most economical way of heating a conservatory

[coffeeman13]

Hi I am in the planning stage of building a new conservatory, can anyone tell me if underfloor heating on a concrete floor is the cheapest heating method to run?
We are thinking of a wood burner as an alternative, any suggestions gratefully recieved.

 

[mfarrow]

UFH will do bugger all in a conservatory, the room is just one giant heat sink in Winter.

A radiator or woodburner would be preferable, taking consideration of existing building regulations surrounding these matters.

 

[tony1851]

To comply, any heating system in the conservatory must be independant of the house heating system

 

[big-all]

the cheapest is mains gas powered
you need to work out the heat loss and spec accordingly but suspect you will need at least 3kw dependant on size and exterior temperatures

 

[rjm2k]

Would infra red be any good in this situation? Heating the occupants directly rather than the air?

 

[s60tsy]

snuggie?

 

[garyo]

My 7m x 4m p-shaped conservatory would need two 3kw electric heaters running on full chat to keep it reasonable in the winter temperatures.

The best plan is to keep the doors in place that divide it from the house, and then chances are you're only in there every now and then on the kind occasions that you're spending more on booze than your 'leccy bill.

Are you trying to use it most of the time - i.e. as an extension?

 

[JohnD]

the sun.

it will be so badly insulated that heat will just pour out of it. It's just a greenhouse, or a shed.

If you want a habitable room, build a proper extension.

 

[Bankrupt]

the sun.

it will be so badly insulated that heat will just pour out of it. It's just a greenhouse, or a shed.

If you want a habitable room, build a proper extension.

It depends on the quality of your conservatory. A cheap and nasty conservatory will indeed be like a greenhouse sellotaped onto your house.
If, on the other hand, you have a good quality conservatory with high end glass units everywhere it is possible to use the conservatory all year round without having to spend too much on heating - I do. I use a radiant panel heater which warms the place up nicely in no time.


http://www.conservatoryheating.com/acatalog/sunrise-radiant-panel-heater.html

One thing I've never understood is why anyone would put a polycarbonate roof on a conservatory (apart from the fact that it's cheaper than a glazed roof) - Defeats the whole purpose of a conservatory. I love sitting in my conservatory at night, cold drink in hand, looking up at the stars ! .

 

[JohnD]

a good quality conservatory with high end glass units

even if you pay a lot for an expensive conservatory, the heat loss will be vastly greater than from a house which might have 270mm of insulation in the loft and 50mm of insulation in the cavity walls.

glazing is simply nowhere near as good. The heat just pours out.

 

[Bankrupt]

The heat loss will be vastly greater than from a house which might have 270mm of insulation in the loft and 50mm of insulation in the cavity walls.

glazing is simply nowhere near as good. The heat just pours out.

Nobody is disputing that the heat loss from a conservatory will be greater than that from a standard room. However, if the conservatory is of quality construction and has appropriate heating installed, there is no reason why it can't be used all year around. Mine is - I'm holding a New Year's Eve party in it in two days time !

 

[JohnD]

the heat loss from a conservatory will be greater than that from a standard room.

VASTLY greater

you can use it in cold weather if energy cost and wastage is of no concern to you.

 

[Bankrupt]

VASTLY greater

you can use it in cold weather if energy cost and wastage is of no concern to you.

How much "VASTLY greater" it is depends on the particular construction of the conservatory... My conservatory has a wall mounted radiant panel heater installed which, in winter, makes the conservatory very comfortable to be in regardless of the ambient temperature outside - and at very reasonable cost. Wastage ? - I certainly don't regard the small amount of money I spend on heating my conservatory in winter as wastage. What would be a waste was to have a conservatory that you could only use for a few months of the year. Quality construction + appropriate heating for winter months = Ability to use and enjoy your conservatory all year round.

 

[Newboy]

Typical 'u' values (BTU hr/sq')

Pitched roof with 100mm insulation = 0.05
uPVC glazing panel wih 20mm gap and Low E glazing = 0.29

so approx. 6 times greater heat loss through a glazed roof rather than a traditional roof

Depends on the definition of "Vastly" I guess!

 

[Architexeter]

There are a lot of variables in your question. Underfloor can be wet (central heating (assumed gas)) or dry (electric). Gas heating is generally more economical than Electric because of the supplier's p/kWh price.

You need to consider how you are using the room. As it is poorly insulated you are unlikely to bother leaving the heating on it there constantly but turn it on when you want to use it, therefore I think you want something with a fast response time. As other posts have suggested heating the air or people directly would be the fastest eg an electric fan heater will heat the air up really quick but the monent you turn it off the room gets cold, conversly an underfloor heating arrangement is likely to take hours from being turned on the feeling it in the room and the lag will depend on the power and floor construction.

If you are using the room infrequently I would look to use a rapid response setup.

If you have the budget for a woodburner, I would put this on hold and scrap the glass roof and see if you can stretch to a proper insulated roof/room with the occasional rooflight i.e. more of a garden room/sun room/orangery than conservatory. This will give you a room that will thermally performs better being less of a greenhouse that is baking in the summer and freezing in the winter.

Hope that helps.