Has anyone had underfloor heating in a conservatory?

[CrapBag]

Looking at houses at the moment and we are unlikely to be able to afford something that I massive so it needs to have a decent size garden so we can have a conservatory.

I saw a thread on Chat about some people really not liking their conservatories and being cold seemed to be a problem (in the winter). DH said MIL had a radiator in hers but still had to use a separate heater because it didn't get warm enough and lost a lot of heat through the windows. DH's uncle has a huge conservatory with under floor heating and it always seems lovely and cost even in the winter. So if we did go ahead, I would want this otherwise it wouldn't be used for half the year (and the idea is it will be a playroom with small area in the corner for me to do my crafts).

Any idea how much it costs? Can't really judge by DH's uncle as theirs is a very expensive conservatory and it really is huge, any one that we had wouldn't be anywhere near this size (unfortunately!).

[secretscwirrels]

I don't know how much it costs but I would go for it.
Neighbours and us both have a conservatories of about 30' x 15' so quite large.
We never even considered under floor heating and have an electric panel heater. Essentially the conservatory is shut for the winter about the beginning of November and reopened in March. It's too cold in between. I am planning to fit carpet this year as I always hated the wooden floor and think that will make a huge difference.
Neighbours is used all year round as a living room. probably expensive to heat as you are really trying to heat the planet.

[CQ]

I'm a bit meh about conservatories, tbh. Too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer. If you so go for one, get partially brick walls if you can, and partially tiled roof, and roof lights that open to let the heat and insects out. And thermal blinds. There's a reason entire houses are not built of glass.

[PigletJohn]

Conservatories are specially designed to lose a lot of heat, so if you try to make it warm in winter it will cost you a fortune. Your house might have 250mm of insulation in the loft, and 60mm in the walls, as well as the bricks. A conservatory doesn't. In terms of heat loss, it is a shed, not a house.

Heat from electricity costs about three times as much as heat from gas.

[secretscwirrels]

I have never been worried about being too hot in my conservatory I love it so much it's the best money we ever spent on the house.
Nothing better than sitting in there on a cold but sunny day.

[RuddyDuck]

when we bought our current house it had a large conservatory. Bloody freezing in winter, boiling in Summer ( faced south) and I hated it. We looked into having the floor redone with underfloor heating in the hope it could be used year round, but in the end bit the bullet and had the damn thing pulled down and replaced with a proper extension. Best decision we ever made, property wise.

[FlatCapAndAWhippet]

I had a conservatory built a couple of years ago, its an add on to the kitchen and opens onto our garden which is south westerly facing. I suppose technically it's not a full blown conservatory as it's got a solid wall down one side of it that's loaded with insulation, as is the floor, but it's absolutely brilliant, has totally changed the house, extended the kitchen which is used every day, has our big old farmhouse kitchen table in it, an arm chair and DD's desk.

It's really warm in the winter as it's got two radiators, (only use one most of the time) and is only very rarely, a couple of days last summer, hot as it's got roof windows, that glass that reflects the sun (that costs you heaps extra ) and windows that open all the way around it, so is very easily ventilated. It has been built to the highest standard but it was flippin expensive. :)

So what I'm really saying is if you invest in it, get the job done well by experienced people who can give you sound advice , ensure it can be adequately heated in the winter, that the design is such that it can be cool enough in the summer months then it works.

I love love love ours.

[MamaPingu]

I definitely think half brick walls and a proper roof with sky lights is the way to go, then maybe patio doors onto the garden.

We have a conservatory and have the same problem as others with it being boiling in the summer and unbareably cold in the winter.

Underfloor heating sounds a really good idea!

[MillyMollyMama]

I have my kitchen in a 26ft x 15 ft oak framed orangery with a glass roof and two glass walls, one with French doors and the other has opening windows. The roof has opening windows too. I am never cold and rarely, (only in a real heat wave) am I too hot. It has underfloor heating and it is fantastic. We pulled down our old conservatory made from a soft wood frame with glass roof and 2 glass walls. Even with 2 radiators it was very cold for months of the year.

We have a ceramic tiled floor. Carpets make no difference at all to the warmth of a conservatory. It is all about the heating output being very generous for the space. Radiators were not any use for us as my solid walls are used for the kitchen cabinets so underfloor heating was a must. It is electric but very efficient through the tiles. If you are worried about heating costs, do not have glass walls! The basic price of the orangery was very expensive due to the frame and the cost of the high spec glass - the installation was not much less! It looks amazing though!

[Piscivorus]

We have an orangery built into a missing corner of the house iyswim with 2 exterior walls that have windows in, a Pilkington K reflective glass roof and double doors to the garden. It faces east so not too hot in summer.

It has underfloor heating which is really effective but more expensive to run than other forms of heating. We don't use the room all the time as family older, people out at work, etc so tend to just switch it on at weekends but it is lovely and well worth having

[MrsTaraPlumbing]

As said more walls less glass is good.
Check U values of glass can get really good glass now.
Electric uFH is really cheap and easy to install.

But make sure you put it on top of the board that reflects all the heat up into the room and therefore warms the floor within 30 minutes of turning it on, otherwise you are heating the whole of the ground underneath and it could take a warm up time of 4-6 hours or so.

[Ilovecoodomol]

My brother has underfloor heating in his house and he says it is damn expensive. It is in his whole ground floor though, and he has a large country house so he is paying about £200 per month for his oil. My plumber says underfloor heating has pumps that run continually as well, running up electric. If it is just a conservatory though it may be a lot less, but price it up just to be sure.

[PigletJohn]

energy from electricity costs about three times as much as energy from gas.

[CrapBag]

Hmm.

Thank you for all of your responses. I have had second thoughts actually. I don't want to be saddled with a room that won't get used. I do remember sitting in my friends conservatory last year and I couldn't stick it, it was soooo hot.

Think we need to find a house that has the space we want or see if we have enough money for an actual extension instead, maybe a small one.

[MillyMollyMama]

Ok if you have gas, PigletJohn,but we had oil and it was not £200 a month, more like £400! We now have air source heat pumps as no gas in our village. We also have water filled underfloor heating elsewhere in the house and this does take a while to heat up. We do not switch on our electric underfloor heating as such,it is controlled by a thermostat. This keeps the heat constant and you really need this if you are actually going to use the room. The water filled system is slower to react and we supplement with a log burner In really cold weather. I never need to do that with the electric system. With gas, you could do a wet system but you need a lot of plumbing and that is not so simple and expensive to install.