Radiator in a conservatory

[Elroy Blue]

he cold weather has made us realise just how much we DON'T use our conservatory. It's bloomin' freezing in there. It's a very expensive waste of space in the winter and we'd like to have a radiator installed. We only have one radiator in the lounge which is on the front wall, facing the conservatory (approx 16' lounge).

Not having a scooby on things like this, what's a likely cost of getting a plumber in to fit a new radiator (if it's as simple as that!)

[Defcon5]

Will it be any use though? No point in doing it unless its going to make a big enough difference

[Silver993tt]

I have 2 400mm high x 1000mm wide radiators in my conservatory. Works fine, even with a stone floor and it's quite a large conservatory.

[Festive Ferg]

A lot of unknowns there.
How big would the radiator have to be for the Conservatory heat losses? Would it physically fit anywhere? Two 15mm pipes to run from a point on the heating system where there is enough available flow. Easier to drop from the upstairs carcass than cross the lounge?

[Spudler]

Depending if your system can handle the extra rad(s?) then i'd budget a min £300 assuming decent quality materials.

[g00n3r]

We've two double rads in our largish conservatory and it only takes 10 minutes to feel the heat in there and within 2o minutes it's cosy enough to sit in.

Our rads were put on to the existing system for about £500 inc materials and worth every penny, I'm glad the plumber steered us away from underfloor heating in the end.

[pacman1]

I'm renting at the mo, and the place has a nice conservatory, but since it's just me I can't justify having it heated at this time of year with the rest of the house, the fuel bill would be through the roof, even though it's D/G, so I keep the door to it almost shut.
However, with this cold weather I have had a small leccy oil rad on low 24/7 for the past 10 days, just to take the edge off, and so as not to sap all the heat from the house whan I do go out there to use it. Works a treat. If it were my own place, considering the odd times throughout the year you do need heat out there, I'd consider a small night storage heater of some sort. To heat a conservatory the same as the rest of your living space would cost a bloomin' fortune!

[herewego]

Isn't it against building regulations to have permanent heating in a conservatory?

[russ_a]

herewego said:

Isn't it against building regulations to have permanent heating in a conservatory?

I thought it was too, I think you can have radiators but you must be able to isolate them from the main system. Not sure if you can just simply fit thermostatic valves though.

[taz turbo]

I fitted a heat pump/air conditioning unit in my conservatory, the cost of the rads. alone I would of needed was more than I paid for the entire heating/air con system. 4M x 5.5M conservatory, 18K BTU Valiant heating/cooling unit £102 of flebay + £15 to a refrigeration engineer pal who supplied the pipework/insulation.

Heating and air con, all fully programmable, easier to fit than hot water central heating - nice! (and easy)

Chris.

[Tunku]

russ_a said:

herewego said:

Isn't it against building regulations to have permanent heating in a conservatory?

I thought it was too, I think you can have radiators but you must be able to isolate them from the main system. Not sure if you can just simply fit thermostatic valves though.

Doesn't it put your rates up? Or Council tax or whatever it is these days?

[ymwoods]

Would making the conservatory better insulated against heat loss then buying yourself a small electric heater not be a cheaper route?

[FamilyGuy]

Tunku said:

russ_a said:

herewego said:

Isn't it against building regulations to have permanent heating in a conservatory?

I thought it was too, I think you can have radiators but you must be able to isolate them from the main system. Not sure if you can just simply fit thermostatic valves though.

Doesn't it put your rates up? Or Council tax or whatever it is these days?

I thought it fell foul of planning regs. If you add heating then it becomes a habitable room and therefore the conservatory becomes an extension to the property and would have to have planning approval for an extension.

[b2hbm]

We use a small portable heater for the odd occasion we want to go in there, I think it was only £10-£20 and it does the job fine. As others have said, if you heat it all year round then it's probably going to be the highest heat load in your house.

Our conservatory floor is a solid concrete base with tiles and so putting a rad in would mean the pipes either being chased into the concrete before we tiled it, or running them along the skirting boards & then boxing in afterwards. So it would be quite a bit of work (and expense) to make it a neat option. I'd reckon it's one of those things you do when you first build it rather than add on as retro-fit.

[Silver993tt]

FamilyGuy said:

I thought it fell foul of planning regs. If you add heating then it becomes a habitable room and therefore the conservatory becomes an extension to the property and would have to have planning approval for an extension.

Yes but surely most people get planning for a conservatory anyway. I remember I did and it was no hassle whatsoever. Better safe than sorry.

[b2hbm]

herewego said:

Isn't it against building regulations to have permanent heating in a conservatory?

I didn't think so although things could have changed of course. When we were doing ours I had a look around because I didn't want to get involved with planning regs. and found this

http://www.conservatoriesonline.com/planperm.htm

The big thing seemed to be it had to be mainly glazed and to be isolated from the main house by a lockable door. It's normal to have electricity inside a conservatory so having a heating system doesn't seem unreasonable. And it makes sense to be able to isolate both electricity & water pipes from inside the main building anyway ?

[North West Tom]

We don't use the conservatory too often but when we use it we have these electric heaters that are about a 10er from Argos.

[breamster]

We've just agreed to have a conservatory built and have had a similiar discussion on heating.

IMHO...

Underfloor Heating (both plumbed and electric)
Work best when trickle fed - you need to know when you are going to need to use the conservatory. Have also heard horror stories of leaking wet (plumbd in) systems.

Radiators
I don't want to have to run the whole central heating just to heat the coldest 'room.' Conservatories will get cooler quicker than the rest of the house. Despite the boiler and plumbing being very easily accessible (and me paying for it!) nobody recommended radiators.

Electric Heaters
This is what everyone recommended. We are using slimline thermostatic wall mountable jobbies. They heat the room up quickly apparently. My parents also went for this approach with no problems.

[herewego]

russ_a said:

herewego said:

Isn't it against building regulations to have permanent heating in a conservatory?

I thought it was too, I think you can have radiators but you must be able to isolate them from the main system. Not sure if you can just simply fit thermostatic valves though.

I saw an advert saying they get around the regulations by fitting thermostatic valves. This is a scam allowed because of poor regulations.
The point is that a conservatory is not a house extension and shouldn't be heated as one because of the poor insulation and high fuel consumption.
Next we'll have people saying they've got air conditioning in there because it gets warm in the summer.

Edited by herewego on Sunday 27th December 10:08

Edited by herewego on Sunday 27th December 10:09

[RichB]

pacman1 said:

...To heat a conservatory the same as the rest of your living space would cost a bloomin' fortune!

tell me about it, my wife keeps her blooming greenhouse at 10degC all winter... blooming get it!