Aluminium conservatory for kitchen, good or bad idea?

paulr70

Hey All,

We`d like to replace our small kitchen and am considering a 6x3m aluminium extension to open up the back of the house and relocate the kitchen to that area.

Something along the lines of this..


It will be east facing but i`m concerned that the extension will be too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter and a condensation magnet whenever cooking is done.

Anyone had something similar and can comment?

Thanks

Paul

SuzieSue

My conservatory is east-facing and I cannot use it between October and March as it would cost too much to heat. In the summer it can get to over 50 degrees when it is sunny.

You need a proper extension, not a conservatory.

paulr70

Thanks SuzieSue, can I ask if its a modern aluminium conservatory and underfloor heating? Am looking for something with solar shaded glazing, roof ventilation and having full water underfloor heating throughout the kitchen/conservatory area to help control the year round temperature.

Furts

Another vote for a proper extension. I have a north facing sunroom and that is very warm as I type - it will only get hotter as the day goes on. This heat is coming through one smallish east facing window. It would be hellish if this were an east facing aluminium conservatory.

Your taste in design could be a problem when you come to sell, so be cautious about being a follower of fashion. Then remember a fundamental - if building in glass and aluminium frames was such a good idea, Barratt, Persimmon and all the volume builders would be doing this every day of the week.

onomatopoeia99

You know that if you build a "conservatory" you must have an external door separating it from the main dwelling? The one in your picture doesn't appear to have that.

Davesnave

A kitchen is a vital 365 day space, so sticking it in a typical heat-leaky/ heat-gaining conservatory isn't a great idea. It would seriously limit your market when you come to sell. There's only one way fuel prices will go in future.

The conservatory shown has two solid walls which could be conventional and insulated, so it's half way to being an extension anyway. Insulate the floor and its u values improve further, but look at the roof which has only one vent visible. The key thing with all conservatory structures is ventilation, particularly if someone will be out all day and need security.

Suzie Sue obviously hasn't as much ventilation or heat reflecting glass as I have in my south facing conservatory. Top temperature in there has been 36c this year, but that's still too hot to cook or sit around comfortably. That's why my kitchen is at the back and north-facing, where it rarely, if ever, goes above 22-23c. I wouldn't choose to have a conventionally built kitchen if it faced due south, let alone one in a conservatory, so aspect is a large consideration here too.

paulr70

Furts wrote: »

Another vote for a proper extension. I have a north facing sunroom and that is very warm as I type - it will only get hotter as the day goes on. This heat is coming through one smallish east facing window. It would be hellish if this were an east facing aluminium conservatory.

Your taste in design could be a problem when you come to sell, so be cautious about being a follower of fashion. Then remember a fundamental - if building in glass and aluminium frames was such a good idea, Barratt, Persimmon and all the volume builders would be doing this every day of the week.

thanks, i do have a neighbour who has a south facing conservatory built about 2 years ago, its a traditional style and they seem to use it all year round. It does have frosted ceiling glass though.

SuzieSue

paulr70 wrote: »

Thanks SuzieSue, can I ask if its a modern aluminium conservatory and underfloor heating? Am looking for something with solar shaded glazing, roof ventilation and having full water underfloor heating throughout the kitchen/conservatory area to help control the year round temperature.

No, it is a basic UPVC conservatory with Pilkington Ativ Blue glass. If you have solar shading and roof ventilation then you might be ok in the summer, but heating it in winter will cost.

Also, I don't know if you can connect a structure like that to the rest of the house without a separating door.

Aylesbury_Duck

As above.

You cannot have a conservatory open-plan to the rest of the house. It would have to have a separating door.

Yes, it will be too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter. Yes, it will probably drip with condensation in the winter when you're cooking.

Conservatories are lovely when they are viewed as just what they are: A nice space you can use but that you can do without. I have a south-west facing conservatory with good roof vents and the fancy tinted glass roof. It becomes our living and dining area for much of the year between March and October (except during those very hot spells we get a few times each summer) but we decamp to the main house outside those times. It simply wouldn't be practical to have it as part of daily living all year round.

Get an extension instead if you need the space. It will be more expensive but it will last forever and will provide more value over time.

Davesnave

SuzieSue wrote: »

Also, I don't know if you can connect a structure like that to the rest of the house without a separating door.

With any structure, measures can be taken to heavily insulate parts of it to compensate for another part that loses heat, thus gaining building regs approval for incorporation into the house.

However, by the time most people have done that, it would probably be as cheap, or cheaper, to go down a more conventional extension route.

The best compromise might be a set of external quality bifold doors between a conservatory and the house, but if the kitchen's in there......

System

There's a big difference between an off the shelf conservatory and the picture you posted...
A highly glazed extension usually has a lot of insulation/thermal mass built into other areas, you may have to do heat loss calculations to show how it complies with regulations - there are a few ways you can make a highly glazed extension work in the regs, but it's not as simple as cheap as flinging a conservatory onto the back of the house and removing a wall or two.