Are conservatories worth it

Jue_xx

Becles wrote: »

My parents have a conservatory and have said the same thing! It doesn't have any heating in it, so it's too cold to use in the winter, and then it gets too hot to use in the summer. It's nice on warm spring and autumn days though!
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Even a house gets too cold in the winter if it's not heated, so why would you expect a conservatory to be any different?

We have two plumbed in radiators in ours and it's lovely and warm all year round and perfectly usable in the middle of winter. It spans right across the back of the house so we use one end as a dining area and the other as a play area for the kids. We wouldn't be without it now.

We do tend to get a lot of spiders, though....

BoxerfanUK

fluffymuffy wrote: »

Nice post Boxerfan.

Though {your point 7} I prefer to go for No opening windows at all! When it's hot we open the doors - we have some at each end. The opening lights in most conservatories are too high for me to open. Also we'd never remember to close them whereas we do manage to lock the doors.

And {points 8,9,10} Conservatories are best heated with heat pumps - which also provide air conditioning and so a fan wouldn't be needed.

Fair points fluffy, the thing is that all conservatories, like anything else, can be all different designs for all different purposes. Our conserv' is backing onto our lounge patio doors and has a set of french doors out onto the patio, so for us openers in the windows were needed (plus we have a roof opener) to get some airflow through when it gets hot, as said, it's down to the individual design and situation of a house but I'm sure that anyone (taking all the points made by numerous posters on this thread) can get the type of conservatory they want with some careful thought.

Another REAL benefit that we didn't realize we'd get b4 we had our conserv' built was that our lounge is now MUCH warmer in winter and cooler in the summer. We have a fairly large double aspect lounge with a tall 8' window at the front and 8' patio doors at the back. Our back garden faces south west, so in the summer the patio doors made the lounge blazing hot and in the winter it could get quite cold because the patio doors are the original hardwood ones and although in good condition were a little draghfty (sp!) Not any more

BoxerfanUK

I forgot to say fluffy, I have no experience of heat pumps, but they sound a good alternative. Are they very expensive?

rando

BoxerfanUK wrote: »

I forgot to say fluffy, I have no experience of heat pumps, but they sound a good alternative. Are they very expensive?

I have just had a LG Artcool Heat Pump installed in our conservatory and it wasn't cheap- £1100 BUT well worth it in my opinion .The heat it pumps out is excellent and warms the conservatory up in no time at all. It also looks great with a mirrored glass type finish. The reason for spending this amount was to turn the convo into a usable room all year round as previously we only had oil filled radiators in there. I would certainly recommend one.

spmc

fluffymuffy wrote: »

No such animal exists. Conservatories are (for a little while longer) exempt from the building regulations. The Sun Room (as some call it), or garden room, with a large window area, is an extension in the true sense with the full weight of the heat loss part of the building regulations to be complied with - which it cannot if a desirable amount of glazing is used without specialist work, often involving upgrading the insulation on the whole house so as to achieve an overall heat loss no worse that before.

You can build/buy a freestanding garden room with solid roof without the need for building regs. I have a 12' x 10' (internal dimensions) QC studio from www.boothsgardenstudios.co.uk. This cost me less than £8k last summer which I went for after considering a conservatory and extension.

I would have needed planning permission for either a conservatory or extension as all permitted development rights have been removed from my property except for hardstandings and outbuildings. I didn't need plannning permission and most people do not but some may e.g. if all permitted development rights are removed so you do need to check. I went for the garden studio because of the excellent insulation, cost and convenience (no planning or building regs, erected in a day, minimal maintenance). We use it as a children's play room and have one oil filled radiator on a timer. Nice and cosy even through the recent cold snap. There is a downside in that you need to put coat and shoes on to get to it if it's raining but I don't regret our choice.

fluffymuffy

rando wrote: »

I have just had a LG Artcool Heat Pump installed in our conservatory and it wasn't cheap- £1100 BUT well worth it in my opinion .The heat it pumps out is excellent and warms the conservatory up in no time at all. It also looks great with a mirrored glass type finish. The reason for spending this amount was to turn the convo into a usable room all year round as previously we only had oil filled radiators in there. I would certainly recommend one.

I bought one five minutes ago for £320. (for my mother ). Mine cost £237.

see here http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=29309395&highlight=#post29309395

saver_1_2

Since creating the post i have one more question that is putting me off and that is our garden where the conservatory is to be built is north/east that means we only get the sun in the morning up to about lunch time. So in Winter when we get no sun it's going to be like the arctic in there unless we have the heating on 24 7. So i might not get one after all

becs

We had a 5m x 3m conservatory built 2 years ago and it's the best thing we ever did. Our garden is east facing and because it only gets the sun until lunchtime it menas in the hot summer (do we actually have those?) it is really pleasant. We tend not to use it in freezing conditions but that's more because of not wanting to heat unnecessary rooms and also we did that the first winter we had it and realised we never used our living room! It is without a doubt my favourite room and I love lazy winter sundays in there watching a film as it's so much brighter than the rest of the house. We have a dining table in there that normally seats 6 but extends to 12 and have had 12 in there eating on a few occassions comfortably. At the other end of the conservatory we have a sofa. We have a tv in there so the room gets used a lot. The glass roof makes all the difference, there was an old conservatory with polycarbonate roof there before and the glass roof lets so much more light into the house. It's also massively quieter than polycarbonate as well! We have 2 large double radiators in there at either end and it's easy to be really toasty in there even when it is freezing.

saver_1_2

Thanks Becs .it looks and sounds lovely. Got me thinking again now