Heating in a conservatory

[zappa]

Posted in windows section but maybe better answers in here....


I know that in winter they are pretty unusable unless you go overboard on the heating system, but any advice on whether elec UFH (quoted at £1600 for 18m2 of 20mm insulation, 15m2 200w/m2 mat / latex screed) is better than a couple of decent 2 kw stat controlled elec panel radiators?Sounds a bit pricey???

Thanks

 

[holmslaw]

..

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Or an air source heat pump.

 

[Richard C]

I debated this when I had my 22 sq/m cons built in 2006; I also considered 3 conservatory radiant panel heaters which were around £300 each then (seem to be cheaper now) or a heat pump about the same price I think but somewhat impractical. In the end I went for electric UFH @ 200w/m2 of similar spec to yours; unsure exact price (no detail breakdown) but the mats were £1000 & then there was insulation, SLC & install on top of that which included a new dedicated spur from the C/U. It works very well but is pricy to run at full tilt when the temnperature really drops & even then, sometimes has to be backed up by a separate 2kw (cheap) heater when it’s cold. FYI we have Argon filled e glass but the cold air literally falls off the windows & envelopes you.

After persevering with it the first year, we now shut our cons down November through March apart from the odd sunny/warm days but we do have the benefit of a separate lounge with 8Kw of multi fuel burner in there & all my wood is free!

 

[ricicle]

What about wet UFH seeing as gas is about one quarter the price of electricity ?

 

[holmslaw]

..

 

[chivers67]

A descreet wall mounted fan would be worth a thought doubling up as a fan only in summer?

 

[zappa]

OK thanks for your info. Hopefully this new mega low U-value triple glazed glass has slightly better insulation than the stuff you got in 2006 Richard. Apparently they've been triple glazing in Scandinavia as the norm for years and having lived in Sweden for a year I never encountered frosty windows! Just been over the road to a fella's who had a 4x4 cons built earlier this year and he's still using it now powered by a single plug in convection heater. He said he wishes he's got UFH cos the tiled floor is like ice!

*still in a dilemma ere.....

 

[zappa]

Have a look at - http://www.cibse.org/pdfs/7bbabcock.pdf - it demonstrates that trying to heat a conservatory for just seven hours a day is a futile waste of money, costing between 55% and 300% of the cost of heating the house.

Its a no brainer.

meh... that's from 2002. Shirley they've improved insulation since then?

 

[Richard C]

Hopefully this new mega low U-value triple glazed glass has slightly better insulation than the stuff you got in 2006 Richard. Apparently they've been triple glazing in Scandinavia as the norm for years and having lived in Sweden for a year I never encountered frosty windows!

Same in Denmark; I worked there on & off over many years past & seem to remember it way back then. It should certainly be much better than my DG, Argon “e” coat & all but I bet it costs an arm & a leg over here at the minute though!

 

[zappa]

Quoted about 16k for it. UFH and extras are, well, extra!

 

[bhm1712]

waste of money as said already!

You may as well open all the windows in the house and turn the heating on for the amount of heat energy which will be transferring to the colder outside, no matter how good the insulation is.

Conservatories are inherently cold in winter, and in this country are as good as a glass hammer at this time of year.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

a heat pump about the same price I think but somewhat impractical.

Impractical in what way?

 

[Richard C]

a heat pump about the same price I think but somewhat impractical.

Impractical in what way?

I was looking at heating & cooling &, for me, the impracticality was locating the thing in the garden outside my cons which I suspect might be the case with many installations. It's a pretty large, unatractive & probably noisy piece of kit but if youve somewhere to hide it then it's probably the best choice.

 

[ricicle]

We had our conservatory built when the kids were very young. On all but the coldest days they could use it as a play room due to the floor being warm through 800w of Warmup UFH, and being very young they played on the floor.
Friends with no UFH said their conservatories were no-go zones in the winter. Even now the kids are older the warm floor just takes the edge off the cold in there, although I agree trying to warm it efficiently to house temperature is a losing battle.