Unheated conservatory - what have people done to theirs to make it the same temperature all year round. Any suggestions?

[WanderingJules]

Currently, it’s freezing in the winter, and boiling in the summer when the sun comes out. The ceiling fan does help, but we are looking into making it a permanent room.
I’ve read about a glass roof you can have, to regulate the temp all year round, does anybody have one? Does it work?
We did have a little heater, but it stank when we used it, and it got in the way.
We want to keep the sun coming in, no blocking light out, as I want to put my sewing machine in, and need the light for sewing. Any other suggestions please? Thank you.
I want to keep as much light in the room as possible.

Oops, repeated the bit about light in the room, sorry.

Also preferably nothing that would have to be added to our electric bill, like underfloor heating.
Thanks again, sorry for dripfeed.

Yep, we used to have one with normal double glazed windows and a plastic roof which was basically unusable for most of the year due to being too hot/bright or too cold.

Had it changed a couple of years ago. Now has d/g windows and d/g glass roof, both with some kind of film to reflect the sun, so it's not as hot and bright in the summer. The glass roof keeps the heat in, so it's not as cold in the winter.

Great improvement and we can now use it any time of year.

@Kazzie, thanks. I’ll look into that x

Pilkington thermal glass and underfloor heating. Seems to have done the trick.

It does seem to cost a lot to improve the thermal efficiency so we’ve decided to knock ours down and start again. And in the meantime we’ve got an oil filled radiator to enable us to use it in the cold.

You can put a special film over the glass roof to make it better at reflecting heat and keeping heat in. Not sure of the company name but they do all kinds of glass/window wraps. Might be relatively cheap to try before going for the bigger options

My sister added a radiator, put a proper roof on hers and clad the underneath of the roof in thermal boards. The difference is amazing! We used to use it as an overflow fridge on Christmas Day to chill drinks before she changed it!

An aircon unit that heats and cools?

What use is a too hot or too cold room? I have underfloor heating and highly efficient double glazing. Nothing will come close to this. Also roof vents for air circulation in summer and French doors.

Thanks for all your messages, some good ideas 💐

We have just knocked ours down and done a proper extension but we did live with it for 7 years when we moved in here and it served as our dining room so was used year round. It was south facing which meant boiling hot in summer but we had some special reflective film put on the roof glass panels (they go on the outside) which reflected the sun and heat back and made a big difference. We also had blackout blinds made at John Lewis for each window and pulled these down when the sun was shining in. We took out both the window and door that separated it from the rest of the house so it was more open plan. We also had a radiator put in and used a small plug in oil radiator in winter. It still remained on the chilly side in there but usable.

wiifitnama looking back, do you wish you had just replaced it at the start?

I've never been successful in keeping an unheated conservatory warm. It basically used to suck all the heat out of the house, and the warm air hitting the cold glass caused condensation. In the end we separated it from the house with a patio door to prevent those issues - the conservatory remained cold but at least the rest of the house stayed warm.

ohifimust
do you happen to know who your sister used?

Bathbathbath - we were not in a position to do anything about it then financially. We did a massive extension/refurb project this year that got rid of the conservatory but could not have done that back when we moved in. With the things we did to it, it made it a very usable room for many years for us.

Two former colleagues this year had their plastic roof's replaced - One of the conservatories was larger than the other. The smaller one was about £3500 and the larger was about £5000 and the company who did the larger one threw some new blinds in "for free". It's over budget for me and I'm currently working in there all day. I just switch an oil heater on, which is under my desk, wait a few minutes for it to heat up, dress up warmly (fleece or even my big coat on some days) and eventually I warm up enough to discard the coat and be comfortable enough.

I'm actually dreading the summer though - it is far easier to warm up than it is to cool down.