Ideas on how to keep this conservatory (well more of a lean-to) warm this winter?

[AngryFeet]

We have just bought a bungalow which has a large conservatory/lean-to attached (8mx4m) and a small utility room (which is also more of a lean-to) which comes off that.

This link still shows the floor plan so you get the idea

Anyway both basically have corrugated plastic roofs then the rest is mainly large panes of glass with dwarf walls - all single glazed. If you look at the pics in the link you should see a picture of the conservatory, this has a pitched roof then a suspended ceiling with frosted diffuser plastic tiles (presumably to stop too much sunlight coming through). Anyway the heat in the recent hot spell was pretty full on in there and it is obvious it will be bloody freezing in the winter. It is carpeted now and has wooden venetian blinds on the sides. There is also no door between the utility and conservatory.

The long term plan is to knock it down and replace with a solid build (split in 2 to make a large lounge and large kitchen diner). Hopefully we can do this is about 2 years. Until then we can either try to contain ourselves to the rest of the house in the winter (difficult with 2 kids). Or we can try and make the space usable year round for limited cost.

Any ideas? The difficulty is if we cut out too much light the lounge and kitchen will be very very dark which increases electricity costs.

Help!

Sorry to be negative but you will never keep it warm if it has a corrugated plastic roof. Forget it for the winter months.

Home base sell greenhouse insulation towards the end of the year. It's basically a very large roll of bubble wrap, but you can use it to insulate the windows and roof in a conservatory as well. A plug in electric radiator that you use as and when you need it is probably your best heating choice.

Maybe we could replace the roof with something. Dh is very inventive and good at diy etc. He may very well come up with something. Just getting ideas of my own at the moment :) Thanks for the ideas sybil.

if i were you i would add a double glazed door between the utility and the lean too - even if it's only a secondhand eBay / freecycle one - it will save you heating bills over the next couple of years ! you can maybe use greenhouse heaters ( the LPG type ) to avoid a total freeze out there ... but I don't think heating it any warmer than 'just a bit ' will do you any favours - And if it's coming down in a couple of years - I wouldn't invest too much - unless you really need the extra living space right now ?!?

Hi, we had one like this and my husband insulated the roof. He erected a system of little beams and then put insulation blocks between them.we then covered the insulation blocks with wall paper (the new owners have painted this white) It worked brilliantly and made the conservatory warm in the winter and cool in the summer. I have noticed the house is now up for sale and guess what? The roof is still insulated the same and this is now 15 years later ! My hubby is no DIY expert or enjoys DIY.
Good luck and don't give up you may never need to replace it.

I have also seem there are quite a few companies that insulate conservatory roofs too. There are lots on the Internet but the one I saw was called 2hot2cold.org.

my bil did the same as Joanna, but used tongue and groove wood to cover the insulation. It's a similar sized conservatory and it makes it very usable. they have a radiator too though.

We are about to buy a house with a large conservatory and are having similar worries. After much googling I found this link to a possible DIY solution (which sounds like the sort of thing Joanne mentions), with pictures:

community.screwfix.com/thread/6882?start=30&tstart=0

we're also worried about losing light to the living room, which is already a touch gloomy and are planning to install some sun pipes (probably solatube but others are available!).

I use our large conservatory all year round - once the sun is on it then I switch the heaters off in winter. Plus it means our lounge is really cosy cos no outside draughts!