advice needed on heating new (not yet built) Conservatory

travellady

Steph998 wrote: »

Why would a conservatory not be a 'habitable' room? If conservatory's get baking hot in the summer...it follows that they have a flippin' glass roof! How does it follow they will 'lose heat' just as fast?

My conservatory when heated keeps the heat in nicely...it does not 'lose' the heat. It is only freezing if there is no regular heat...as is the rest of the house. It also has a steady temp in the high 80's from end of April through to end of September. If the doors to my house are open, this temperature also heats the rest of the house quite nicely. So for almost six months it uses heat from the
sun - cloudy or sunny - and costs nothing .

I agree when heated it is ok- but it does lose heat fast - however the majority of times we've had to have the main rad on and a blower even in some Summer nights- and then the extremem heat in Summer heat during the day just too hot to go in- Ours is South facing and gets the sun ALL day from 8am - 9pm in Summer!

Steph998

travellady wrote: »

I agree when heated it is ok- but it does lose heat fast - however the majority of times we've had to have the main rad on and a blower even in some Summer nights- and then the extremem heat in Summer heat during the day just too hot to go in- Ours is South facing and gets the sun ALL day from 8am - 9pm in Summer!

Thanks Travellady, have you got roof blinds? They do help in both trapping the inside heat and not allowing the extreme heat in summer. We have never had to have any form of other heating in ours in the summer. Ours is north facing, gets the sun from about 11am till late evening and we have sat in there till all hours at night....in summer!

flea72

27col wrote: »

How many times does this have to be said. It is a conservatory, and as such does not have to be as well insulated as a habitable room. Therefore it will always be more expensive to heat. If conservatories get baking hot in the summer sun then it follows that they will lose heat just as fast when the temperature is low. They can be very nice things to have, but people have to recognise their limitations as well.

as i said above we only have polycarbonate, which is supposed to be the worst for heat loss, but during the recent snow, we had just as thick a layer on our roof as on the ground, and bearing in mind we have our heating on 24/7, i would have thought that due to its poor heat qualities, it would have melted the snow

I think times have changed, and conservatories are designed to be all year round habitable rooms. Perhaps the definition of what people call a conservatory has changed, as alot of new build houses have extensions that are all round glass, which most people would call a conservatory, but perhaps they arent really what 'used' to be termed a conservatory iyswim

Flea

travellady

Steph998 wrote: »

Thanks Travellady, have you got roof blinds? They do help in both trapping the inside heat and not allowing the extreme heat in summer. We have never had to have any form of other heating in ours in the summer. Ours is north facing, gets the sun from about 11am till late evening and we have sat in there till all hours at night....in summer!

Steph998 we haven't got roof blinds but have been looking into them recently apparently there is something new that has come out which can be applied to the glass it's clear from the inside looking out and silver from the outside looking in- apparently very good for keeping in heat in winter and reflecting heat during the summer days so may look into that- I must say I love sitting in the conny on an evening whether its cold or not. I do really wish I had the Kglass though and just organised my furniture better the corner suite looks amazing in there but it covers the wholle of the rad- so I suppose a little more planning would have been better!

Steph998

travellady wrote: »

Steph998 we haven't got roof blinds but have been looking into them recently apparently there is something new that has come out which can be applied to the glass it's clear from the inside looking out and silver from the outside looking in- apparently very good for keeping in heat in winter and reflecting heat during the summer days so may look into that- I must say I love sitting in the conny on an evening whether its cold or not. I do really wish I had the Kglass though and just organised my furniture better the corner suite looks amazing in there but it covers the wholle of the rad- so I suppose a little more planning would have been better!

We had two summers with no blinds..and I couldn't stand it. They really did make a huge difference - turned it into a year round habitable room as far as I am concerned. They were not cheap. But neither was the conservatory..and we were never sitting in it so we just had to bite the bullet. I've heard of the film for the windows...not sure about price though.

Another thing I would say to the OP is to buy a COMFY suite. I know that sounds obvious....but you will end up spending a lot of time out there. Some of them look the part, but they are just a thin pad of foam like a garden chair. They go flat and sad looking very quickly. The comfy ones don't have to be expensive...but it is worth buying good quality, as with everything.

Oh I know what you mean about forward planning! The odd shape of our conservatory....radiators...fire, not to mention patio doors, and the step up to the carpeted area means we really struggled to place our furniture too. As I say, we rarely use the rads now, so I can cover one with the sofa. I think less is more in there anyway...just a cane suite, a couple of nice lights, loads of plants ( good fakes, or they would be dead in no time with the extremes of temperature) and I bought a big wicker urn that looks lovely...very Ali Baba. Absolutely NO telly out there.

Just me, and my wine, and the moonlight....lol

travellady

Steph I think u have just made up my mind about blinds! Ur right if ur spending the money on getting the conservatory then u may aswell pay a little more so you get full use of it yr round! I do much prefer to sit in the conservatory too far more relaxing.. especially with the Wine!!! lol :beer:

Canucklehead

27col wrote: »

How many times does this have to be said. It is a conservatory, and as such does not have to be as well insulated as a habitable room. Therefore it will always be more expensive to heat. If conservatories get baking hot in the summer sun then it follows that they will lose heat just as fast when the temperature is low. They can be very nice things to have, but people have to recognise their limitations as well.

Quite right 27col

And you all wonder why you have such huge gas/electric bills

Corgi Guy.

Steph998

Canucklehead wrote: »

And you all wonder why you have such huge gas/electric bills

Not me. My bills have not changed over winter or summer since we built our conservatory. If we are in there, we are not in other parts of the house, so turn the thermostats down on the rads...we are a very 'aware' family .

How much have your bills gone up since you built yours? And 27col?

Or do neither of you have one?

Phil_L_2

I seem to remember that a conservatory is an unheated (and uncooled) space. If you want to heat it you are required to get building regulations approval and you must comply with Part L.

Steph998

I am sure the OP will already have been told that, as it is a new build conservatory.

I am in Scotland, and regs are different in some cases.. if you put in for planning here and show radiators in the conservatory, it has to meet Part L. But, if you have an existing conservatory and you want to put heating in it, you don't need planning permission for that.