thermostatically by an electric heater.
By the way, those amongst you who brew your own wine can get great benefit from the CO2 produced by doing it in your greenhouse.

;)