Conservatory woes

ElleR

I'm getting fed up of not being able to use our huge conservatory in the summer. The winter is not great either despite heaters, they need to be on constantly.
We used it as the dining room so didn't spend all day in there but since having a baby we need the extra space for living. Also it's our route out to the garden. It was built in 2002 by the previous owners. One wall is completely brick, another has high level windows and the other has the usual dwarf wall with windows. The roof already has the non-clear (I don't know the correct word) glass.

What can we do to it? I worry putting a proper roof on or using blinds will make the lounge more dark than it already is (the conservatory is the only natural light source).
Would it be sensible to ask a builder or architect to provide some suggestions? Would they do this for free or low cost? I dont even know where to start!

Aylesbury_Duck

ElleR wrote: »

I'm getting fed up of not being able to use our huge conservatory in the summer. The winter is not great either despite heaters, they need to be on constantly.
We used it as the dining room so didn't spend all day in there but since having a baby we need the extra space for living. Also it's our route out to the garden. It was built in 2002 by the previous owners. One wall is completely brick, another has high level windows and the other has the usual dwarf wall with windows. The roof already has the non-clear (I don't know the correct word) glass.

What can we do to it? I worry putting a proper roof on or using blinds will make the lounge more dark than it already is (the conservatory is the only natural light source).
Would it be sensible to ask a builder or architect to provide some suggestions? Would they do this for free or low cost? I dont even know where to start!

You can get a new roof as you suggest, but yes, you'd lose light. The expensive option is to pull it down and build a proper extension in its place, perhaps with roof lights. I don't see what a builder or architect can suggest beyond those options.

Conservatories are only practical as a luxury space, they're not usually good enough to be used as a practical extra room all year round, as you've discovered.

Ant555

Our conservatory is unheated but in the winter we use one of these electric patio heaters in there

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Firefly-Resistant-Infared-Electric-Outdoor/dp/B0787D9P4K

It genuinely heats up our 4m x 3m conservatory pretty well. I often sit and watch the tv in there during the winter and we can also entertain in there - no problem.
Just leave it on for 30 mins + and its toast.

My experience - hope it helps

bluewater

I'm in a similar situation.

There are 3 options:

Insulate the inside of the roof - various types of insulation (rigid celotex, roll insulation, and various finishes (plasterboard, boarding)

Put a new roof on top of existing.

Remove the existing and replace with new insulated roof.

The main problem with the first 2 options is that the existing roof is probably not designed to take the additrional weight. Particularly if your roof is polycarbonate.

Removing the existing roof and replacing it is probably the best option if the sides are in good condition.

Davesnave

ElleR wrote: »

What can we do to it? I worry putting a proper roof on or using blinds will make the lounge more dark than it already is (the conservatory is the only natural light source).
Would it be sensible to ask a builder or architect to provide some suggestions? Would they do this for free or low cost? I dont even know where to start!

This is the Catch 22 you gave yourself when you purchased; the conservatory provides more light than a conventionally- roofed garden room, but changing it to a solid roof would probably affect the way you feel about the now dark room behind.

Solving this completely won't be easy or cheap, but there might be a partial solution. No architect will do detailed work for free, but many will give you some time to see if they have a idea you could work with. With builders it's a lottery whether they know enough to go beyond standard Velux solutions, which might just do at a pinch, though there's other stuff out there now.

Once priced up, any remedy can be weighed against the cost and inconvenience of moving. The chances are that it would involve removal of the superstructure as a minimum, and quite possibly the removal of the whole thing. Foundations are often the weak point. I did my own, just in case we ever have the money to extend 'properly.'

I would add that we love our south facing conservatory and find it most useful in the cooler times of the year, rather than now. We had scaffolding up prior to installing it and realised then that a solid roof structure was not going to work for us unless we messed seriously with the bungalow roof at a huge expense. The difference is that we don't need the space.

ashe

Daylight balanced hue bulbs in your living room could be an option. Sounds like you have outgrown the house in all honesty if you need the space for the conservatory when they are for occasional use. That’s only going to get worse and not better, so consider moving?

Silvertabby

We do use our (east facing) conservatory all year round. It's not that the house is too small - 2 of us in a 4 bedroomed house - it's just our first choice for relaxing with the newspapers and a cup of coffee (the joys of being retired !) A retro fitted radiator (yes, I know - but we have no intentions of moving) keeps the chill off, and a free-standing oil filled radiator keeps it toasty in the worst of winter weather.

The glass roof is tinted, and so it doesn't get unbearably hot in summer.

ElleR

Thanks for the replies everyone, things to think about. Paying the price now for first time buyer naivety. Moving is very expensive too so will have to weigh up the cost of changing the roof with 5 more years plus in the house or moving on.

alan_d

We added a conservatory to our previous house and it was a useful extra room.
I fitted underfloor heating into the floor slab before it was cast, and configured it as a standalone zone on the heating, with it's own timer.
As the slab took a few hours to warm, by starting it before the rest of the house it was warm when it was needed. I appreciate this very difficult to retro-fit to an existing conservatory however !

Summer wasn't usually a problem with it being too hot. The roof glass was the special stuff for conservatory roofs (can't remember what now, but it had a blue hue), and I fitted an auto-opener to the roof window.