Heating a log cabin - best and most efficient option?

MavisPaws

We recently invested in a wooden garden building/summerhouse/posh shed and opted for the electrical package and insulation but declined the seemingly overpriced climate control unit (which would have been over £2k extra!) and we are now looking at a heating system that isn’t hugely costly to run. The space will be used as part gym with work out equipment and part entertainment space with furniture and a tv

Options are:
• Infrared heating - partner has this at work and he says it’s great. Apparently it only heats people and things, not the air, and needs to face in rather than facing windows and doors. It’s said to be very cost effective, too, but I can’t seem to find something of an acceptable size to warm our space (everything I’ve read says it heats people and objects within a certain distance and not beyond). We can put this on a timer and ask Alexa to turn things on before we go out to the building 
• Biofuel burner - looks a bit like a log burner and very quick to heat space, but it’s a wooden building and even though they said it’s a safe option it makes me twitch. We have a biofuel fireplace in our living room which we’ve only used a few times as it gets so hot we end up sitting in our underwear watching the tv in the depths of winter. The fire is brilliant, no fumes and very clean, but it’s still a real flame, although the burner is a closed unit like, as I say, a log burner
• The expensive climate control unit but as a DIY retrofit - I haven’t seen anything because I haven’t looked. As with a lot of these things, I’ve found that the option on offer from the supplier isn’t usually the most energy or cost efficient to run
• We don’t want to go down the road of running costly fan heaters, but as a temp measure we have a small oil radiator we can plug in with a Hive socket for Alexa or use the on board timer to keep things ticking over  

Has anyone used either of the options or an alternative in a summer house successfully and cost effectively? I’ve looked up past posts but I think things have moved on since 2011, when most similar posts were created 

Emmia

There are risks associated with infrared heating, including to pregnant women and those with circulatory problems.

Personally, as a fit healthy woman with no chance of getting pregnant I avoid places like gyms (it's popular with some yoga studios) heated via this method as it makes me feel very unwell quite quickly.

QrizB

MavisPaws said:

We recently invested in a wooden garden building/summerhouse/posh shed and opted for the electrical package and insulation but declined the seemingly overpriced climate control unit (which would have been over £2k extra!)

If the "climate control unit" was an air-to-air heat pump (reversible air conditioner) it was probably the best choice for cost-effective heating. Runs on electricity but at a similar overall cost to mains gas.

MavisPaws said:

• The expensive climate control unit but as a DIY retrofit - I haven’t seen anything because I haven’t looked. As with a lot of these things, I’ve found that the option on offer from the supplier isn’t usually the most energy or cost efficient to run

Something like this is listed as £1150 fitted, but you'd need to find an installer that covers your area:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/283171410219

DIY is possible with the right equipment but not technically legal unless you've got a F-Gas certificate - and of you did, you wouldn't be asking the question here!

pramsay13

I have a log cabin in the garden that I use as a workshop.
https://www.dreo.com/products/smart-wall-mouted-heater-wh517s
I use this Dreo heater. It is electric but you can control it via a timer or app so I set it to only come on between 8am and 5pm Monday to Friday and only if the temperature drops below 14°. 

Newbie_John

Heating systems have two costs - initial cost and running cost.

If you're planning to stay there whole year round for long time then probably air con / air-to-air heat pump would work the cheapest - about £2k installation and then about 8p/ heat unit.

If you're planning couple of hours on random days then it may not be worth putting so much upfront and simple preconfigured heater (i.e. Philips electric fan heater with WiFi shceduler < £100 would work).
It costs 24p/ heat unit.

At the begin it may be hard to predict how much "heat" you need, I'd go with cheaper option and if you find out that your costs of electricity may go in £400+ a year then would look at the more expensive option.