Radiator in a conservatory

[MIH]

I currently have an electric panel type heater in my conservatory.

I thinking about replacing this with a radiator, extended from my current heating system.

I have had a reasonable quote from a firm to do this, they sounded competent and I have no reason to doubt their ability to do the work.

What I am wondering is whether this is actually going to work, giving the thermostat is in the living room. I've been quoted for a double radiator, the bigger the size the larger the cost which of course is only natural.

What is the general opinion of doing this? Will I end up just having to "top up" the heat with an electric heater anyway when the heating goes off as the rest of the house is warm enough but the conservatory isn't.

Any feedback or ideas would be appreciated.

 

[andycox]

Don't install any rads there go under floor

Any extensions should only go under floor, only bad lazy installers fit rads
problems are under sized rads, due to lack of wall space, burst pipes,

You will improve the house "U" value and be much warmer for less money
consider also the connecting room if a rad has to be re sited

All UFH firms do free drawings

 

[gasservice85]

although i agree that underfloor would be better its probably not practical on an existing conservatory/extension.

i dont think it would be lazy to install radiators i think i would be cheaper and more practical you obviously dont live in the real world.

neither will "heat" your conservatory in the winter the heat loss is almost impossible to calculate.

any heating source installed in a conservatory should be on its own zone and have its own thermostat. again in the real world this would probably increase the cost of the job massively.

imo fit the biggest rad you can fit in and turn it off when your not using that area

 

[expertgasman]

Rob Willey Warmaplan (if you have clearances)

 

[dcawkwell]

My personal opinion is that the cost of install will never be recovered
by the amount it costs you to put the central heating radiator in.
Best to stick with the electric radiator you have.

If wanting to spend money on heating the conservatory I would go with
an air con unit that will heat and cool in the summer.
It will be as economical to run as a natural gas condensing boiler.
A simple 3kw unit with external and internal unit will happily heat and cool most conservatories.

 

[dormermike]

FWIW i have 2 rads in my conservatory (there when i moved in) and i'm going to remove them - had them on frost setting all winter as we worried they would freeze, and i am sure it cost a small fortune as they are a good long run from the boiler too.

I will put a electric space heater in i think.

 

[Gasman77]

Don't install any rads there go under floor

Any extensions should only go under floor, only bad lazy installers fit rads
problems are under sized rads, due to lack of wall space, burst pipes,

You will improve the house "U" value and be much warmer for less money
consider also the connecting room if a rad has to be re sited

All UFH firms do free drawings

wot a nosher

 

[muggles]

You can't extend your heating system into a conservatory, it doesn't comply with Building Regulations (unless the conservatory was constructed to comply with BR, but very few are as they don't have to be)

 

[muggles]

Any heating source installed in a conservatory should be on its own zone and have its own thermostat. again in the real world this would probably increase the cost of the job massively.

You're out of date I'm afraid gasservice, since 2010 the building regulations have banned the extension of any heating system into a conservatory, even with separate controls. It must now be a totally independent heat source

 

[Corgigrouch]

Thanks for the update, I too was a little behind the times.

An air source heatpump would be my choice too though I would never fit less than a 5kW unit in any conservatory, don't forget that when you need heating from an air to air unit in the depths of Winter, it's output is nowhere near its rated output...

 

[MIH]

You're out of date I'm afraid gasservice, since 2010 the building regulations have banned the extension of any heating system into a conservatory, even with separate controls. It must now be a totally independent heat source

Should a run-of-the mill plumber know this or would he be choosing to ignore this as if no one knows then where's the problem?

So if I went ahead and put the radiator in regardless, this is something that could come back to bite me when I came to sell my house, a bit like doing electrical work that should have been certified?

I've been quoted £400 to do the job but if I want a larger radiator then the cost obviously increases with the size.
What are estimated costs of installing an air source heatpump or an aircon unit that does hot and cold? I'm not expecting perfect figures, just a rough idea to compare with an electric heater.

Anyway, thanks so far for all the comments.

 

[gasservice85]

I would expect that your plumbers may or may not know but are doing the job as requested I would be supprised if it came back to bite you my dad just sold his house and he has a rad in conservatory, you could always remove it and cap the pipes anyway

Air to air heating is expensive but very efficient depends on how long you are going to live there

 

[muggles]

You're out of date I'm afraid gasservice, since 2010 the building regulations have banned the extension of any heating system into a conservatory, even with separate controls. It must now be a totally independent heat source

Should a run-of-the mill plumber know this or would he be choosing to ignore this as if no one knows then where's the problem?

Theoretically he should know but regs change so frequently it's quite hard to keep up with everything, so he may not do

So if I went ahead and put the radiator in regardless, this is something that could come back to bite me when I came to sell my house, a bit like doing electrical work that should have been certified?

Yes it may well come back to bite you, the survey would probably pick it up and you may well have to remove it, a prospective buyer might not like the look of pipes capped off in there either, that in itself probably wouldn't have a huge effect on the value but certainly wouldn't help

 

[Agile]

The reality is that most people dont really need to use a conservatory when the weather is cool but expect to be able to extend the house into the conserevatory.

The conservatory has poor insulation compared with a house and is inefficient to heat as so much is lost.

If you must heat it remember it will be expensive to run and should only be considered as expending the summer. Thats quite apart from not meeting building regs.

A reversible air source heat pump is very good as it can be used for cooling as well as heating but its an expensive option and usually about £3000+ installed.

Underfloor is unlikely to give enough heat output for a conservatory. The high thermal time constant also means its going to be difficult to control well as it can take 1-2 hours to warm up.

You will see above from the replies given above that the average plumber is unlikely to be very clued up on Building Regs. Little problem is to be expected from a seperately controlled system because they were permitted until a year ago. ( Subject to any conditions on any planning consent ).

Tony

 

[MIH]

This is the dilema I have, it's used enough during the winter to need heating. It has the dining table in and my son has his xbox in there, I prefer him not to be locked away in his bedroom where I can't see him.

I currently have a small electric panel type heater in there, as installed by previous owners.

I'm concerned about putting in a radiator, as though gas is cheaper than electric, the heating won't be on long enough for it to heat the conservatory fully or for long enough. I have a feeling that I'll just end up topping it up with an electric heater of some sort anyway. Unless I put it on it's own control/thermostat but this could put too much load on the boiler.

£3k+ to just sort out the conversatory is OTT, if I had that sort of money I guess I may as well do the whole house anyway.

Putting in underfloor heating is out of the equation as it would mean lifting the existing flooring and no doubt digging up the concrete floor to fit the stuff and as mentioned, there's no guarantee this would work anyway.

It doesn't seem there's really an ideal solution, other than knocking down the conservatory and building a proper extension