Are greenhouse heaters important?

During the cold weather, you have to protect the plants in your greenhouse from frost damage and one of the most overlooked pieces of kit is a decent greenhouse heating system. And the good news is is that you can pick up a decent heater for your greenhouse relatively cheaply.

Of course, 'relatively cheaply' is different for us all and dependent upon your needs. For instance, you can pick up a 2ft Tubular Hylite 80 Watt Heater for just over £20 if you shop around if you're only looking to put a bit of warmth into a small greenhouse. However, for a larger and more powerful heater, such as a Bio Green Phoenix, you could be looking close to £200. As you can see, you need to be pretty sure of what you need before dipping your hand in your pocket, otherwise you could end up spending more than what you really need to.

Most plastic greenhouse coverings have a R-Value (Insulation value) of around 2 - which isn't too great - and as such, money needs to be spent replacing the heat lost through the plastic. So when that heat is lost, you need a heating system in place to ensure you maintain the temperature you need and, in my opinion, an electric or paraffin is probably you best option. It's also wise to have a simple thermostat to adjust the greenhouse temperature to the current conditions.

I'd rule out a gas heater as the initial cost in purchasing one can be a little too high. That's purely my own personal choice and I wouldn't avoid a propane greenhouse heater on cost alone, indeed, some of the better models are the best option all round.

Talking of which, you do need to consider the running cost of your greenhouse heating system. Currently, the electricity cost in the UK of running a 1000 watt electrical heater would come out at close to 14p an hour. For the same period of one hour, paraffin supplies could cost almost two times as much. Double? Well, yeas, but you need to be aware that a paraffin greenhouse heater keeps pumping out heat after its turned off and will do until the oil inside finally cools down.

My own personal preference is an electrical greenhouse heater as I like the "cheaper now" option as I don't have a huge budget and with the inbuilt thermostats on most products these days, I can keep the temperature within my own greenhouse just right, but don't let that put you off a paraffin or gas heater if your need or budget stretches that far - each option does an excellent job of keeping the temperature of your greenhouse just right.