We often put off the idea of planning to heat our conservatory for as long as possible, soaking up as much of the summer sun without any distractions. That summer sun may have inspired you to try your hand at growing fruit in your conservatory. With autumn underway, you may be interested in finding effective ways to warm up your conservatory, without, if possible, spending too much. Sometimes it may be a case of insulating the roof which can do the trick.
To offer you some help in this regard, therefore, we are going to look at some ingeniously effective and affordable ways to warm up your conservatory.
- Electric Conservatory Heaters
The first suggestion we have is by far the most obvious and may even have been the suggestion you thought of yourself before reading any further than the opening paragraphs. Conservatory heaters come in all shapes and sizes, which means they have different heating outputs, and most crucially, different prices.
When deciding on a conservatory heater, you need to consider its size as well as the level of heat it will produce and whether it will be enough to fill your conservatory. It may be that you need to invest in more than one to sufficiently heat your lean-to.
You can usually pick up a reliable heater on Amazon at a decent price with a great warranty.
- 2 POWER SETTINGS: Choose from 1000W and 2000W of power to get your home or office space...
- ADAPTS TO THE CLIMATE: With three heat settings of cool, warm and hot, this fan heater is...
- EASY-TO-USE: Changing the settings of your heater is simple with the manual turn dials....
- PORTABLE & LIGHTWEIGHT: Small and stylish fan heater can be transported to wherever it is...
- SAFE TO USE: Built-in overheat protection provides the added safety and peace of mind to...
- Electric Blankets
Rather than heating the actual room, one way to bring warmth to your conservatory quickly on those particularly cold days is to use something that will heat the seating area. Electric blankets are a great way to do this. They heat up quicker because they have a smaller surface area, you hold them closer to your body and will be able to benefit from the warmth quicker.
The multiple heat settings on this one make it a personal favourite of mine.
- SUPER COSY: Made from super snuggly fleece material to keep you extra warm and cosy
- ULTRA FAST HEAT UP: Control your comfort with fast heat up and 3 heat settings
- SLEEP SAFE: Features overheat protection for total peace of mind, measuring 135 cm x 120...
- AFFORDABLE COMFORT: Costing from just 1p to heat your bed you can afford to keep cosy and...
- EASY FIT STRAPS & MACHINE WASHABLE: The easy fit straps provide an easy secure fit,...
- Invest in High Quality, Thick Curtains
As the windows are the part of your conservatory where the most heat is likely to escape from, it is a good idea to invest in high quality and very thick eyelet ring curtains. Even if you do not intend using them all year round, you could keep them tied up or even down during the warmer months of the year and then hang them for the colder months.
It is also important to leave them open during the daytime, even on the cooler days to allow as much heat and sunlight in as possible. But be vigilant and make sure you close them again as it starts getting dark, to trap as much heat as possible.
- Invest in Rugs or Even Carpeting
Most people do not think about getting carpets for their conservatory as they want it to have a much lighter and open feel than other parts of the home. However, if the cold is a real problem in your area, the extra warmth you can add to your floors by laying some carpets or just a few conservatory rugs will make a real difference on how you feel. This will often depend on the conservatory floor you have in place.
- Use Throws for Your Conservatory Furniture
In a similar way to bringing the warmth into your conservatory as electric blankets, you could simply use some soft and thick throws to have on top of your conservatory chairs and conservatory furniture. This will not only add an extra layer, but if you start to feel the cold a little more than your comfortable with, you could use them as makeshift blankets. If any of the furniture in your conservatory has metal parts, like the legs or backs, then this will also help protect your body and skin from those parts that are likely to be cooler than the fabricated parts.
- Use Draught Excluders
If you have ever used these in your main property, you will know how effective they can be for reducing the amount of hot air escaping and cold air entering the rooms of your home. To help reduce the cost of heating your conservatory by utilising these. Just simply lay them along the doorways in your conservatory to fill in the natural gap there is between the floor and the bottom of the door.
An alternative to buying draught excluders of course would be to make your own. You can do this by taking some old jeans, an old jumper or a similar garment and cutting the legs/arms off. Get some inexpensive filling and stuff the fabric tube with the and then sew up each end.
- Heated Airer
This is kind of a cheat, but if you have a heated airer that you use to dry clothes on, you could place it in the conservatory rather than using it in your utility room, kitchen or wherever you dry your clothes indoors. As well as benefiting from the extra bit of heat quickly, it will also free up space in smaller rooms.
We use these sparingly and so have a smaller one compared to our usual dryer which (as you can imagine) holds a lot more. But for a small wash and quick dry, this one from Amazon is a reliable purchase.
- Holds up to 15kg of washing on 21m of drying space, spread over 3-tiers.
- Cost effective and Energy Efficient compared to tumbler driers.
- Arrives assembled, simply fold out, plug in and switch on.
- Folds Flat for Storage
- Ideal for winter months instead of outdoor drying, and also for saving money amidst...
- Consider Underfloor Heating
Okay, so this is likely to be the most expensive suggestion in our list, but underfloor heating is such a marvellous thing that we didn’t think we could hit publish on this post without mentioning it. It does require specialist installation. Eventually, however, you will start to reap the benefits in no time at all, especially if you choose an energy-efficient underfloor heating option. The whole family will appreciate that warm and inviting feeling underfoot.
There are other things you can obviously do to ensure your conservatory is warm enough. The suggestions we offered above, with the exception of underfloor heating, were to help keep the costs relatively low. Spending a considerable amount of money may not always be avoidable.
If you have any problems with keeping your extension warm it may be worth looking at the condition of the conservatory. Are the windows allowing too much cold air in and hot air out? It could be that the sealant is damaged and needs to be replaced. What about the roof? Is that keeping your conservatory adequately insulated? While the cost of a conservatory roof replacement will equate to a big investment, you will benefit from it in the long run.