On 5 Dec 2005 14:15:22 -0800, wrote:

Many thanks for all the kind replies to my query.

As I said in my opening gambit, I have no experience of owning a
conservatory hence
I am torn between wanting to install sufficient heating facilities
(just in case the
new room is well used all the year round) versus not wanting to have
added a
"heat sink" to the house to waste valuable pennies when the room is not
in use!

I know, I'm being awkward. I'm just hedging my bets.

Having read all the generous replies I'm now swithering over delaying a
full installation
for a season or two and just relying on an electric fan-assisted heater
meantime.

Thus if the room gets well used (beyond the initial "novelty" stage) I
can
trade up to the thoughtful suggestions outlined by the repliers above,
or chicken
out and leave it with fan-assisted heating.

Not trying to irk the group's kindness, but I may take some days
mulling this
over and might revisit the topic later.

IME if the house is on the small side and you have kids it WILL get
used or cost some sanity not to! If not and you have equally usable
space for dining/lounge etc it's not so bad.

Maybe get a £12 plug in meter from Maplin to monitor how much elec.
the heater is using, bearing in it will cost the same as using gas for
the next 4 years (electric being ~4x the cost of gas).

cheers,
Pete.