How to heat a conservatory

A room whose surfaces are the problem

In a conservatory, the glazed area often exceeds the floor area. Heating the air there amounts to warming a mass permanently in contact with cold surfaces, and the loss follows the input immediately.

Why radiation is the answer

It reaches people and objects directly without going through the air. In a room where the air loses its heat against the glass within minutes, it is the only transfer mode that produces a perceptible effect.

The cold glazing, an effect to know

A large cold surface absorbs the body's radiation and creates local discomfort even at a correct air temperature. That is why a conservatory feels cold near the glass and acceptable in the middle.

The real use of the room

A conservatory is used in bursts, not continuously. A responsive system, coming up fast and stopping fast, suits that use better than a system designed to hold a set point day and night.

What to deal with first

The roof. It represents the largest loss surface and the easiest to treat, and insulating it before sizing the heating often reduces the output required significantly.

What should not be promised

A conservatory will not become an ordinary room through heating alone. It can become comfortable for a large part of the year, which is already an honest and verifiable objective. On an existing conservatory, the gap between a room unusable four months and one usable ten months is settled more by the roof and the shading than by the output installed.

Insulating a conservatory is developed on the dedicated page, and summer comfort on the summer comfort page.