Conservatory heating is a necessary expense if you wish to use your conservatory in the winter months or Autumn/Spring on overcast days or in the evenings. The are many different ways to heat your conservatory and we will look at some of them here, investigating the relative pro’s and con’s of each method including purchase prices, installation costs and running costs where possible. Below is a summary of some of the methods of heating your conservatory along with approximate costings on the assumption of a 10m2 area. Assumes 2kW heating requirement and average electricity tariff of 12p. Running cost is when on and not annual average.
Conservatory Heating Method
Fan heater
- Cost – £10
- Running costs – 24p
Oil Filled Radiator
- Cost – £30
- Running cost – 24p
Electric panel heater
- Cost – £150
- Running Cost – 24p
Night storage heater – economy 7
- Cost – £175
- Running Cost – 9p
Connect to existing home central heating system
- Cost – £250
- Running Cost – 9p
Split unit air conditioning system as heater
- Cost – £500+
- Running Cost – 24p
Air source heat pump + under tile heating
- Cost – £2150
- Running Cost – 6p
Reasons to heat your conservatory?
- Maybe you use your conservatory as a breakfast room in which case it needs to be warm in morning all year round.
- If you conservatory is used throughout the day during Winter it is a good idea to have a heating solution that either has a very constant temperature or can be topped up during the day if required.
- Perhaps you keep sub-tropical or tropical plants in it which could not withstand the freezing temperatures we get in the winter here. Then it must not drop below a certain temperature.
Types of heater fall in to 2 main categories
Electric conservatory heating Pro’s
- No ventilation needed
- Quickly adjust the temperature
- Easy to adjust
- Clean
Con’s
- Running costs can be high
Gas conservatory heatingPro’s
- Low running costs
Con’s
- Ventilation required
Below are some specific ways of heating your conservatory
Domestic central heating system
You could simply connect a new radiator to an existing central heating system. Check with your conservatory supplier or local building officers to make sure this is allowed. If you have an efficient boiler already then this method will have a very low running cost. It is a requirement that the radiator you place in the conservatory has its own thermostatic control and can be turned off. For optimum heat circulation it is suggested to install the radiator near the dwarf wall though this is not always possible nor indeed convenient. tiled conservatory roof cost