House gets very cold (<13degrees) and retains no heat

Doozergirl

ft23 said:

TELLIT01 said:

With effectively a glass extension on the house you will lose massive amounts of heat.  Can you post a photo?  Some options may be suggested when the situation can be viewed.

 (Excuse the greyed out kitchen sink mess but) - if you can see from the pics, the kitchen is L-shaped. The door next to the table to the sitting room can be closed (it is usually) but no way to close off from the side of the original galley kitchen. 

Oh wow.  That is exactly your problem.  

Obviously you want to insulate the house, but this is like leaving the back door open, because well, you are! 

How did your raise a mortgage on it?  Did you raise a mortgage on it?  Kitchens in conservatories is a big red flag for most lenders because it isn't a habitable room. 

m0t

Doozergirl said:

ft23 said:

TELLIT01 said:

With effectively a glass extension on the house you will lose massive amounts of heat.  Can you post a photo?  Some options may be suggested when the situation can be viewed.

 (Excuse the greyed out kitchen sink mess but) - if you can see from the pics, the kitchen is L-shaped. The door next to the table to the sitting room can be closed (it is usually) but no way to close off from the side of the original galley kitchen. 

Oh wow.  That is exactly your problem.  

Obviously you want to insulate the house, but this is like leaving the back door open, because well, you are! 

How did your raise a mortgage on it?  Did you raise a mortgage on it?  Kitchens in conservatories is a big red flag for most lenders because it isn't a habitable room. 

Also I thought it was against building regs to have a radiator in a conservatory now?

Anyway the only real solution is to turn up the heating until spring and pay someone to come in and put a proper roof on it.

Rosa_Damascena

ft23 said:

TELLIT01 said:

With effectively a glass extension on the house you will lose massive amounts of heat.  Can you post a photo?  Some options may be suggested when the situation can be viewed.

 (Excuse the greyed out kitchen sink mess but) - if you can see from the pics, the kitchen is L-shaped. The door next to the table to the sitting room can be closed (it is usually) but no way to close off from the side of the original galley kitchen. 

Get a decent roof on this pronto, preferably with a lantern to let in the light!

Doozergirl

I've just spotted the chrome towel radiator as well.   Those things throw out nothing in the way of heat at all.  Even my bathroom was cold with one of those! 

You've got a room that's impossible to heat but a radiator that will heat nothing. 

Replace it with a proper radiator.  A white one.  And use a BTU calculator like the one on the Best Heating website.  

Slinky

Which way does the conservatory face? We used to get a fair bit of solar gain from a south facing sunroom (with a proper fully insulated tiled roof) in our old house.

onomatopoeia99

Slinky said:

Which way does the conservatory face? We used to get a fair bit of solar gain from a south facing sunroom (with a proper fully insulated tiled roof) in our old house.

I have a south facing conservatory (separated from the house with an external door, and with no radiator, so while ramshackle it does comply with the rules) and solar gain in full sun is minimal when the external temperature is 1C.  It doesn't reach the 19C the CH thermostat is set to so opening the external door on the house into the conservatory would mean heat would leak out of the house.

I only use it for storing old stuff and drying laundry (not in winter as it doesn't get warm enough), it's basically the most pointless construct ever.

The thing the OP pictured can't comply with any building regs I've ever seen.

TELLIT01

onomatopoeia99 said:

The thing the OP pictured can't comply with any building regs I've ever seen.

I strongly suspect a previous owner made the changes after the conservatory was constructed so building regs never came into the equation.  Our conservatory now has a lightweight solid roof and underfloor heating.  It still loses about 4 degrees on a cold night.  I've just checked on temperatures.  Outside is 7, conservatory is 15 and house is 19.7.  The temperature difference is certainly apparent when the door to the conservatory is open.  There is no way they will keep the place heated with the current configuration.

TELLIT01

I've found this and don't know if it may be relevant to the OPs situation -

"

I want to sell my home and I don't have a building regulations completion certificate

Once you have accepted an offer on your property, your conveyancing solicitor will ask you to complete various property forms. These forms will ask you to disclose any works, or knowledge of works, carried out on the property. The forms will also ask you to provide copies of appropriate building regulations approval.

You must not omit any details or be dishonest in any way. On discovering any issues, the new owner could take legal action against you for any costs or losses incurred as a result of the missing consent. These costs could be substantial including legal fees, the cost of remedial works, and any reduction in the value of the property."

Didn't the OPs solicitor ask the questions, or were the answers inaccurate?

Bendy_House

That roof does, at least, look like double-glazed glass units, so not as bad as polycarb twinwall!

A DIY method of largely sorting that roof would cost very little - 2" rigid insulation board bonded to 3/4rs of the panels, leaving perhaps only 2 exposed to allow light and some solar gain for most of the year.

ft23

Bendy_House said:

That roof does, at least, look like double-glazed glass units, so not as bad as polycarb twinwall!

A DIY method of largely sorting that roof would cost very little - 2" rigid insulation board bonded to 3/4rs of the panels, leaving perhaps only 2 exposed to allow light and some solar gain for most of the year.

Hi - thanks for this. Yes its a double glazed roof and the dwarf walls of the kitchen are actually cavity wall (filled) so I understand, the issue is too much glass roof. Would consider trying to DIY it. Do you have any advice/guides on how to do this - how do the rigid insulation boards attach, and do you then cover them? Thanks