Conservatories?? Anyone help please?

[suestar35]

Hi there

We have decided we'd like bit more room downstairs and it looks like a conservatory may be a solution. An extension is preferable but not in our budget.

I had two diff co's in yesterday giving me conflicing info so I am now really confused about what to do and who to believe!!

We are a South facing house, garden gets very water logged in Scotland. Looking at a 3m by 4m Edwardian one.

• A glass roof or polycarbonate one?
• A dwarf wall or glass top to bottom?
• A radiator or just use a plug into wall one?

I had thought that max £13k would have been sufficient but one is quoting £16-£17k.

Any help, pros and cons would be so much approciated!

Thank you

I can't speak from experience, as they don't start building ours for another 3 weeks, but I can share some of the things I've learned so far! Hopefully jeanjeannie will come on this thread, her DH is in the conservatory business

I've gone for a glass roof - polycarb is noisy when it rains. The Pilkington Activ Blue glass is the most expensive but (hopefully!) the best in terms of sunlight reflection to avoid glare, and it's self-cleaning.

IMO a dwarf wall looks better, makes it more of a proper room. Ours is a lean-to style, so we have one solid wall, dwarf walls round the rest. Price wise ours is larger and we are in the South East, the price for ours is £18k for a 7m x 3m conservatory, Pilkington Activ glass all round, 3 tilt & turn windows, French Doors. Includes plastering, laying the concrete screed on the floor ready for Karndean people to come with their screed/fitting, 4 eelctric sockets, 3 wall lights (we provided the lights).

We have such a huge open plan space that I can't really give much advice on the heating. We've been recommended air con - radiators would be too small to effectively heat the space, underfloor heating is apparently even more expensive than the air con to run.

Ours is going to be our dining room, hence the long thin room so we can fit a huge table (also, we wanted it to incorporate the kitchen and living room doors so it needed to be 7m to get them both inside). Like you, it was the cheapes form of extension, and I was concerned that putting an extension that size on the back would have cut out the light to the living room/kitchen.

[Jeanjeannie runs in!]

Hi - well, just asked DP and yep - you could get something of that size for your 13k (we're in the home counties-so not sure about Scotland prices) but probably not to the spec that you're thinking of ie: highly unlikely you'll get a good glass roof (and housemum is spot on with her glass as the initial outlay reaps rewards later) and you'll not get the whole Edwardian look as this will cost extra because of design.

Look at the things you know you don't want to compromise on...so, could you live without the whole Edwardian look? If you go for polycarbonate - it IS cheaper but noiser (in the rain!) and it's not clear like glass but if you don't mind that - then that's ok. It's been so many years since we did one with this kind of roof that we're not familiar with suppliers.

Glass top to bottom is cheaper but can look a bit 'unfinished' - again I'd agree with Housemum..a wall makes it look more like a proper room.

A plug in convector heator will save you money. It will do the job ok!

Quotes will be different but they may be taking your highest spec and giving you a price on that - with end up materials. Hone down what you're after - be as precise as you can and maybe ask for two quotes - one for what you'd ideally like and then for a more simplified version and see if you can meet in the middle. HTH

We've got something similar to what Housemum describes. The glass roof is supposed to be self-cleaning but it isn't, not totally!

Generally, it has been a positive addition to our house and I love the open plan feel to our downstairs. However, winters have been cooooooold. We do tend to cosy up in the one room downstairs that can be cut-off from the rest of the house, which is like a fridge thanks to the conservatory.

The heater, when we turn it on, does make a big difference. Also, the sun does rather effectively warm the conservatory on a winter day but obviously gets cold at night. That's when we turn the heater on!

It is bit of an insect cemetery which takes a bit of getting used to, and I have to sweep it everyday of dead things.

We've got two full height walls either side with full height windows in the middle, dwarf walls either side of the doors. It is fully plastered inside which was very important to me. We've also got a kitchen unit in the conservatory which surrounds our American fridge thing, so it pulls in with our kitchen quite well. It is great for storage too.

We do use it year round but have just had a discussion about what to do this winter to try and minimise the heating bills. We intend to put thick curtains across the two entrances to the conservatory to help warm the rest of the house as our heating bills were silly this year. Obviously we don't know it it will help but it will only be for a few weeks hopefully during the worst of the winter.

Overall, I love it. I love lying on the sofa in the sun on a warm day in a quiet house. It is bliss.

ok, we have a huge one on the back of our house. We arent south facing but tbh in the summer it is too hot to use without the air conditioner on, and freezing in the winter without heater. Def get a raditor if your going to need one and also factor in the cost of blinds, as you will need them.

Dont let them bully you into it, get atleast 3 quotes, check feedback and check their warrenty policy.
hth

Thanks everyone!!

And to add to my confusion had a third small company round yesterday and the chap is suggesting

...don't put a dwarf wall...just have glass top to bottom (this will give us more space internally and we won't have to remove an outside vent),

• glass roof

and underfloor heating???? anyone use this, is it good? Expensive to use?

any more comments very much appreciated on this.

Thank you!

I would say dwarf or full size side walls if possible (will make it feel like a proper room and will be warmer in winter). We have full height glass all round and it's an ice-box in winter, and there is no point heating it as the heat just escapes immediately so we have to just shut the doors and ignore the room for a few weeks of the year (or 3 months like last winter!)

Definitely underfloor heating if you can afford it, but only if you don't go for the all glass option as it would be too inefficient.

Definitely glass roof too.

I HATE our conservatory. I love the space, I love it in summer when it's warm, but it's a useless glass box in winter.

Like Tonar, I hate our conservatory. I've yet to meet anyone who is successfully heating and cooling theirs.

We are in the SE and ours is S/SW facing. It's hideous and I can't wait for it to come down. It is much easier to heat it up than cool it down. But really, what's the point of having that space if you cannot use it comfortably all the time?

Have you factored in the cost of blinds, if you will need them? They are pricey. Will you have access to your garden through another door as well? If not you may get fed up with traipsing through your conservatory to get outside. Not to mention the mess that comes back in.

Have you had a simple extension priced up? I think it would be worth doing and comparing the total costs for each. You may find that the total costs of each and not as great as you imagine.

I know this probably doesn't help you at all, but I think you would be better off saving up to have an extension put on.

Sorry, should have read are not as great.

I think if an extension was what you were after int he first place then the full glass option with no wall will actually be moving much further away from what you really want.

I'll ask DP the pros and cons of what you've put. I know that undefloor heating is the best but it's quite hefty on the initial outlay.

For you to be happy with it and within the budget you can afford you need to go back to how you're going to realistically use it.

Duex is quite right to mention about having a simple extension priced up in the way that she has - looking at comparing total costs for each. For example our cheap side extension has a glass roof with rafters - looks great and lets in light but was a cheaper option than a full roof and the special glass means we don't bake, even though it's SW facing.

Will it get lots of use to and from the garden? Will you want to have lots of storage space in there (not easy with all glass) and are you planning to eat/chill out/kids play?

Just some ideas to think about And I'll get some answers when DP is home.

We have a south facing conservatory that we inherited.We have a polycarbonate roof and dwarf walls and in an edwardian style.It is an absolute heat-loser and we have ginormous heating bills.The roof when it rains is incredibly noisy and the room itself is boiling in summer [and an insect graveyard]and freezing in winter.Having said all that it is the kids playroom /tv room and is used all year round.It is only separated from the dining room by heavy interlined curtains.I am thinking about replacing the roof with glass or a proper tiled roof or even a lead-look [rolled lead] grp roof[if after 6 weeks i ever get a quote back from the company who does them].
We are doing a kitchen extension in September.We will have 3 solid brick walls one partial wall with french doors in and a reflex rooflight in an edwardian lantern style with surrounding grp roof.The insulation values for the walls and rooflight are all high.But more importantly the cost of this is less than any conservatory quote we had.I think you need to draw up some plans and get some local builders to quote for the work you need.Your extension isn't too big and the cost -to me should come under 15 thousand.Hope this post makes sense as i am well into G&T time in hongkong here!.

Re: underfloor heating according to DP depends on the energy efficiency of the building. If when the heating is laid there is insufficient (or incorrect) insulation then the heat loss will be ridiculous and consequently cost a fortune. It's the same for the glass. If you're going to go for glass walls and roof then it would have to be the best glass for the job or you'll boil in summer and freeze in winter.

I really wanted an all-glass conservatory, as they look so wonderful, but I'm so glad I changed my mind - it must be a never-ending battle to keep the lower few feet clean, both inside and out. They are lovely and trendy now, but fashions change - just look at old adverts for them - and go for convenience.

I love our conservatory, but please make sure that you have windows in the roof that can be left open all the time in good weather. Without this ventilation, they are impossible to be in in summer, especially south-facing ones. (Also think twice about the aspect - south facing is not good).

We bought ceiling blinds, the concertina type. Our conservatory faces east, and the blinds on the north facing part of the roof are never used. Also, we were asked if we wanted the blinds to fold down or up. We chose, down i.e. when closed they are folded into the lower part of the window - big mistake, as they are really difficult to clean and have turned into a fly cemetary.

Lastly, if you don't have doors to seal off the conservatory, and unless you want to spend a fortune on heating, your whole house will be much colder in the winter. We have got a radiator, but using would be equivalent to burning £10 notes to keep
warm.

Having said all that, we loves ours.

My parents put in a fairly Heath Robinson heat recovery system in their conservatory. Combined with a substantial door to seal off the conservatory from the rest of the house. Basically it's like a ventaxia on a thermal switch so when it reaches 20 degrees the vent kicks in and sucks the warm air through the wall and into the house. I thought they were barking but it actually works rather well and gives you some heat gain even on sunny days in the winter. Just an idea if you decide to go ahead.

Theirs is south facing and I think they find they use it less than they thought as it's really too bright to sit and read in without sun glasses, too warm in the summer, too cold in the winter like everyone else says. They have a smaller glass porch which is North East and they use that a lot more.

P.S. Beware of Amdega if you're in Scotland.....

LOL@beware of Amdega! They're held in such reverence but without wanting to be done for slander I'd concur with notasausage ...and not just if you're in Scotland!

I'd be wary of Amdega too, wherever you are!!

i have a conservatory- cost about £10k plus around£1200 for new french doors.

i would have had underfloor heating if i could do it again.......we put an electric heater in but this isnt effective in really cold weather ( like last winter).

we had top to bottom glass which i like.

we had floor ports put in on garden side to allow us to plug things in- very good.

we had a poly roof- its fine- its noisy but we just shut the doors in heavy rain!