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Looking at my energy provider, my standing charge is 14.522p per kWh. So if I'm thinking of running a 2kWh heater am I right in thinking it'll cost me 29.044p per hour to run?

Just trying to figure out how much extra it is likely to cost me if I run my greenhouse heater 24/7 - £7.20 per day?

Obviously once temperature is reached it'll switch itself off so it wouldn't quite be 24/7 but looking at worst case scenario

Sorry ria I can never understand my electric bill somebody will help shout frank

I'm here.

Ria you are right about the 29.044p/hr to run, but that is £6.97 per day or a hefty £48.80 p/wk, but that is not the true picture.

As you say the heater would be going on and off as the heat rises and falls, so that brings the price down a bit, but how hot would it get your greenhouse and how good is the thermostat? A greenhouse only needs to be kept above freezing at say 7-10C on a trickle heat.

For example, I have a three heat setting convector for my little office area. At the lowest setting, 650W, it gets the room to 23C in no time and with the thermostat at its lowest it will click back in at about 17C. At one lever, its power, it would work in your greenhouse. At the other level, its temperature control, it is totally useless.

I suspect that your domestic heater is much the same. 2kW will have the greenhouse up to 20C+ in minutes, but because greenhouses let out the heat quickly it will kick back in again in no time. The constant on/off might actually ruin it.

The big problem with both of them is that they are designed for higher room temperatures, temperatures far too high for a greenhouse, then they have the problem that their thermostats have quite a range, 6-7 degrees +/-3 degrees.

It might be cheaper, overall, to go online for a dedicated greenhouse heater designed to keep the chill off.

I have a similar problem with my conservatory....I have two if these (below) in there, but we only have one on if the temps are very low so the dog isn't cold (!!)

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/home-appli ... FgodAdAO-g

My pal at work and I were talking about this yesterday - they leave theirs on all the time, night and day, so they keep the coservatory door open as it doesn't cool the rest of the rooms down. If I were to leave my door open, the living room would get cold - it's flippin' freezing in there without any form of heating on.

I am concerned about the cost of keeping one on all the time though....the conservatory is pretty big, as wide as the whole house and about 12' deep.

Thanks Frank

The heater I have ans was wondering about is a 2kw Greenhouse heater (similar to this one https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lets-Grow-Bota ... r+electric)

And don't laugh - the reason I'm looking to use it is because I have an underweight juvenile hedgehog I'm overwintering and at the moment it's just too darn cold for the poor thing. It's too small to hibernate so I need to keep the ambient temperature up so it stays awake. I do have a heat pad in the hutch but it's not enough.

I'm taking a sneaky day off tomorrow so will try and insulate the greenhouse a bit more (ie bubble wrap over the louvre windows and more over the hutch) but will need something to try keep the heat a bit higher. I think I have one of these gadgets at home somewhere that measures the cost of electricity being used so I'll try find that and figure out how it works. And it won't be needed for every day, just when the temperatures drop this low again


Gal, as a by the by - someone once told me that it often is actually more economical to keep a heater on all the time as it will use more energy to continuously build up the warmth vs maintaining it. But same for me, it would be a matter of trial and error for you I think. I don't have £200 extra to heat a greenhouse but don't mind the occasional use of a heater

meriad wrote:
Gal, as a by the by - someone once told me that it often is actually more economical to keep a heater on all the time as it will use more energy to continuously build up the warmth vs maintaining it. But same for me, it would be a matter of trial and error for you I think. I don't have £200 extra to heat a greenhouse but don't mind the occasional use of a heater

I have heard this before, and do wish Mick would believe me! We are basking in heat here today though, as he's gone to Ipswich for a couple of days on business! *Gets out sunglasses, bikini, and cool drinks*

Ria, that is more the sort of thing I was thinking of rather than a normal home heater.

The bubble wrap idea is fantastic and could go on the roof and top row panels to help keep more heat in.

However, I have just been on a hedgehog site and found that underweight hedgehogs need a fairly constant 18C to stop them trying to hibernate... this could get costly even with a greenhouse heater unless you do some insulation work. I think that you are going to need polystyrene panels for the bottom of the greenhouse, with the rest being done with bubble wrap. The light level inside should still be fine, but the heat loss will be a lot more manageable.

http://www.sttiggywinkles.org.uk/top-na ... sheet.html

By coincidence, there was an article in the Times about these hedgehogs yesterday, which I've just dug out of the recycling basket! Wildlife rescue centres are being inundated because these undernourished juvenile hoglets are the product of a very late third litter - the mild spring brought the parents out of hibernation early, so they have had time to produce a third litter which they don't normally do.

The article says that young hedgehogs should weigh at least 500-600 grams before they settle down to hibernate. Some are being rescued at just 100 grams. Once they start putting on weight, they can be put in unheated cages in a warm room, and once they have reached the 500-600 gram weight, then they can be put outside to hibernate as the temperature falls.

Threadjack warning! Soz Ria.

Mythbusting 101.

Keeping the heating on is cheaper than turning it on and off.

Keeping the heat on all day is energy inefficient; Money Saving Expert and also USwitch agree. So does the science behind what they are saying.

Having a good heating plan is by far the cheapest.

Spoilsport!