Making conservatory habitable in winter

WaywardDriver

Meats10 wrote: »

I fit suspended ceilings for a living and I have, in the last 2/3 years have had a high demand for fitting an insulated lightweight MF (plasterboard) ceiling in conservatories because of the same problem and every single person (approx 40 to 50) have been completely satisfied .. It's more affordable than these new roofs.. There's loads of different designs and lighting options ...

Our conservatory has a polycarbonate roof and we had this done a couple of months ago. Half the cost of fitting a solid roof but it's made a dramatic improvement in heat loss and noise reduction. I'm no expert but looking at U-values doubt if glass would have been as effective.

Dan-Dan

A plasterboard suspended ceiling is only half the cost of a solid glass roof ?!?
Cant be that pricey surely ?

WaywardDriver

Dan-Dan wrote: »

A plasterboard suspended ceiling is only half the cost of a solid glass roof ?!?
Cant be that pricey surely ?

No half cost of light tile roof - didn't get quote for glass.

arbrighton

WE got shot of ours for this reason and had a 'sunroom' built instead. Lots of windows, but brick and a real roof. Not a cheap option but works for us. About to go and start painting it now.
Also meant we can protect some special features of the oldest part of the house, and it is now in keeping with the rest of the building and doesn't look like such an ugly monstrosity any more

firefox1956

whitecardriver wrote: »

we have a 12x12 ft polycarbonate roof conservatory. the same problems
- freezing in winter and the rain noise !
we had a company called cosyconservatory.co.uk install an interior system
to the inside of the ceilimg.
we now use it all year round.
hope this helps.

Would you mind telling me how much it cost ??
TIA

Pheiffer

As I am sure you may be aware, there are regulations concerning the implementation of heating to conservatories.
If they are to conform to these regulations they cannot be connected to your main CH system. The stipulations note that heating is to be provided from an isolated system and as such this generally leaves you with two options. The installation of an electric radiator usually wall mounted or alternatively the installation of a wet or dry underfloor heating system.
I prefer the electric underfloor heating system from a practical standpoint and it is generally cheaper to install than the 'wet' system however the running costs for the 'dry' system can be higher if one were to do a like for like comparison.
The benefit of the dry system is relative ease of installation onto most substrates with minimal effect to floor levels and can be covered over with most common floor coverings, tiles, laminate etc... So that covers heating
In terms of keeping the conservatory cool I would always recommend installation of a roof vent, it may cost more but is worth it every day of the week(they can also be retro fitted at a cost). Lastly ensure that there are always at least two windows installed to encourage air circulation.

=rizla=

We've got a conservatory with a polycarb roof as well, its got an electrical vent and every window has a small opening window above it so its fine in the summer, but obviously in the winter it isn't great. I've fitted a 2kw thermostatically controlled convection heater on one wall and whilst not ideal at all cost-wise we tend not to have it on for too long (switch on for 20 mins or so to warm the room up then open the internal door and let the main central heating top it up, now and again it'll need a little top up from the heater, once the kids are in bed its shut off)


Obviously i'm throwing a fair bit of cash away every year so I was wondering how much benefit i'd get from making some DIY roof insulation panels to sit in the recess where the roof 'glass' is.
I've thought about:-
1. bubble wrap (then do I use the small bubbles or the large bubbles?)
2. bubble wrap with a board backing.
3. thermawrap general purpose insulation http://www.homebase.co.uk/en/homebaseuk/diy/insulation-110/thermawrap-general-purpose-wrap-127033
4. the silver insulation you use when laying laminate flooring over concrete http://www.homebase.co.uk/en/homebaseuk/high-performance-underlay---10-sq-m-809710
Or any combination of the above, it obviously wont look great, but will it save much?, the panels can easily be stored in the loft for the rest of the year

thescouselander

We installed roof blinds in our conservatory which has a glass roof - these are really good at controlling heat in the summer and to some extent help hold heat longer in the winter.

We've also got a slimline electric convection heater on one of the dwarf walls which works really well but it eats through electricity. That said this is probably the most practical option available to you now that the conservatory has been built as the heaters themselves can be picked up quite cheaply.

Fellwalker

We live in the North East of England. We've got a Pennine conservatory, short walls, double glazed windows, triple layer polycarbonate roof. 4m square, built so we access it through the old double glazed patio doors. There was a great thick block of expanded polystyrene within the concrete base. There are air leakages in the ridge for ventilation.
At the outset, we got thermal insulated blinds all over. I am totally unconvinced of their value.
We are now trying to work out what we can do to be able to use it throughout the year.
In summer, it gets over 50 degrees after the sun comes round from behind the neighbours house around 11am. If we sit in it with the doors open, it cools and is bearable after quarter to half an hour. But it does not retain the heat as the sun goes down.
In winter, it gets down to 1 or 2 degrees typically, and in the really bad winter a few years ago it did go below freezing. We had a 3kw electric panel radiator fitted as recommended, and daytime in winter it USALLY manges to keep the conservatory bearable. It is nonsensical to heat the room except when we intend to actually use it.

The only plant that has survived is a lemon tree. (Cacti would but we don't like them) The daily hot/cool or cold is too much for anything else.

I wish we'd had underfloor heating, as our feet are the first things that tell us to leave as dusk settles.

Pennine are trying to push their new conservatory, which has unique to them special coatings on special glass. Supposedly the U value is 1. It self cleans. Supposedly with a glass roof of this stuff, it makes the conservatory livable throughout the year, removing the extremes.

If a roof was put on the conservatory, not only would it be less light, but the through lounge would be positively dark and cave like.

Does anyone have real life non-sales brochure information about hte pennine system?

Furts

Fellwalker wrote: »

We live in the North East of England. We've got a Pennine conservatory, short walls, double glazed windows, triple layer polycarbonate roof. 4m square, built so we access it through the old double glazed patio doors. There was a great thick block of expanded polystyrene within the concrete base. There are air leakages in the ridge for ventilation.
At the outset, we got thermal insulated blinds all over. I am totally unconvinced of their value.
We are now trying to work out what we can do to be able to use it throughout the year.
In summer, it gets over 50 degrees after the sun comes round from behind the neighbours house around 11am. If we sit in it with the doors open, it cools and is bearable after quarter to half an hour. But it does not retain the heat as the sun goes down.
In winter, it gets down to 1 or 2 degrees typically, and in the really bad winter a few years ago it did go below freezing. We had a 3kw electric panel radiator fitted as recommended, and daytime in winter it USALLY manges to keep the conservatory bearable. It is nonsensical to heat the room except when we intend to actually use it.

The only plant that has survived is a lemon tree. (Cacti would but we don't like them) The daily hot/cool or cold is too much for anything else.

I wish we'd had underfloor heating, as our feet are the first things that tell us to leave as dusk settles.

Pennine are trying to push their new conservatory, which has unique to them special coatings on special glass. Supposedly the U value is 1. It self cleans. Supposedly with a glass roof of this stuff, it makes the conservatory livable throughout the year, removing the extremes.

If a roof was put on the conservatory, not only would it be less light, but the through lounge would be positively dark and cave like.

Does anyone have real life non-sales brochure information about hte pennine system?

If your conservatory was a typical brick and block extension, it would require regular and significant heating. If the size is 4m by 4m then a rule of thumb would be around 2.5kW - not much different to what you sometimes input into your conservatory.

Regardless of claims about U Values, conservatories leak heat everywhere. This will not change if you alter the glazing - it might make life a little more pleasant, but at significant expense with installing the new conservatory.

The sensible, financial and sustainable answer is to keep with what you have.

If you want a warm, useable and economical to heat room do not build in glass. So any "upgrade" would be spent more wisely on a sun room or a garden room.