You’ve just bought a gorgeous new garden room, and now you’re wondering: what’s the best way to heat a garden room? Good question. There are plenty of different ways to heat a garden room. Some things to consider when choosing your best option are your budget, the size of your space, and the aesthetic you want.
Whatever you use your garden room for, choosing a heating option that suits your needs will make all the difference. In this blog, I’ll talk you through various ways that you can heat a garden room, including benefits, downsides, costs involved and the ideal heating method for both our Garden Room ranges.
Can I use an oil-filled electric heater in a garden room?
This is our go-to in the Show Area for heating our garden rooms. They work by directly heating the air in a space.
What are the advantages of an oil-filled electric heater?
Setup is a breeze – just pop on the wheels, plug it in, and you’re ready to go. This is a great choice if you don’t want the hassle of professional installation.
We’ve found that this is the most budget-friendly option on the list. The ones we use cost £49, but you can get them for as little as £30.
They quickly heat a small, well-insulated space. We turn ours on and find that our Radiata Garden Rooms are warm within 20 minutes. For added convenience, you can get a Smart Plug and control the heater from your phone. This way, your garden room is cosy before you even step inside.
What are the downsides of an oil-filled electric heater?
The main issue with these heaters is that they’re not the prettiest. This doesn’t bother us, but if your garden room is a carefully curated space, they might not be right for you.
What garden room model is best for an oil-filled electric heater?
Each of our Radiata Garden Rooms is under 12m², and we’ve found that one heater easily keeps this space warm and comfortable. This is the heating method that we tend to recommend to Radiata customers.
Our Writers Cabin (One of our Blackstone Garden Rooms) is slightly larger, at about 14m², and one heater also does an excellent job here.
However, our bigger Blackstone Garden Rooms can go up to 30m² in size. For a space this size, especially if it’s one open-plan room, you’ll need at least two of these heaters – or a more substantial alternative.
New Radiata Garden Rooms vs Blackstone Garden Rooms: What’s The Difference?
Can I have underfloor heating in a garden room?
We decided to install underfloor heating in our new Sales Office and we were wary at first, but we’ve been pleasantly surprised.
What are the benefits of underfloor heating?
We’ve found that once our space has been warmed up with the underfloor heating, the heat holds in the room for a long time. We tend to turn the heating up high when we get in each morning, then by lunchtime it can go off and we’re kept cosy til home time at 5pm.
Underfloor heating is a good choice if you’re looking for even heat distribution. The heating covers the whole floor, so your space heats evenly – no chilly corners.
Another advantage is that it’s easy to control. Most options come with a thermostat, which allows you to regulate the temperature. We’d recommend getting a digital thermostat so that the heating’s on a timer and you can warm up your garden room before you go inside.
What are the downsides of underfloor heating?
Be aware that underfloor heating can take longer to heat a space – it’s not as instantaneous as other options on this list, so a bit of patience is required.
The initial cost of underfloor heating is rather expensive, usually around £500 – £2000, depending on the area you want to cover. Underfloor heating needs to be professionally installed by an electrician, which also increases the cost.
Underfloor heating isn’t compatible with all flooring choices – most tend not to work well with carpet, for example. So, make sure to choose a flooring that works with your underfloor heating, such as laminate.
What garden room model is best for underfloor heating?
We tend not to recommend underfloor heating for our Radiata Garden Rooms. It costs a lot to install, and because these rooms are relatively small, it doesn’t take much to heat them, so it’s probably overkill. But, if your budget allows for it, there’s no harm in having underfloor heating in a Radiata.
For a Blackstone Garden Room or other large-sized garden rooms, underfloor heating is a perfect choice.
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Can I have a wood-burning stove in a garden room?
A wood-burning stove is what we use to heat our main office, and it’s great. I’ll admit – we’re probably a bit biased since we always have a good supply of wood to keep it burning. But we can see why people are keen to have one added to their garden room.
What are the benefits of a wood-burning stove?
One of the main reasons people choose a wood-burning stove is simply because they love them! Stove people enjoy the atmosphere that it creates and the routine of lighting the fire.
Another great thing about a wood-burning stove is that in terms of running costs, it’s hard to beat. All you need is some firewood and a few firelighters to run it.
What are the downsides of a wood-burning stove?
Wood burners aren’t for everyone. While some people love the process of lighting and tending a fire, others find it to be a bit of a chore. It’s the most high-maintenance option on this list – you’ll need to clean out the ash and keep the flue maintained regularly.
Something else to consider with a stove is that it takes up room. It needs a safe amount of space around it, which can eat into the usable space of your garden room. Depending on how big your garden room is, this might not be the right choice.
Stoves are also one of the most expensive options on this list, and you’ll need a professional to install one. They can range from around £500 – £5000. The ones we love are a brand called Charnwood which range in cost from £1000 to £4000.
What garden room model is best for a wood-burning stove?
A stove works well in many garden room models, including our Radiata Garden Rooms and Blackstone Garden Rooms. A Blackstone Garden Room will give you more space to house the stove, compared to a Radiata, but if you’re willing to give up some floor space there’s no reason why you can’t have one installed in a Radiata Garden Room.
Can I use electric panel heaters in a garden room?
These heaters work by heating the air through convection, offering fast and effective heating.
What are the benefits of an electric panel heater?
An electric panel heater is often mounted to a wall. This is great in a garden room because it saves you much-needed space.
Most electric panel heaters are DIY-friendly – all you need to do is mount it and plug it in. Some even come with the option to control your heating from your phone. If you’re looking for a convenient heating option, this is a perfect fit.
Another benefit of these heaters is that they’re not too expensive. They range from about £100 to £400 in cost.
Electric panel heaters come in lots of different designs, but they tend to all have a modern and sleek look. If you want your garden room to have a contemporary vibe, this could be the choice for you.
What are the downsides of an electric panel heater?
An electric panel heater might not be to everyone’s taste. If your style is quite traditional, you might find that an electric panel heater sticks out like a sore thumb in your space, putting you off.
Ensure your garden room is well-insulated if you do choose an electric panel heater. If not, a lot of heat will be lost to the surroundings, and you’ll need to keep the heater on continuously, resulting in high running costs.
Each of our garden room ranges offers a superior level of insulation. For example, our Radiata Garden Rooms feature 4-Layer construction, which includes 50mm of insulation. Our Blackstone Garden Rooms are even more substantial and feature a 5-Tier wall construction with 95mm of insulation.
What garden room model is best for an electric panel heater?
An electric panel heater would be a good choice for a Radiata Garden Room because it’s a small and insulated space.
One electric panel heater would also be ideal for a medium-sized Blackstone Garden Room. However, for a large or extra-large Blackstone Garden Rooms, I’d recommend adding two of these heaters, especially if your layout is open plan.
Can I have an infrared heater in a garden room?
Infrared heaters warm objects, surfaces and people in a space, instead of warming the air directly.
This makes them a popular choice for garden rooms.
What are the benefits of an infrared heater?
One of the biggest advantages of infrared heating is that it offers immediate warmth. As soon as you turn the heater on, you’ll start to warm up. This means no fuss having to preheat your space, which is ideal for a garden room.
If you plan to use your garden room intermittently, an infrared heater would be an ideal option.
For example, when I asked our Digital Manager Amy about infrared heating, she explained that this is how she would choose to heat a garden room used as a yoga studio or home gym. It would warm the space instantly while she was using it and could be turned off once she was done. She would only use this room for a few hours a day, so an infrared heater is perfect.
Infrared heaters are an economical choice if used as intended. Since they don’t heat the air, they don’t use as much energy as a traditional heater. This helps keep running costs low, especially if you’re only using a space for short periods. Prices range from around £100 to £500, and installation is simple enough to do yourself.
They come in many different designs – some are even disguised as mirrors or prints, which allows you to maintain the aesthetic of your garden room. This is a favourite of mine:
What are the downsides of an infrared heater?
While infrared heaters are great for short-term use, they’re not ideal for rooms that are used all day, such as a home office. If you need to keep your space warm all day, you’d likely need the heater running constantly, which could become costly.
Infrared heaters target specific areas, so they don’t provide uniform heating across a whole room. This won’t suit everyone’s needs, especially in an open-plan or multi-use space.
It’s also important to get the placement of an infrared heater right for it to work effectively. They need to have a clear reach to whichever space you want to heat without something blocking them.
What model of garden room is best for infrared heating?
One infrared heater can heat a Radiata Garden Room or a medium-sized Blackstone Garden Room effectively as long as you place it in a good spot.
For a large or extra-large Blackstone Garden Room, you’ll need a few infrared heaters pointed at the most-used areas. They’re not the most suitable option for this size of space because you might find they leave cold spots.
Estimated Cost Levels
| Heating Option | Initial Cost | Running Cost |
| Oil-Filled Electric Heater | LOW | MEDIUM |
| Underfloor Heating | HIGH | MEDIUM |
| Wood-burning Stove | HIGH | LOW |
| Electric Panel Heater | MEDIUM | HIGH |
| Infrared Heater | MEDIUM | LOW |
What’s the best way to heat a garden room?
No one heating option will suit everyone; it all depends on how you use your garden room, your budget and your style preferences. Now that you’ve got all the details, you can make an informed decision that’s right for your garden room needs.
If you’re still unsure about the best way to heat a garden room, our team would be happy to advise you. Book a Consultation to discuss your garden room project here, or pop into our Show Area to see the garden rooms and their heating setups in person.
