Cheap suggestions for closing up unheated conservatory?

greensalad

Moved in in March and my previous owners were idiots. The kitchen (no radiator or other heating) has a small 1990s built conservatory on the back that is not in good condition. Very leaky in heavy rain and it basically makes our kitchen the same temperature as whatever is outside. During the hottest day of the year, our kitchen was 38 degrees. During the cold snap in March the kitchen was 6 degrees.

I understand that an unheated conservatory should not be considered within the "envelope of the house" in terms of warmth. When it was built there was a sliding door in the hole but the previous owners stupidly removed it. 

With the energy bills going up I'm looking for a solution to make it bearable again for use. It is our dining room and where our fridge is kept. We have plans to knock it down and replace with a proper insulated extension but cannot afford it for probably another 2+ years. 

I have considered buying a second hand sliding door on eBay that is roughly the right size and getting my builder to install it, he said it's a pretty easy job. But I've yet to find any on eBay that are the right size (or close enough) and also cheap. There are new ones but they are several hundred pounds. And the secondhand ones are usually too tall or wide, or tiny in comparison.

My second option is a thermal curtain hung on a track above the hole. Do you think this would work? Thermal curtains are not cheap but I thought it might help a little. Do you think it would make a significant enough difference? I am thinking it's less invasive and I can put it up myself and maybe even take it down in the summer as it'd be quite unsightly. 

FreeBear

You could try ringing around some of the local window/door installation companies and see if they have something suitable. A customer may have rejected a door, or they might have measured wrong and as a consequence have something that can't be used..

Building reclamation yards are another source - My local one often has a selection of both wooden and uPVC doors for not a lot of money.

Note - As this door is between the main house and a conservatory, it should be meeting current Building Regulations for thermal performance and should be signed off by Building Control (or have a FENSA or similar certificate). But no one is likely to come round and check, and if it is going to be ripped out in a couple of years time, does it really matter...

greensalad

FreeBear said:

You could try ringing around some of the local window/door installation companies and see if they have something suitable. A customer may have rejected a door, or they might have measured wrong and as a consequence have something that can't be used..

Building reclamation yards are another source - My local one often has a selection of both wooden and uPVC doors for not a lot of money.

Note - As this door is between the main house and a conservatory, it should be meeting current Building Regulations for thermal performance and should be signed off by Building Control (or have a FENSA or similar certificate). But no one is likely to come round and check, and if it is going to be ripped out in a couple of years time, does it really matter...

Excellent idea on ringing round. I might also ask my builder to keep an eye out on any demolitions he's doing. I'm sure he'd rather get a bit of cash to take away something that someone else sees as rubbish! I will see who's local to me that might have some.

We knew it should've had building regs when we bought the house, it was alerted to us in the survey that the door shouldn't have been removed, but that was back in July 2021 so we just agreed to proceed anyway and thought we'd stick a space heater in there (which is what the previous occupiers did). Of course we then exchanged in March and things were already on the turn... Our energy bill will probably go over £1000 in January so I'm doing everything I can now to mitigate needing to heat the house at all.

powerspowers

We have the same between living room and conservatory and used a thick lined curtain last winter which worked better than expected. £100 well spent. We’re planning to replace conservatory with an extension next year so will do the same this winter. 

greensalad

powerspowers said:

We have the same between living room and conservatory and used a thick lined curtain last winter which worked better than expected. £100 well spent. We’re planning to replace conservatory with an extension next year so will do the same this winter. 

Good to hear it made a difference. I'm having a look for a suitable thermal curtain. The Dunelm ones big enough look to be over £100 but maybe I can find one second hand.

jonnydeppiwish!

Definitely ring around the local glass places - I got a composite front door from £1300 to £400 and 1.7m double opening window for £120 last month due to mis-measured orders.

Facebook marketplace and gumtree are also really good places to pick the doors up. You could also chuck up a stud wall with some CLS and 100mm earthwool.

Slinky

Anything here suitable?

https://www.mr-mismeasure.co.uk/

Eldi_Dos

As you will be going in and out conservatory on a regular basis, a EV or PVC curtain similar to what is in use at entrance to cold stores with a more traditional thermal curtain to cover up when you close up for night.

Bit embarrassed to post this but every avenue is worth considering before winter kicks in