Conservatory Heating? (merged threads)

bunking_off

Pass, because I'm not a plumber. However, putting 2+2 together and no doubt getting 5...

The central heating system in a house will undoubtedly be dimensioned to heat a house of that size (plus a bit extra). Now, if the conservatory is heated, I can foresee three different situations;

- if the overall system thermostat is nowhere near the conservatory (completely thermally decoupled, e.g. door from conservatory into house is closed), then the central heating system will cycle on & off according to the needs of the house and the rad in the conservatory will never provide enough heat to warm it to the desired temp. As such, no impact on the house, but conservatory not effectively heated.
- you could have the above situation, but because the conservatory is at such an extreme temperature versus the rest of the house, the temperature drop across the radiator in there would be so high that any rads downstream would not have any warmth in them?
- if the system thermostat is near the conservatory, then it could cause the system to be permanently on, trying to pull the temp of the conservatory up. Given the heating system will be dimensioned to fight against a certain thermal loss and the conservatory will have massively increased that loss, this tells me that it wouldn't be able to cope. Of course, this could be managed down by having radiator thermostats on every radiator.

Of course, as I say I'm no plumber so all of the above could be nonsense.

Local government sites I've seen tend to indicate that putting an ill-managed radiator into a conservatory can have a disproportionate effect on the running cost of central heating - the oft quoted research is that it can double the cost in a well-insulated house.

djohn2002uk

bunking_off wrote:

Pass, because I'm not a plumber. However, putting 2+2 together and no doubt getting 5...



Of course, as I say I'm no plumber so all of the above could be nonsense.

And PASS is what you should have done instead of just guessing over something that should be factual if it is going to be of any use to the OP.

bunking_off

djohn2002uk wrote:

And PASS is what you should have done instead of just guessing over something that should be factual if it is going to be of any use to the OP.

So much for this being a friendly forum....perhaps you should have PASSed as well given your advice to run into the central heating system could well have put the OP in breach of building regs were they to be building a conservatory under the exemptions, as is commonly the case (at least according to various local government websites).

Oh, and the oil filled radiator in my conservatory takes approx 5 mins to hit operating temp, incidentally (De Longhi unit). Perhaps you should have checked your facts...at least I acknowledge where I'm stabbing in the dark...

djohn2002uk

How do you know the conservatory isn't double glazed, did you ask? no

How do you know the central heating system is not controlled by TRVs, did you ask? no.

And as for doubling the cost of heating, very highly unlikely, and if on TRVs an absolute nonsense because it would have no effect on the rest of the house except minimally on the one rad that it was teed into.

Quote. "you could have the above situation, but because the conservatory is at such an extreme temperature versus the rest of the house, the temperature drop across the radiator in there would be so high that any rads downstream would not have any warmth in them?"
This is nonsense. According to that scenario that rad would never get hot. The truth is, if it's balanced correctly it will only lose 20 degrees and even if it isn't, my suggestion (although not used in new systems on a regular basis) was to tee into existing pipework so that some or most of the flow would still pass around the system.

As for being friendly or not as the case may be, are we supposed to let inaccurate info go so as not to upset the poster who gives what was almost scaremongering advice
to someone. After some of the bad electrical advice in this forum, I think not.

Oh, I forgot, Quote "at least I acknowledge where I'm stabbing in the dark... " not the thing to do when advising someone.

bunking_off

djohn2002uk wrote:

How do you know the conservatory isn't double glazed, did you ask? no

Did you? No.

djohn2002uk wrote:

How do you know the central heating system is not controlled by TRVs, did you ask? no.

Did you? No. Undoubtedly with proper controls you can avoid the regulation...but you didn't point these out when you made your suggestion.

http://www.nfdc.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=3059 (point f)
http://www.conservatoriesonline.com/heatq.htm
http://www.conservatoriesonline.com/planperm.htm

djohn2002uk wrote:

And as for doubling the cost of heating, very highly unlikely, and if on TRVs an absolute nonsense because it would have no effect on the rest of the house except minimally on the one rad that it was teed into.

http://www.brent.gov.uk/planning.nsf/documents+by+name/sustainable%20design%20-%20householders%20guide/$FILE/brent%20householders%20guide_web.pdf

Page 12, bullet 5. Wouldn't say it applies in all cases, but simply citing a reliable source...a brief search on the web will find the same stat used by other councils.

djohn2002uk wrote:

As for being friendly or not as the case may be, are we supposed to let inaccurate info go so as not to upset the poster who gives what was almost scaremongering advice
to someone.

And your view that it takes an oil-rad an hour to heat up was accurate and wasn't scaremongering? Not for the one I've got it isn't.

Point is, I'm not an expert. At least I acknowledge when what I say may not be true.

Nile

Users will have differing opinions from time to time but please remember to be nice to other moneysavers.

bunking_off

Point taken, wrist duly slapped. Repeat 10 times "I must not allow myself to be wound up..."

NiceGuyG

Hi all, recently had a conservatory built and it is freezing!!

I am trying to find a cost effective heating method as we plan to use it on a daily basis and have come up with a portable oil heater;

(http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Dimplex-Covered-2kw-Oil-Filled-Radiator-Timer-ROF2TI_W0QQitemZ6007488515QQcategoryZ93630QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem )

Has anyone had similar heating issues. I have looked and convector and fan heaters however have been told that these are not that cost effective.


Gaurav.

penrhyn

A convector with a thermosat will be as efficient as an oil filled radator with a thermostat.
I just used a cheap Delonghi convector that I got from Argos for aroun £20.00. A fan heater will heat up the room quicker but it will be a bit noisy.

Mind you any electric heater is going to be costly to run compared to your Gas CH.

gromituk

If you wanted an extension you should have built an extension, not a conervatory. Conservatories simply are not year-round rooms, and you'll no neither yourself nor the environment any favours trying to treat them as such.