Conservatory advice, please

[queribus]

We're thinking of adding a conservatory to our house, nothing too big, but would give us extra useful space.

Does anyone have any advice about what to look for, 'dos and donts', any problems etc? Garden is north facing, not overlooked and we're thinking of something about 3.5m x 3m.

Thanks

Things I hate about having a conservatry - they are freezing, by their very nature...consisting mostly of glass, they have very poor energy isulation...they cost a bomb to heat. You have the advantage of being North Facing so it won't be like an oven in the summer.

The roof when made entirely from clear plastic can mean you need sunglasses to sit in there due to the glare. Buying blinds to fix this problem can cost almost as much as the conservatory.

We never use ours - except as a massive storage space. It was installed by the previous owners - it's being ripped down soon and good riddance. I feel conservatories are a cheap and sub standard solution to limited space - if it were me, I'd wait and save up for an extension.

Don't do it.

We had the conservatory knocked down on our house (it came with the house when we bought it). We now have a lovely proper extension that is warm and can be used all year round.

Ours is 4x5 meters. Also North facing. The west wall, facing our neighbour, is brick, and has 3 cm window on top before the roof. We get the ligth, and a nice high up window sill. The "arched" area is brick up to knee hight, and the east facing side is sliding doors out to a deck. We loved it. (We dont live there any more) In fact, it is the room I miss most about our house.
The roof is reflective, so it is like sunglasses, you cant see into it at day time, and it does not get too hot.

We had laminate flooring, warmer than tiles. And with a big thick colourful rug in the middle. It was like an extra living room. It did not get too cold in winter, as we had a radiator in there.

I have just added some pics to the profile

Thanks for the replies and the pictures - very nice indeed! Much appreciated.

We're now also thinking about an extension as we could get an extra bedroom and bathroom, as well as another reception room, but obviously costs (a lot) more.

Thanks for all the replies