South Facing Conservatory

ThisIsWeird

Tojo, provided it's well ventilated, the temp should be controllable, and for much of the year it should provide very useful solar gain.

So would you consider a 'garden room' instead? IE, a solid roof but with a couple of opening skylights. Instead of a full bank of glazing as in a Connie, have it part-walled with pairs (or whatevs) of windows, and a bifold or french doors. 

This doesn't have to be expensive - 4" timber framed construction, sheathed both sides in OSB and fully infilled with insulation, outside can be render or any form of cladding, pitched roof- again with a few inches of insulation and lightweight 'tile' on top - vaulted ceiling inside.

This will be infinitely more attractive than a Connie, both inside and out. The worst temps should be taken care of by blinding the windows and/or opening them along with the roof lights, coupled with allowing a through-draught into the house via your upstairs if you have one; the chimney effect can be considerable (oops - it'll be a bungie )

And very useful and usable solar gain in cooler times. And would add value to the house waaay beyond a Connie.

Dustyevsky

You get to choose the ventilation when a conservatory is built. Don't stint on it. Fancy glass cuts down some solar gain, but not enough in the height of summer, but then what the hell are you doing in a south facing conservatory then? You should be outdoors, in the shade, or if you're unlucky, at work!

Think of a south facing conservatory as extra insulation in winter and a source of much free heat on those crisp, sunny days when others are running their boilers. Breakfast in there is possible for at least half the year, and dinner too, but it's never going to be a 24/365 solution.

A garden room with a proper tiled and insulated roof will give you all round usability at a price. It's not always money either. Friends built one on a north facing room and now live  like troglodytes. The devil is in the detail!

Newbie_John

We live in SE and have a conservatory facing south. Polly roof, 3x4m size, no heating.
Winter - used as a storage room, too cold to use.
Spring/Autumn - it gets 20°C more tha outside on a sunny day. We actually use it to heat the house - warm up to 25, then let it cool overnight..
Summer - not much of use, all plants out, all outdoor doors, windows open - still about 40°C on average on a sunny day. Perfect for drying clothes 😉

Perfect to start growing vegetables in spring.
I like my one, but house we bought came with it, not sure if I would build one.. maybe.

Bobinyorkshire

Our garden faces north and our conservatory with a solid roof is used all year. We have a small 3KW oil filled radiator which is plenty to warm even when we have snow. We’ve had a south facing garden before and took a compass with us before we bought this house to ensure we didn’t have another. Each to their own I guess but I prefer the shade