AIBU to think that conservatories are a total waste of time?

[RosaPfirsich]

Misread my own title then as 'Conservatives' then... they are a waste of space too tbf but my AIBU is about the uselessness of conservatories of the glass room variety.

Went to view a house yesterday. It's perfect except for the fact that it has a conservatory. The sellers had the standard wicker type furniture in there and it looked nice enough but in my experience the space is only ever fleetingly useful in maybe spring and autumn.

My experiences of having a conservatory previously have been that it's either so hot in them that you can't sit for longer than 5 minutes without feeling like you are going to pass out, OR they are absolutely bloody freezing and any efforts to warm them with additional heating are completely fruitless as the warmth wastes zero time escaping through the glass.

What is the point?! Have I just been stuck with really shit conservatories and other people don't have these problems?

We'd like to put an offer on the house but the conservatory is bugging me already!

What do you do with yours? Do you actually use it all year?

I think I'm kind of wanting someone to tell me IABU and sell the idea that they aren't a waste of space as I really love this house!

[Raisinbrain]

My parents have an "orangery" which they use all year round but it has underfloor heating.

[MaybeitsMaybelline]

I 100% agreed with you until I had a tiled roof put on mine. It already had fairly high walls and not too much glass. Now it is a dream, totally useable all year round. Warm and cool at the right rather wrong times of the year.

Ours is now a lovely garden dining room rather than a freezing/boiling fish tank.

[murmuration]

Hmm, reading this thread I'm wondering if my conservatory is even a conservatory. It's got glass walls, but is hooked up to our heating system (two radiators - more than any other room), and basically feels like part of the house. I wonder if it is just an extension with window-walls instead? Also has wired electricity and outlets and such. Is that normal? Only issues we've had is that due to the two radiators, if you close the doors in winter it can get quite hot! Not overly hot in the summer, but it is north-facing.

I absolutely love it, and am sitting in it right now listening to the icy rain pattering against the glass, all warm and cosey.

[BlueThesaurusRex]

Although now I’ve read this thread I hope I never have to sell the house

[AnagramBixter]

They are cold in winter,hot in summer, I'd know knock it down and build a proper extension if you buy the house.

[badlydrawnperson]

I'd have the villagers around with pitchforks and torches if we ever try and sell this place - we are old, have a white plastic conservatory that robs the living room of light, is like the surface of Venus (thanks PP) in summer and dark side of the moon in winter.
It was here when we moved in but as we liked the rest of the house we let it off, even though I accept it is a total bag of shit.
Thank flip we aren't planning on moving.

[Mummyshark2018]

Yep a waste! We had one (until it got taken down this week!) which served as a dumping ground. It was a lovely looking conservatory but being south facing could only be used in may and September. I certainly would never choose to put one in. Building work on our extension starting next week and I can't wait to have proper usable space.

[AuntieCJ]

We have a big conservatory - it's the width of the house and 15ft deep. I'm sitting in it now. We have our computer desks set up in here facing the garden which we can watch all year round. Plus we have bookshelves and a table and chairs to eat out here if the weather is nice.

We love it but would want a little one.

[SmarmyMrMime]

Our house came with a large conservatory. Google Earth revealed that at some point there had been a single size, then rebuilt as a double. I was always sceptical but I'm completely converted.

In winter, our lawn is a swap, so the conservatory is a semi-outdoor space where the kids can kick balls and use larger outdoor toys. The Christmas tree goes in there, yet remains visible from the lounge. I also use it as a fridge, handy for large casserole pots that don't fit in the fridge!

It tends to be too cool Nov-March, but having had some sunny days, we've already had a few days this year where it's gone up to the high 20s and able to be opened up to warm the house through.

It can go too hot in the hottest weather, but also it means the lounge can stay shut off and comfortably cool which it wouldn't with patio doors on a south aspect.

Long term, we'll probably go for a better brick built room. Underfloor heating would extend the year of it, but it has been a fantastic family space.

[flirtygirl]

They look Horrid alot of the time but nice ones do exist.

The key is to use it as a room, heaters are quite cheap but many have underfloor or integrated heating. It only a full ping ground if you let it become one, change the roof or flooring, add heating if necessary and use the space.

When upgrading the rules are quite simple unless you go do building reg routes and then it will cost alot more as it's basically classed the same as an extension.

[VictoriaBun]

In my old house we had one. It it a foil thing in the roof ( couldn't see it ) that helped keep heat out in summer, and heat in the winter. It also had underfloor heating . The garden wasn't overlooked and it made a great dining room.

[alwaysncxx]

YANBU. My auntie has one, it's either roasting hot or like the Arctic.

There is no inbetween!

[alwaysncxx]

@NameChangeNugget summed conservatories up very well

[KaliforniaDreamz]

i thought this was about Conservatoires!

[soulrunner]

I was anti- them but we bought a house that has one as a kitchen extension with sofas etc. and it’s great. Actually isn’t cold ( albeit we have under floor heating) or at least no more than the standard kitchen extension with floor to ceilin bi- folds at the back. It is very sheltered I suppose so maybe that helps.

[HexagonalBattenburg]

Sat in mine at the moment - it's my home office/craft room/woman cave/hide from the rest of the bloody family sanctuary (although the dog's commandeered the sofa in it as her dog bed to keep me company). Can keep an eye on the kids when they're playing in the garden as well while sitting watching telly and drinking coffee and ours is used all year round - we don't tend to close the doors between it and the rest of the house so the temperature stays relatively equal and I've been out in here with snow on the roof perfectly fine. Ours is fairly new (couple of years old) so the glazing on it is pretty decent I think.

MN collectively is very anti-conservatories though. I think you have to set them up quite carefully or they can become a dumping ground - before I reclaimed this one it had been infested with about a million plastic playmobil people I had to serve eviction proceedings on and had become a bit of a no-man's ground. I love it now we've got it working as a decent room though.

[TheOxymoron]

I have air conditioning in mine which makes the use of it fantastic but without it I totally agree.

[thedisorganisedmum]

I hate them, they look horrendous. Most of them look filthy as well, because it's rare that people got a window cleaner to do theirs at least a couple of times a month.

I much prefer to open windows in the rooms, sit either in a room or in the garden, I cannot see the point of them.

I understand when people just need space and go for a cheaper option than an extension, because that's all they can afford. I still hate them.

[Spiritinabody]

IMO it's better to have an extension to the home rather than a conservatory.

[Spiritinabody]

If you look at pictures of conservatories in homes that are for sale they usually don't have a proper purpose.
e.g. May have white goods stuck in some obscure area along with seating or study area as well.

Most don't seem to have a proper plan for their use.

[presentcontinuous]

We bought a house with one and got rid of it within months. The house is in lovely stone and the conservatory was an eyesore in ugly white uPVC. Despite double glazing and a radiator it was freezing all winter, and apparently no previous owners, not even the lady who had it built at great expense, had ever used it except for storage.

[DilysMoon]

We have a South facing one and we use it all year with an electric radiator. It's a playroom with sofa and tv so is used in the evenings too if DH wants to watch something different.

It can get very hot in summer but we open the doors and it's fine, the brightness bothers me more than the heat! I dont enjoy sunbathing but I love soaking up the warmth sitting in the conservatory. We need the heater on in winter if it's dull but if it's a sunny day it's warm enough without. A big floor sized thick rug makes a huge difference to keeping it warm. I wouldn't want a solid roof as I'm not prepared to lose the light in to the dining room so an extension wouldn't work for me.

I'm not sure how we'll use it as the kids get older and don't need a toy room, probably just as a second sitting room.

[Thesnobbymiddleclassone]

I know a lot of people use them as play rooms and messy rooms for children.

That's the only reason I'd buy a house with one. I like the idea that they normal have easy to clean floors and the mess children make would be contained to one areas.

[MarieIVanArkleStinks]

I didn't want a conservatory either: I thought they were light thieves. We got one with the house. I decided to use it as a proper conservatory and replaced the roof with a proper glass one (keeps cold out and heat in, and self-cleans). Filled it with plants which are thriving and now 3x the size they were when I first put them in. It's our own little indoor garden and is used all year round; easy to keep warm (less easy to keep cooler in summer) but from about April through October all our evenings are spent in there. I work in there: I find it relaxes me. It's always the setting for Christmas lunch. Great, too, to retreat to when the patio becomes too cold.

It's conservatories without plants that are travesties IMO! I wouldn't have chosen mine, but I now wouldn't want to be without it. It's my favourite room in the house.

PS. I'd love one of those open, American-style porches. Yours sounds wonderful MereDin!

[Boulshired]

It does depend on what you want and what you already have, mine has been converted so it is barely recognisable as a conservatory. If you want an all year round room then modification or replacements will be required. But I have friends who have a conservatory for summer use it only, they do not particularly need the square footage and are alongside their extension.