Air conditioning for a conservatory: does it work?
A conservatory is too hot in summer and too cold in winter. A heat pump on the wall deals with both, and it fits the building regulations rule that catches radiators.
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The short answer
Yes. A wall mounted air conditioner is a heat pump, so it cools the conservatory in summer and heats it in winter. It also suits the building regulations: a conservatory is normally exempt only if its heating is independent of the house, with its own temperature and on and off controls, and a split unit has both. Extending your central heating into it without separate controls does not meet that condition. A glass room gains and loses heat much faster than a brick one, so it is sized at a survey, not from its floor area. Our units start at £1,995 fully installed.
When a conservatory is exempt from building regulations
The Planning Portal says a conservatory is normally exempt when all of these are true. Heating is one of them, and it is the one people miss.
Ground level and under 30 square metres
It is built at ground level and has a floor area of less than 30 square metres.
Separated from the house
It is separated from the house by external quality walls, doors or windows. Take those doors out and it no longer meets this condition.
Independent heating
Any heating has to be independent, with separate temperature and on and off controls. A wall mounted heat pump has its own thermostat and its own on and off, which is what this describes.
Glazing and electrics
Glazing and any fixed electrical installation have to meet the building regulations. Our electrical connection is done by a qualified electrician.
Single storey
It is one storey high.
Opening it up to the house changes the answer
The Planning Portal also says that any new structural opening between the conservatory and the house needs building regulations approval, even if the conservatory itself is exempt. If you are thinking of knocking through, plan the heating and cooling with the builder at the same time.
Why a heat pump suits a glass room
A conservatory heats up fast in sun and cools down fast at night, so what it needs is something that can do both, quickly, and only when you are in it.
A heat pump is also cheap to heat with. Daikin publishes a seasonal heating efficiency (SCOP) of 4.61 for the 2.5kW Comfora. At the Ofgem price cap of 26.32p per kWh, that works out at about 5.7p for each kWh of heat, against the full 26.32p for a plug in electric heater.
Daikin's data shows the same unit still produces 2.09kW of heat at minus 10 degrees outside. In a glass room on the coldest night that may not be enough on its own, which is one reason the size is set at a survey.
Where the units go
The indoor unit needs a solid wall
It hangs on a mounting plate fixed to a solid wall. In most conservatories that means the old outside wall of the house, inside the conservatory, rather than a low dwarf wall or a glazed frame.
Not on the conservatory roof
The permitted development rules do not allow an outdoor unit on a pitched roof. It goes on the ground on feet, or on a bracket on a house wall.
Keep it away from the road side
Outside a conservation area, the outdoor unit cannot go on a wall facing the road above ground floor level. Inside one, not on a wall facing the road at all. Most conservatories are at the back, so this rarely gets in the way.
Where the water goes
Our starting price includes a gravity drain. A conservatory is at ground level, so there is usually somewhere for the water to run to without a pump.
How a conservatory is sized
Our estimate sizes most rooms from their type and floor area. A conservatory does not fit that rule well, because almost all of its heat comes and goes through the glass. A south or west facing conservatory with a glass roof can need a size more than a brick room of the same floor area; a shaded one with a solid roof may not.
For a starting price, choose living room in the estimate and the size band nearest your floor area. Fully installed, a 2.5kW unit starts at £1,995, a 3.5kW at £2,095 and a 5.0kW at £2,595. At the survey we look at which way it faces, the roof, and how you use it, and confirm the size before you agree to anything.
To run, a 3.5kW unit cooling costs roughly 13p an hour, worked out from Daikin's published seasonal efficiency at the current price cap.
The ranges this applies to
Every price is fully installed and includes the unit, the installation, the electrical work and VAT.
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