Any way to heat a large conservatory.

helenthemum

I have to work (sewing) in a conservatory all year round. Is there anyway to heat a conervatory 3m x 12m without having to take a mortgage out?

paulsad

If its not feasible to extend your ch to add another rad then maybe an oil filled rad with thermostat? You can pick these up fairly cheap and running costs aren't exorbitant as long as you monitor your thermostat settings.

helenthemum

Thank you Paulsad

I have an oil filled radiator, but even being on all day it only rases the temp by 1-2 degrees due to the size of the conservatory.

mogwai

Can you use a tower fan heater directed at you? I dont know what the running costs of these are, but I used these in a very large cold classroom and in my parents home when the heating broke down and it was lovely and toasty (while sat in front of it)

WestonDave

Heating the whole room is going to be hard because the nature of conservatories is that they lose a lot of heat through the glass. So unless you are willing to block off some of the windows within it (say with sheets of insulation board) its going to be like trying to heat the whole neighbourhood!

The better option if you can't (for light reasons etc) improve the insulation performance would be to have some form of directed heating which comes at you so that you stay warm rather than worrying about whether the whole room is warm. So in that instance a fan heating blowing warm air towards you or a halogen heater that radiates heat towards you may be better than a convector heater which works better by circulating heat around a whole room.

helenthemum

WestonDave wrote: »

Heating the whole room is going to be hard because the nature of conservatories is that they lose a lot of heat through the glass. So unless you are willing to block off some of the windows within it (say with sheets of insulation board) its going to be like trying to heat the whole neighbourhood!

The better option if you can't (for light reasons etc) improve the insulation performance would be to have some form of directed heating which comes at you so that you stay warm rather than worrying about whether the whole room is warm. So in that instance a fan heating blowing warm air towards you or a halogen heater that radiates heat towards you may be better than a convector heater which works better by circulating heat around a whole room.

The only problem with a fan heater is that it blows the net around that I am trying to sew. Might just have to put up with it, as trying to get a fan heater far enough away from the net means having the heater on more which works out extremely expensive (around £80-£100 per month)

WestonDave

Might be worth trying a halogen heater then - can often pick them up fairly cheaply. They work by radiating heat so should direct more of the heat towards you.

The other possibility is to see if you can get hold of some big sheets of bubble wrap (garden centres often sell it off a roll for insulating greenhouse) to put over the windows. This will still let most of the light through but increase the insulation. OK so its not the prettiest sight but it might make a fair difference.

Edited to say, might need to be careful with a halogen heater burning the net though, depending on how you work with it.

sunshinetours

Simple answer is no I am afraid. If the dimensions are right that is a huge conservatory and would take a huge amount of heat input to keep at a reasonable temperature at this time of year. Bubble wrap might help. Amazon sell huge rolls for £15 or so as bought one before christmas. Get the large bubble type

As above a halogen heater of some sort or a convector heater under your table maybe might be best options plus thermals!

NeverInDebt

Its going to be very expensive heating a large conservatory no matter what you use. My MIL had a large conservatory before she moved and like most people rarely use them in Winter for reasons mentioned they cold and expensive to heat.

Using electric is around 3 times more expensive than using gas, no matter what electric heating you will use. If you have a radiator it will be on full blast this time of year, the issue you have is heat loss because of all that glass

helenthemum

Thank you for the replies.

Looks like the Halogen heat may be the best idea as it wont blow the net around and wont be so much of a health and safety risk as a portable gas heater.

The diamensions are correct, I use it for work storage and sewing in, lovely in summer and even on sunny winter days, but horrible when its cold and dull.

Time to get some bubble wrap as well I think, very good suggestions. Thank you

kwmlondon

Can you get a bunch of people together for an aerobic exercise class?