Conservatory or no?

[Sunnyx]

Recently just had a baby and finding our current home on the small side. Don't want to move so thinking of adding a conservatory. Would really like to feel like this is extension of house and for use all year round...

Is this possible? Has anyone installed conservatory that is actually useable and happy with company? Any recommendations? Live in north east.

Want conservatory over house extension as extension would darken room attached to.

I would say definitely no.

I don't think sticking a room on at the back of a house that isn't working is going to fix it, it might even cause more problems.

But would you consider getting someone in to change your current layout and make it work better for you? Better flow and better storage.

I just wanted to add that I do not like conservatories at all so feel free to disregard my post if you think a conservatory would work for you.

I didn't like conservatories until we bought a house that had one. Ours has one full brick wall and one third brick around the rest. We have one rad in there and full roof and window blinds. The only time of year we don't use it is when it's super cold in Jan, the rest of the year we generally keep the internal doors open and the temperature in the house regulates it.

It's become my favourite room!

That being said, I think if you have bigger plans to change layout, you're better to wait and do that.

We have one and we have used it A LOT.
It was the dcs play room when they were little. It then became my office.
I use it in the summer and the winter (with added heating).

Too hot in summer and too cold in winter. Do a proper extension with lots of big windows but a proper roof.

We had one that was awful. Have replaced with proper extension and live it. We have lots more f skylights and took out a wall too so that we don't have a dark "middle" room.

I'm not a fan...We have lived in two houses with them (not added by us). The first was next to the kitchen and used as the dining room except that when it rained you couldn't hear ANYTHING anyone said because the rain was so loud against the roof. (Good if you want to teach your kids how to project their voices but mine didn't need lessons in that area.) The second house had a long one to make a dining room/ living room. Couldn't hear the telly when it rained, condensation was a nightmare in the winter (dripped from frames in window and roof, had to wipe down constantly to prevent mould), was cold in winter and stifling in summer. The type Buster describes with more brick than PVC/glass might work but generally unless they are more of a garden room (i.e. with a proper roof and walls just more windows than normal) I am against them unless you live somewhere where it rarely rains. Being in the UK, to me it doesn't feel like the best fit...).

I think the biggest issue with them is that they can be cold in winter and sweltering in the summer. But, you can improve on this. PIL for example have a super swish conservatory with underfloor heating built in to keep it warm in winter, and a large fan to keep it cooler is summer. This makes it much more functional year round.

What direct your conservatory would face is key. We have glass roof and under floor heating and I love it. Useable all through winter, but can get to bright in summer (west facing). Fine until the afternoon when sun directly over it. And we are always outside on a sunny day anyway so not a problem 😄

Depends, my friend has one and it's used constantly. It's just another room. Does get cold in winter, she has fan heaters in there for those days and it's fine, not overly hot in summer though, very usable. There is no noise issues with rain, roof looks like a sort of corrugated plastic or glass.

I think if you put a proper roof on it it also helps. As in a brick one.

We have an oak framed one and, like mooneypie, it's usable all year and is my kitchen! It was very expensive and, quite honestly, unless you spend a lot of money, you will not get a high quality usable room. It is not a cheap solution. It's a glass room that requires a lot of heating, preferably underfloor, and triple glazing. Think twice if you cannot afford a quality room which will also need foundations.

Thanks for all your replies. Sounds like maybe an extension would be better....also heard this can be cheaper then a conservatory. Anyone have any idea of cost for this?? Pretty standard 4x3m room?

Just be mindful that during the winter it will get very cold (maybe consider a wood burner) and very hot during the summer (so make sure that you can open it up as much as possible).

We spent 25k on our garden room extension, like you we were going to get a conservatory but decided on a more proper room instead. We have huge sliding patio doors, 2 velux windows and have painted it brilliant white. We were worried about darkening the middle room but it really doesn't (think the white paint and veluxea help) and it has the added benefit of insulating our previously quite cold lounge hugely. The only problem we have with ours is that it's too nice for us to allow use as a kids playroom, but that means we have toys strewn all over our lounge! It isn't the magic bullet for extra space though, hence why we have our house on the market