New conservatory but need heating for the winter. Extension of the existing housed-based central heating is not an option and nor is underfloor heating.
So what to go with? Oil-filled rads or convector heater or some kind of radiant heater.
Just need something to keep the room frost-free at night in the winter and to give the room comfortable heat when we're using it during the day.
Ed
We fitted one of those split aircon systems with heating/cooling ability - brilliant piece of kit for both winter & summer. Only wish we had spent a bit more and bought one with a timer but still pleased with it.
Someone hopefully will reply and give you the info on the running costs but I am led to believe that the heating system gives out the equivalent of 3kw of heating for every 1kw of power put in - something to do with heat recovery from the outside air, even when it's cold. Franko.
An inexpensive electric fan-convector heater with a thermostat works well. The trick is to have something that heats the space quickly when you want to use it - otherwise you will never go in there in the winter months. Unless you are growing delicate plants in it, you can leave the conservatory unheated when not in use, which saves a fortune. I'm assuming you have a door isolating the conservatory from the house.
Chris R
That is amazing that is give out more energy than it consumes.. But I not an engineer and so leave it to physics guys.
But hey, where u buy such a unit?
Ed
Yeah there is a door into conservatory from the kitchen which is central heated with radiators but that is off at night time. I guess I cud still leave that door open at night and let some heat escape to conservatory. Even so, I wud like to walk into consevatory in the winter and have my breakfast there and not feel too chilly.
So u reckon that a cheapo fan heater wud be as good as anything?
Ed
I've seen heaters outside the pub in the smoking areas.. They seem to be infra-red or something.. I wonder if they any good?
I used these guys,
It works by pumping heat from the outside air into the room, so you will get heat from the pump as well as heat pumped from outside in. So the outside air gets a bit cooler to keep the energy balanced.
Mine is the fan-convector type. A large fan heater would do the job just as well as far as heating the space quickly is concerned, but the convector sustains it. You would need to turn it on a few minutes in advance, or have it on a timer, but it heats the conservatory quickly - obviously depending on its size. I've never regretted not installing anything permanent.
Here's an example (3KW):
So, you wouldn't consider a radiant heater then?
Ed
Only if you want the top of your head burning whist your face freezing:-)
Adam
The laws of physics are not defied. The unit pinches the heat from the air outside and uses it to heat the conservatory. Efficiency will drop on colder days and will be a zero % when the outside temperature hits 4 deg (depending upon the model you buy)
Read
hmm... conservatories generally don't need heating when it's warm outside... the link doesn't work for me, but the only way I can see of overcoming the first law of thermodynamics is a large input of electricity. Effectively you are trying to refrigerate the outside air.
Perhaps there is a solution to global warming here?
Chris R
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.