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[biggriffin]

When our central heating failed early December last year, and the "gas engineer" (as they now like to be called), decided to break and defer his" appt" to fix the problem until the following year ,ie sometime in January.The heated arguments and debates that ensued with my better half failed to warm the house so instead and lying around the house,garage, and next door neighbours garden shed I found/borrowed and  used some old bread baking tins, terracota plant pots, some old tea candles and a few old french franc coins to heat each room of the house.
2 contraptions should do for your conservatory - each tea candle burned for approx 4 hours at 1p each (they were quite old and had been bought cheap from Ikea before the company started advertsing on the telly). When this supply was exhausted, I got fresh supplies(100 or 200 per pack) more locally from Wilkos, and B and Q, the price varied between 1 to 2 pence each per tea candle  - cheaper still if you get pensioner discount on Wednesdays at B and Q`s, or make an offer price in Wilkos for purchasing 2 or more packs.
Your conservatory could be heated for example for 8 hour periods for less than 20 pence per day
I too, am very careful with my pennies, and so when the heating engineer and his family had left the UK for their biannual  6 week sejourn in the canaries ( I have been reliably informed that he and his fellow fiends, sorry friends all meet each morning to "set" local prices and discuss holidays and the like as to what they can do with the client "fees" they charge  before they begin waving their tools, and selling their services each day).I set about the task of repairing our faulty central heating system - silly me, because it was only a blocked cold feed pipe, the one that meets the hot water supply , and so a little bit of tool waving sorted that little problem out, and saved myself a small fortune both in winter heating costs and gas engineer fees - which has now allowed me to change my car, and am currently awaiting its delivery.

Anyway, the better half changed her tune from pissing herself laughing at my Romano-Terracota Portable Central Heating System ( as I like to call it) to actually making me xmas lunch last year, and so all is well that ends well, as the contraption in each room as required kept us toasty for those few mission critical days leading upto xmas and all that this time of the year entails, and also more importantly until I had rectified the plumbing problem which consequently earned me sufficient brownie points in order for peace and calm to reign in our household for most of this year.

To summarise, as I would like to keep this post brief :

One heating device comprises 1 bread tin, place in 2 to 4 candles and light them, place 1 inverted terracota pot of sufficient size to cover candles - use old franc coin or similar on top of inverted pot to regulate emissions/air flow ( optional baking tray to sit device on to prevent burning/scorching of areas where device is placed) - Basic Contraption

Advanced contraption uses 2 pots ie 1 smaller sits inverted inside a larger one. This now provides longer lasting heating , and is much greener ie less soot/smell/lower emissions and particulates etc

I did consider selling the system on ebay last year for £35 , I careful owner from new, used only for a few days - but just couldn`t bring myself to let it go and so old faithful is patiently awaiting its call of duty should the need arises as winter once again is at the gates.

We too,well me is also too mean to put on the CH, and usually stick it out until mid November ( on manual settings of course, not any of this auto/programming nonsense, and my wife likes knitting so at least some of all that money she squnaders on wool is put to some use during the cold weather), and use it sparingly until the following March, when the solar PV starts to earn for us. Monthly gas and electric is £65, been with the coop for a number of years on their online tariff

Other suggestion is a projector and portable screen with cable running from a TV in another room/kitchen similar to what I rigged up a few years back( was previously a teacher in another life).No need to worry about picture quality as its so novel to most they just stare in amazement/amusement - no worries about sound either as the projector is quite noisy so you have to concentrate and listen to it quite intently, and the beneficial side effect is that this type of equipment I reckon is that it would throw out  more heat than the proposed reactor at hinckley point, and so would prevent potential condensation problems in your conservatory during cold periods

Blimey, a longer post than a dbg one, that's an achievement.

[Shackeng]

Chuck a wheelie bin liner over, bag of desicant (can be dried in the oven before hand whilst cooking Sunday lunch) and tie a knot in it.

Hard fact is that it wont affect it anyway, they are designed to work at low temperatures and high humidity

Thks Mark, I had hoped that would be the case.

[Rods2]

Do you think, they have heating on while they are in a tin box on a boat, chugging across the ocean, then left in said box sat at the docks, then they sit in a big warehouse.

They have a small packet with 'silica gel, do not eat' written on it, stuffed inside the box. This protects it from any kind of moisture ingress, including monsoons. So I would buy some of those and place them strategically around said conservatory. Make sure you drink plenty of fluids whilst watching TV, though. It will be very dry in there.
HTH.

Good plan, I'll buy a box full.

Silica gel is reusable, just place in a warm area to dry out and then reuse.

[Bigron]

Just one caveat when warming silica gel - don't put it in a GAS oven, it will absorb more moisture due to the combustion products.

Ron.