New Conservatory Needed

kcbf

Hello All,
Have found a lovely house with great views out of the south facing rear of the home, which the current conservatory showcase brilliantly.
Unfortunately the conservatory is past it's best, and needs replacing. Its made of wood, but hasn't been maintained and our surveyor felt it would be best to start again.
We 're looking for a conservatory that is as much glass as possible, but still allows us to enjoy the room year round - there will be very little light pollution in the area, so even looking up at the night sky will be a joy in the winter.

Understand the summer could be too hot, so how do we avoid the greenhouse effect?
How do we keep it warm enough to be used year round?
What sort of price, in the North West, would be expected for a well built UPVC or ALUMINIUM structure please?
Hoping the foundations are good, but if not we would stretch it out 1m in depth with new foundations.
Size is 4.62m x 2.53m (15'2 x 8'4)

Hope you can all help, 
KC

justworriedabit

kcbf said:

Hello All,
Have found a lovely house with great views out of the south facing rear of the home, which the current conservatory showcase brilliantly.
Unfortunately the conservatory is past it's best, and needs replacing. Its made of wood, but hasn't been maintained and our surveyor felt it would be best to start again.
We 're looking for a conservatory that is as much glass as possible, but still allows us to enjoy the room year round - there will be very little light pollution in the area, so even looking up at the night sky will be a joy in the winter.

Understand the summer could be too hot, so how do we avoid the greenhouse effect?
How do we keep it warm enough to be used year round?
What sort of price, in the North West, would be expected for a well built UPVC or ALUMINIUM structure please?
Hoping the foundations are good, but if not we would stretch it out 1m in depth with new foundations.
Size is 4.62m x 2.53m (15'2 x 8'4)

Hope you can all help, 
KC

Bot sure re NW but in se england we had the old one pulled down by the same outfit but kept the dwarf walls. - 23 foot long approx and 10 foot deep, we are Eot house that has been built on the side, ie extension.
We had this bluesih glas used along with self clean, it stops some of the heat but I'm not sure.
We had electric roof blinds and manual ones for the mass of windows and double doors.
We have two, double rads over 5 foot long each and an two ceiling fitted fans,
Its no good telling you how much it cost as yours will cost less as the blinds eltric ones cost a lot as did the others and marble flooring

But - do this - ask for three quotes - don't tell the one about the other = ask for aprox start dates and how long to complete.
Do insist the they belong to some organisation I forget who it is that can act as middle men if there is a problem with the new build and FENSA does not cover conservatories regardless of what they may say. Check their trustpilot reviews

pay over a 100 at least by credit card should things go wrong you have more rights.

Trust me if a consv is not built properly in the first place it will leak and leak.

it will be very hot and very cold but it can be managed and don't forget to have good double or folding doors to the house to keep out the heat and cold.

davilown

Simple solution - don’t get a conservatory 

68ComebackSpecial

My parent's conservatory has a dual heating/ aircon unit so that they can use it year round.

Grabs39

Ours ours is 1/4 brick then PVC.  It has a fake-slate plastic roof on (no good for star gazing!) which I think helps regulate the heat in summer by making it shady.  It has a radiator and it’s west facing.

We can use it year round.  It’s slightly cooler than the rest of the house in winter and on summer mornings, and a bit warmer on summer afternoons (the dogs love a hot afternoon nap in there).

rev229

Our conservatory is 20 yrs old we had it built when we move here. It’s south west facing and for 15 years it has was unusable. We have central heating in the room but made no difference in winter. Summer it was too hot! We decided to have the roof insulated 5 years ago. Just the interior so it’s got thermal foil insulation and a pvc panels. It’s so much better and usable all year round. However we are going to replace it with a brick extension and velux windows. I wouldn’t personally have another conservatory.

kcbf

Thanks (almost) All,
The views are spectacular where we'll be living, so a glass conservatory is something that would really help us enjoy the views.
Understand it can be too hot in summer, but I guess that's what the garden is for
Appreciate the help folks,
KC

Ashworks

Personally I would go for a sun room with a proper roof and floor to ceiling windows. Then you could properly insulate it and avoid massive bills for trying to heat or cool a conservatory - not to mention the carbon footprint...

Davesnave

Ashworks said:

Personally I would go for a sun room with a proper roof and floor to ceiling windows. Then you could properly insulate it and avoid massive bills for trying to heat or cool a conservatory - not to mention the carbon footprint...

So would I, but it might exceed the price I could afford or not give enough light into the room behind. Both these issues were our problem.

Instead, we re-used the good foundations of the previous conservatory, built insulated dwarf walls, insulated a new floor, installed tilt 'n turn windows and a K glass double glazed roof. In winter, we get net heat gain, so forget the carbon footprint if, like us, you'll use it mostly in day time. Any heating we do is just from the wood burner installed in the room behind.