New Conservatory - Cost & Heating

Furts

BertieUK wrote: »

Earlier in your thread I said...

...We were delighted with it until the summer months came and the heat that built up was incredible, the roof section had limited ventilation and this area trapped the heat, so I would suggest that ventilation was very important indeed...

If we had the choice we would have preferred a slated roof so that the heat would not be quite as intense in the summer months as we have experienced. I can only speak of our experiences and ours faces North.

Plus unless you are a stargazer it took some time to get used to the Conservatory at night because we felt so exposed. Curtains or blinds would be needed and we had an estimate for blinds fitted to the roof sections and that came to just over £3K. So as I said before we decided on window film from a company called Primrose.

Condensation can be a big problem if your good lady dries washing within the conservatory, we use a De-Humidifier and it usually collects around 1Litre of moisture overnight.

I am just making you aware of our experiences with our Conservatory, and lastly with us living in a bungalow they fitted an Edwardian style conservatory that is fitted with a box-gutter that runs between the two roof sections making it very difficult cleaning the roof sections.

With all that said I hope that you can imagine what a Conservatory is like to live with, in fact we are putting our property on the market soon because we have to downsize as it is far too big for my wife and I. So we will not buy a property that has a conservatory like this one.;)

Hi BertieUK

Many of my neighbours' have north facing conservatories. Have you any comments on the build up of moss and the coating of algae on the roofs? (It goes with the territory, but I suspect the salesmen did not highlight this!)

I look at my neighbours' Edwardian/Victorian pinnacle ridges completely discoloured with algae and wonder how does one clean them? (Again, IIHO a bad detail.)

With the south facing ones I look at the complete absence of top hung opening windows. Then the owners complain about over heating! (I nod in sympathy, thinking why did you specify this detail?)

Conservatory sales have been in decline over the last couple of years. They have passed their peak... possibly because consumers realise they are not the utopia/dream extension they were sold as.

Ganga

I must be the odd one out,i love to sit in my mother in law,s conservatory with a cold beer in my hand and pretend i am abroad.I love the heat but agree they are cold in the winter.

Ganga

BertieUK

Furts wrote: »

Hi BertieUK

Many of my neighbours' have north facing conservatories. Have you any comments on the build up of moss and the coating of algae on the roofs? (It goes with the territory, but I suspect the salesmen did not highlight this!)

I look at my neighbours' Edwardian/Victorian pinnacle ridges completely discoloured with algae and wonder how does one clean them? (Again, IIHO a bad detail.)

With the south facing ones I look at the complete absence of top hung opening windows. Then the owners complain about over heating! (I nod in sympathy, thinking why did you specify this detail?)

Conservatory sales have been in decline over the last couple of years. They have passed their peak... possibly because consumers realise they are not the utopia/dream extension they were sold as.

The roof framework sections of our Conservatory go green with algae, and being white PVC look terrible so I clean them with my 'platform' ladders and a long soft bristled brush with water running through and cleaner.

The pole will extend to around 12' to let you clean one side elevation at a time, a max of three, from the ground and can be a very handy tool.

There are of companies that specialize in cleaning Conservatories, at a price of course.

The pinnacles are difficult to clean and great care has to be taken in the cleaning process. I use the same soft bristled brush mentioned to lightly clean them I also use a pressure washer at a safe distance to soften the algae and dirt that acummulates on the pinnacles which can take ages to do. They are very brittle and I would not like to put much pressure on them because it would need specialised equipment to fix on again.:(

Ventilation is a prime consideration as you realise especially if facing South because it will be exposed to the full sun all day long.

Also, theres more:) When your widows are open you can, and will be invaded with spiders who really can make life difficult cleaning away their 'poo'

When we first moved in the box-gutter section between the Bungalow and Conservatory looked like a lovely water garden full of weeds and flowers growing merrily up there, I had to dream up an idea to clean this area and came up with the idea of using my wifes carpet cleaner which I put extension hoses onto and sucked up all the growing matter into the cotainer which again took ages perched up there at the end of the box-gutter. i think that I filled about four full containers.

I just wonder how many of the salesmen have a conservatory fitted?;)

smartn

Wow, I thought with self cleaning glass (pilkington K activ) we wouldn't have too much 'cleaning/maintenance' to do but you make the whole ownership sound a bit of a nightmare, I hadn't really thought about Algae build up. How often would it need cleaning? The conservatory would be North facing and wouldn't get too much sun until late afternoon and we have specified plenty of top window openings. Many thanks to all for your comments, although you are beginning to make me have doubts it's good to hear the whole story.

BertieUK

smartn wrote: »

Wow, I thought with self cleaning glass (pilkington K activ) we wouldn't have too much 'cleaning/maintenance' to do but you make the whole ownership sound a bit of a nightmare, I hadn't really thought about Algae build up. How often would it need cleaning? The conservatory would be North facing and wouldn't get too much sun until late afternoon and we have specified plenty of top window openings. Many thanks to all for your comments, although you are beginning to make me have doubts it's good to hear the whole story.

Well I can only say that since my retirement I like to keep my property in top class order if I can, maybe I am a little over the top at times, but I clean our Conservatory roof sections a couple of times a year with the long handled soft bristled brush the hairs a just as soft as a Gent's shaving brush so as not to scratch the glass or PVC. If you take the oppertunity to clean the roof sections when it is raining I find it works better for me and the dirt easily come off.

The pinnacles I do at least once a year otherwise when they get discoloured they spoil the whole look of the building.

A well planned Conservatory with total ventilation or air-con will be an asset to any dwelling but... I have given my experiences as they have happened also my opinions as I have experienced. It has to be planned to the last letter to be a success.

We get the sun coming in from around early afternoon onwards but with no ventilation in the eaves it literally does boil by late afternoon.

SuzieSue

If you want a room which you can use all year round don't get a conservatory. I have had one for around 5 years and love using it in the summer, but never use it between late October and March as it is just too cold and would cost much too much to heat.

cyclonebri1

SuzieSue wrote: »

If you want a room which you can use all year round don't get a conservatory. I have had one for around 5 years and love using it in the summer, but never use it between late October and March as it is just too cold and would cost much too much to heat.

Someone with sense at last:T:T:T:T:T

Look guys, conservatories are useable for say six months per year, the rest of the time they are too cold or too hot, fact.

My view? Don't even entertain heating a conservatory for out of seasons use.

Work around it, seeds and plants in spring and autumn and then retreat in the summer and winter, Im right;););););)

BertieUK

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

Someone with sense at last:T:T:T:T:T

Look guys, conservatories are useable for say six months per year, the rest of the time they are too cold or too hot, fact.

My view? Don't even entertain heating a conservatory for out of seasons use.

Work around it, seeds and plants in spring and autumn and then retreat in the summer and winter, Im right;););););)

At this moment it is pouring down with rain and I am sitting in my Conservatory watching the news having a welcome beer and the noise of the heavy rain is almost drowning out the sound.

Never mind tonight I celebrated the birthday of Robert Burn's with a Haggis - tatties and turnips. Cheers:beer:

smartn

It's certainly interesting the different variety of views you get. I guess its a question of if all the recent improvements in A rated windows, solar reflective glass etc can do enough to make it more usable throughout the year. Many think it can and many seem to think not. With the sort of investment required its not like you can just try it and see though!

BertieUK

smartn wrote: »

It's certainly interesting the different variety of views you get. I guess its a question of if all the recent improvements in A rated windows, solar reflective glass etc can do enough to make it more usable throughout the year. Many think it can and many seem to think not. With the sort of investment required its not like you can just try it and see though!

And finally, Conservatories that are well planned are an asset as I said before but I would say that they suit houses better than bungalows whereby it is designed to be fitted to the house wall like a lean to not like ours (Edwardian) where you have the roof is shaped like an apex of trapped air.