Hi
I'm thinking about what heating to put in our conservatory that's going to be built soon. I would like gas heating and was thinking of one of those catalytic gas fires that simply hangs on the wall without a flue (obviously it needs a gas supply as well !). Are there any issues I need to consider ? I assume I need to fit vents as with any gas appliance.
Chris
Condensation, condensation and condensation!
Is there any reason you couldn't use underfloor heating ?
Dave
The ventilation you have to fit must be permanently open.
So you can be losing heat due to that ventilation pretty much whenever the temperature in the conservatory is higher than outside. Not just when the fire is burning.
If you are intent on a gas fire for looks, maybe a room-sealed balanced flue unit would be better? If not then maybe, as another poster implied, extend your central heating using radiators of UFH.
Why did you reply to me?
I have considered other options - electric underfloor heating is expensive to run, I am concerned about extending the rads to outside because of frost. I like the idea of the catalytic fire as it is simple to install, no flue through the wall. Chris
not to you directly but following thread. sorry to upset you. won't do it again.
Dave
I think we all understand 'simple to install' aspect! But not sure that a balanced flue is much more effort. It only takes a hole in the wall behind it - and removes the need for the ventilation hole. But it does, of course, depend on your design as to whether there is a suitable bit of wall, distance from opening windows, etc.
Chris coughed up some electrons that declared:
I must caution along with some of the others - having had a happy childhood enjoying many caravan holidays (which these days probably puts me about one level above a pedo, if one subscribes to the Clarkson POV), a gas fire in a smallish space with cold walls will spew condensation. Especially if your fire is rather beefier than the usual weedy caravan affairs.
Cheers
Tim
Reminds me of many hours shut up in a site cabin on a rainy day with one of these going full blast, and sat there totally bored out of my mind with the rest of the crew watching the condensation running down the windows and walls - ah those were the days eh?
Woodworm
We have a 10yr old gas 'stove' in our lounge room sealed with a balanced flue. It was all that was available at the time but we are now looking ar replacing it with a Valor balanced flur model 'Seattle' . As it is balanced flue all combustoin air is drawn from the outside and all combustion gases (such as water) go directly outside. Look at valor and other similar brands - you could even have our old fire (radiant/convector) for a small price -:)
Malcolm
I hope you don't expect any heat out of it. Only my own experience but these 'living flame' efforts are dire. I've actually reverted to using an antique 'Crystalglow', the one with vertical glass rods at the front. I'm gradually turning off CH radiators as fast as I can and replacing with either gas fire where needed or fan heaters in loo's etc. My first gas bill using CH is due and I'm pretty sure i'll not want another one of a similar expected size.
Not quite sure that makes sense.
Unless you are accepting lower temperatures (e.g. loos only heated while in use), or they were formerly over-heated, I can't see fan heaters being more economical than gas CH.
The Seattle model claims quite decent output (2.8 kW output from 3.7 kW input, IIRC). It is not like one of the fully open living flame 'just like a real fire' affairs.
I doubt many gas fires are actually more efficient than a good gas CH boiler. Most especially when they need flues and extra ventilation. Add onto that the difficulty in providing automatic control of room temperature when suing gas fires, I think it likely you will end up paying more for fuel than if you left it heated by gas CH and radiators. (Of course I am assuming that you have something like a thermostat and TRVs on the radiators. A lot cheaper to provide those than change to gas fires.)
On Thu, 15 Jan 2009 21:37:20 -0000 someone who may be "Chris" wrote this:-
Underfloor heating is not a good idea in a conservatory. It is slow to react and, because of all the glass, a conservatory needs a rapidly reacting heating system (if it has any heating at all).
I suggest a fan convector radiator like . Leave it off most of the time, turn on a few minutes before the room is needed. If worried about frost then fit a frost stat.
Well, we had rads in 2 loos running all day (the house is never empty) for maybe 30mins use, wasteful.
Ours was a coal effect with glass front, can't remember name or model. Both radiant and convected outputs were dire. This antique Crystalglow replaces 3 rads. Not only does it look and feel hot, it doesn't dry the air and its stat is amazing. It's on full chat for an hour in the morning then just ticks over all day unless someone opens a door when it's back to full chat for a few mins.
Yep, a new complete system maybe 3 months back, Worcester Bosch. It's only value to me is as a selling point. The sooner I use it for DHW only, the better. I have to admit I like the place warm,
No, just a firkin' great hole through the wall, permanently open to provide ventilation for the fire, whether it's actually on or not (so you'll have to have it on to counteract the cold let in by the vent much of the time).
Wet underfloor is easy and relatively cheap (materials circa £200) to install while you're having the conservatory floor laid and much cheaper to run than any alternative you've talked about.
Wasn't upset just curious.
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