In our work on this site and The Garden Room Guide we read a lot of specification sheets. We always look down the list to see if a source of heating is included in the package. We do this because although modern garden offices are highly insulated structures our experience tells us that a heater is still needed for the colder months.
Some garden office suppliers challenge us on this standpoint, telling us that their structures are so highly insulated and feature double glazed doors and windows so are naturally warm without the need for heating.
Putting the theory to the test
We have had the heating on low in our own garden office since the beginning of the month, but knowing that we would be working away from Garden Room HQ for a few days this week, we decided to switch off the heating and put the fabric of the building to the test.
Now it should be said our garden office is about 12 years old. It is highly insulated and double glazed, but the garden offices on sale today are probably better insulated. We are mentioning this because a modern garden office will probably hold their warmth better.
On Tuesday evening as we left the office we switched off the heating.
Our results
So today, Saturday we went back down to the office, its been three whole days since we turned the heating off. Whilst its not been the coldest week of the year, it has been chilly and there hasn’t been much sunlight.
When we opened the door we were aware of the warm air from inside the room hitting our face which had got cold walking up the garden. When we looked at the thermometer the room was 17°c!
With the heating on we aim to keep the temperature at 20°c, we find this is comfortable when sitting working. So, to find that with no heating the office was naturally 17°c was a pleasant surprise!
But we still believe you need a heater in a garden office
Despite our findings we do still recommend that you include a heater in your garden office design. The winter can get a lot colder than it is today and you’ll be grateful of the option.
Its reassuring that the fabric of a garden office does hold heat well, this means it wont take much to heat the room.
We control our heating with both a thermostat and timer. We have the heating set to switch on an hour before we typically arrive at the office and it turns off just after we leave. The thermostat means if the temperature in the room drops below a certain level the heating kicks in, but once our preset temperature is reached it turns itself off.
We’ll try the experiment again later on in the winter and report back!