Hot/cold conservatory.

[Mendeleyev]

We have had a conservatory for about 8 years. We had it built big enough to be a dining room as we only have a kitchen and a small lounge diner. It's great in sPring and autumn but too cold in winter and too hot in summer! We have a wood laminate floor with underfloor heating installed but it costs a fortune to run and just isn't good enough on really cold days. We are after ideas to keep it at a better temperature and found this website www.roof-revive.co.uk/index.php?gclid=CJXI4-eDuq8CFUkMtAodzHP_ig

I wondered if anyone out there had any experience of this type of installation. Or any other ideas!

TIA

Can't really help but I am posting in sympathy. Have a conservatory that we only use briefly in spring and autumn - its boiling in summer and freezing all winter. We are currently considering major changes (knocking through to join conservatory and kitchen, changing one side from glass to brick, and changing the conservatory roof to standard roof with velux or a raised roof light.

Looking at the roofrevive my first thought is its going to be a lot darker with a completely covered roof. Most of the light comes through the roof in my conservatory, not much through the front or sides except at certain times of the day - this is why we want a normal flat roof with roof lights : balance light with insulation.

I'm not sure what is the first step for us. We are considering 1) pay an architect to come and give their opinion. 2) get a conservatory and sunroof company around to give their opinion. 3) a standard building firm IF they would have an opinion? 4) a timber frame building company ditto

(we would be having an extra room built on above the kitchen at the same time - but not extending as far as the conservatory obviously!, hence 3 and 4)

I will be watching with interest!

I have absolutely no idea whether it worked, but I was talking last year to an eco-architect who was running insulating honeycomb blinds in grooves down the sloping glass panels of his extension (he was doing an eco-retrofit of an existing house and extension). His hope was that he would be able to get the summer shade and winter insulation - apparently this is quite popular in the US. He's now had a summer and a winter with it, so I'm hoping when I next see him he'll be able to report.

I hadn't really thought about the darkness aspect. I just though as there would be glass on 2 and a half sides that it would still be light. The it looks like you can still have the opening vents with the roof revive but DH not keen as one of them is leaking at the moment. Has anybody had any type of blind fitted to their roof? Did that help with insulation and what was the effect on light?

I have heard of Roof Revive. Opinions vary. I see their website says

"We achieve this stunning result using a lightweight 28 mm high performance composite insulation made up of 19 layers of reflective and insulating materials. Cross ventilation prevents condensation, or ?sweating?, of the structure.

Following careful installation, the roof is finished with 10 mm plasterboard and skim finish. The customer can then apply a decorative finish to complete the installation."

You might consider finding out how much someone else might charge to fit a Kingspan-insulated false ceiling.

There is a lot of money to be made out of conservatories, one way and another.