Heat loss from a conservatory

Pythagorous

I'm considering adding a smallish complete glass conservatory off the kitchen, but I'm concerned about the additional heat loss.

The sort of conservatory I'm thinking of is similar to this (see pics 7 & 14):

http://www.propertynews.com/brochure.php?r=1&c=2&s=93045906&i=0&p=JMHJMH4661&fp=1&sort=h2l

Can anyone give me an idea just how heat efficient conservatory glass is these days.

Also any ideas how much approx something like this would cost? There is currently a window and door where the conserv. would be going.

Owain_Moneysaver

Unless you add massive compensatory thermal insulation elsewhere in the property, Building Regs will not allow you to install a conservatory that does not have an external door between it and the house.

I'd guess you wouldn't much change from £10-15k for the sort of conservatory shown, and it will cost a small fortune to heat in winter.

Pythagorous

mmm maybe not such a great idea after all :-(

cdodd

That really is a beautiful house that looks like it has had a LOT of money spent on it.
We was looking at doing something similar, to make a kitchen dinner. As the prevous poster has suggested we was told that we would have to have a door between the 2. We are still thinking about it but our circumstance is complicated as we already have a conservatory so to go out from the kitchen we would have to join to the exisiting one, our quote was £20K but it all depends on the size and what obstacles are in the way outside eg in our case a man hole, outside tap, secutiry light etc, we was thinking of bricking our back door up and putting french doors where the window is. I've found with the consevratory we've got it is roasting in the summer and freezing in the winter but very pleasant in spring and autumn

iamcornholio

Pythagorous wrote: »

Can anyone give me an idea just how heat efficient conservatory glass is these days.

The heat still flies out the glass and roof these days, same as the old days

Unless you are a total tree-hugger and tremble at the environmental cost of heating a room, then you just have to factor in the aditional cost of £100 per a year extra in heating bills against your potential enjoyment of the room.

trubble

If unseparated from the house, you DO need building regs. And they won't sign it off due to heat loss unless you can compensate elsewhere or pay a fortune for an extra efficient conservatory. A garden room (tiled insulated roof) may be an idea.
Or fit the conservatory first then remove the separating doors - but you'll burn money keeping it warm in winter.
The house in the link wouldn't pass regs as it is.

flea72

from the pics you listed, it isnt a conservatory you want, it is an extension that is constructed in glass

as such, you would need planning permission, and building regs, but you wouldnt fail due to there being no doors separating it from the house, as it doesnt fall under the same criteria as a conservatory

however, back to the comments on burning money to heat the room - we have a 4x5m conservatory, with polycarb roof (so the lowest thermal properties), and no doors separating it from the main house. the increase in our bills has been negligible

F

Viper_7

Building regs and separating doors aside.
With it being directly off the kitchen, it will be prone to condensation and any blinds you might want will quickly discolour with cooking odours (even with extractor fans)

Can get very Low-E glass these days, but will still get more heat loss than bricks and mortar.
To keep condensation at bay in the cooler months you'll need to keep the inside permanently heated.

50Twuncle

Plus - it will get very (uncomfortably ?) hot in the summer - shame you can't store the heat for the winter !!

planning_officer

flea72 wrote: »

from the pics you listed, it isnt a conservatory you want, it is an extension that is constructed in glass

as such, you would need planning permission

Argh... this old non-starter of an argument again! A conservatory IS an extension for planning purposes!! Makes no diffrence if it's built of glass, brick or cheese...

Whilst in England it could benefit from permitted development rights, I'm not sure of the situation in Ireland (presuming that's where the original poster lives, as the example pics are of a property in Ireland).

flea72

planning_officer wrote: »

Argh... this old non-starter of an argument again! A conservatory IS an extension for planning purposes!! Makes no diffrence if it's built of glass, brick or cheese...

i meant as to the fact the OP refers to what they want being called a conservatory, not the fact it wouldnt be classed as an extension. more along the lines of what they plan to do buildwise, wouldnt fall under the regulations that apply to conservatories with regard to BR

hence, the fact most other replies have been you need to have doors separating from the house, and cant have a fixed heat source, blah, blah, so the OP thinks they cannot have an extension similar to the pics shown, when really they arent looking to construct a conservatory per se- i was pointing out they used the wrong terminology

i dont know of any planning officer, who would refer to what the OP intends to build, as a 'conservatory', so what would you call it?

F