Garden And Gardener

Everything for the Gardener and their Garden

Heating the greenhouse

Sunday, October 3rd, 2010

Dobbies have this range of greenhouse heaters. If you want to keep tender plants in your greenhouse or conservatory you will need to consider how best to heat it! You can take simple steps like using bubble wrap to insulate the glass of the greenhouse but this won’t stop it getting really cold so you still need to consider a heat source.
If you have an electric supply in the greenhouse – for instance if it’s adjacent to an outbuilding with electricity – then an electric heater is a mess free way of doing it. You need to weigh up the options though as you need to get the power cable in without having it outside! Get an electrician to put a socket suitable for outdoors in the greenhouse if you have the money spare to put a supply on!
Otherwise it’s parrafin heaters or bottled gas heating. A parrafin heater normally runs for a good few days on one fill which means if the weather is constantly freezing you can leave it running – but you should check it every day.
If you have a thermometer that has a separate sensor you can put one in the greenhouse and monitor the temperature from the house and know when it’s time to put the heating on. This will vary according to what plants you want to keep in the greenhouse. For some things you will need just to keep the heating on when it’s freezing and for more delicate plants sooner. Obviously the longer heating needs to be on the more it costs. Some people move their very delicate plants into their house for winter as it means there’s no additional heating cost, but if you have a lot of plants, or want to start seeds off early in the new year you will need some outdoor heat. Here are a few options from Dobbies.
Parrafin is available at most DIY shops. It may also be available at some garages.

Gardman 2kw Greenhouse & Conservatory Heater
Gardman 2kw Greenhouse & Conservatory Heater £25.00
Keep your plants, or yourself, warm this winter with this greenhouse and conservatory heater

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