What do you do in your conservatory?

[Leavethedooropen]

I live in a small 2 bed terraced and could do with some extra space. I am thinking of a small conservatory off the kitchen at the back of the house, small being the operative word. I’ve just had someone out to give a quote which was £7-10,000.

I am now trying to imagine it and what I would do with the space eg dining table for everyday eating, small sofa for a coffee/tv?

I know lots of people say they don’t use their conservatory so I’m wondering what you do with yours?

I added more of an orangery (full glass roof, two sets of glass doors and two windows). It's where I spend most of my days as it's so bright. In the evening I sit in the livingroom which has a wood burning stove and the TV.
I read, work, eat in it. Every day.
In an earlier terraced house i added a conservatory and used it as a dining room.

Use our very large conservatory every day about 85% of the year. There are odd days when its too hot and more when its too cold despite a radiator but those are often the days when I use it for drying clothes on a heated airer. When it rains heavily its unusable as it's got a standard roof. Thought about changing it but my neighbours quote was £££££s which we couldn't justify.
We have our dining table out there and a sofa where we have breakfast most mornings. We have vertical blinds to regulate the amount of sun we want in there which we call free heat. Apart from the most miserable parts of the year it is usually around 20 degrees plus with just a little morning sun.
It's also brilliant as a storage room if we are decorating or having any work done. When we had the lounge plastered earlier this year we put a TV in there and just used it as the sitting room.

@NoWordForFluffy

It's not me being argumentative, it's down to the U-value of glass.

My - hazy - memory of this is that individual components have a resistance value which, when a calculation is done, combine to provide a U value of the wall etc. The U value of a conservatory window is therefore made up of the resistance values of the glass, plus the air in between the glass.

I may be remembering incorrectly, however, as it's been a long time since I spent many hours in meetings with insulation manufacturers about such things!

You're right, I should have said the U-value relates to the individual window as a component, based on the glass, the gap, the gas, the material of the frame and the construction. I simplified because too much detail can seem a bit esoteric. The general principle is true and if you need an EPC of D to claim your RHI it can be important.

We've added roof blinds to our (inherited) conservatory which helps with the hot/cold. It has a pretty good glass roof, but it needs a heater in the winter, which isn't cheap. It also has a ceiling fan.

Having said that we often sit in there as it's a nice light space overlooking the garden. It's also become a backup space for working from home, zoom exercise class etc. I suppose it depends how big your house is and whether it's a space you need or just bolted on.

It would be great to have more of an extension or solid roof room but I'm not sure the cost-benefit stacks up.

Can you get a quote for a solid roof conservatory - the roof conversions are expensive but maybe it would be cheaper as one package.

I love mine. We have insulated one of the walls and I've decorated it in Mediterranean colours. Its so bright and sunny. Perfect to read in. Or have coffee with a friend in.

Ours is a solarium rather than a conservatory - so only a glass roof and glass front wall, but we use it as a dining room/office/gym/plant nursery.

The original plan was a dining room with a cocktail nook, but then the pandemic happened, so we ended up parking a Peloton, a weights bench and a desk in there too...

Ours is about 5m by 3m upvc roof, low brick walls. North facing!

We use it every day - it is 9 year old 's playroom and toy storage (trofast units), my home office (IKEA desk) plus extra living space (sofa, rug telly with sky q), herbs and chillis on long sill and gross, cat litter box near back door.

We heat it with £20 amazon plug in heater and light it with a couple of lamps. Bifolds between conservatory and kitchen/diner. Blinds on windows but rarely used.