Genius idea - conservatory?

[Rrrob]

I’ve posted on here before about our desire to do a 2 storey side extension but unexpected arrival of dc3 in Aug plus spiralling building costs mean it is not doable any time soon.

We could do the loft, and have plans drawn up, but really the most urgent space need is downstairs. We have a living room, kitchen/ diner and downstairs toilet. My genius idea today is to stick a conservatory onto either the kitchen to make an L shaped kitchen/ dining/ family space, or onto the dining side, making one long space.

Before I get excited, is this a terrible idea? I’ve never wanted a conservatory until now and know the heat issues, but it seems a no brainer on the space front? Would a conservatory need planning permission? If we were to sell, is a conservatory an off putting feature?

We have a hybrid so like a conservatory with a proper roof and it has a radiator in it. It's the same temp as the rest of the house year round and cost only slightly more than a conservatory.

We are building an orangery extension at the moment. It's another room with a glass lantern ceiling.

Our friends have one that was built only a few years ago and it’s really lovely and totally usable. I’m not normally a fan of them but it just feels like a room of their house with lots of picture windows to the garden. They didn’t need planning but I know it wasn’t cheap!

Conservatory haters tend to have experienced old conservatories, often with polycarb roofs and lots of bulky white plastic UPVC. Modern conservatories and modern glass types make them all year round rooms and commonly include options for underfloor heating, brick walls at the side etc.

Go to see some and ideally ask a builder if he has any reference customers where you can look at the results of a modern build.

We have a Conservatory and I absolutely love it. We have our dining table in there & eat there at Christmas! It’s not too cold as we have 2 radiators in there & is a fantastic place to dry washing all year round too 🙂.
In summer we open windows & would more likely be out in the garden anyway. In winter when it’s cold outside but sunny, it’s lovely in there.
It’s a fantastic space to relax and read on a sunny evening. I never would have added one myself but it was here when we bought the house. The main thing would be to install at least 2 radiators if you’re going to add one.
Our roof is old now and leaking but we’ve decided to replace it with a more up to date reflective glass roof. We ordered the replacement in October and still don’t have an installation date & this is just to replace existing windows and roof. There is around a 6 month wait here, so it may not be a quick solution.

Depends on the value of your house. It is an affordable way to get extra space but has significant limitations. I wouldn't do it on a £500k house but it's a different matter on a £250k house where you just won't get your money back for doing a traditional extension. My parents have a conservatory that is mainly brick built with heating and solar blinds. It's excellent extra space on their house and has added to its value.

I like my conservatory. It’s used as a playroom, I do have a plug in fire in there.

My parents have one too, my mum is currently sat in hers and she said it’s warm already. She is trying to reduce her gas bill and said she will use the conservatory more on days like today.
Both have brick built walls.

Thanks for the comments, as I thought, unless done ‘properly’ it would be a disaster.

To answer a few qs:
It would be on the N facing side and would need to have some partial walls. I like the look of the glass/ non upvc options but guess they might be extortionate.

In terms of value - we live on the London/ Kent border so whilst small, the house is worth quite a bit (in my view not proportional to the size but that’s the UK property market!). Someone mentioned adding a conservatory is fine in lower value properties, but I think if done nicely it could work? Quotes for the 2 storey extension are 200-250k which we can’t afford/ don’t want to remortgage and invest right now.

For people that have done the hybrid conservatory with roof/ underfloor heating etc, could you give me an idea of cost?

Orangeries have replaced conservatories for all the reasons listed above.

The difference is that it's a brick structure with glass in rather than all glass. So two brick walls, a solid roof with one large roof lantern or two smaller ones, a brick back wall with large French windows or bifolding doors right across.

This limits heat loss in the winter and the sun's heat in summer.

Orangery websites will give you a quote for your square footage.

I think you have to spend quite a lot to make it nice. My mum has one on the back of her house turning an average kitchen & dining room into a large kitchen (with huge island) diner (10 seater table) with living area with L shaped sofa for 6. It’s like something out of a magazine.

It was spendy and is brick and glass with special blinds etc. it’s used year round and is never ever cold or too hot.

@C8H10N4O2

Conservatory haters tend to have experienced old conservatories, often with polycarb roofs and lots of bulky white plastic UPVC. Modern conservatories and modern glass types make them all year round rooms and commonly include options for underfloor heating, brick walls at the side etc.

Go to see some and ideally ask a builder if he has any reference customers where you can look at the results of a modern build.

THIS For some reason, MN hates conservatories. They are probably thinking of something that their Nan had thirty years ago. It's like saying that you hate all bathroom suites because your Nan had an avocado one. Like all things building-related, conservatories have moved with the times. A modern, glass-roofed, newly-installed conservatory does not have the too cold / too hot, rain-noise, etc problems.

IN planning terms, conservatories, orangeries or what ever you want to call them, are counted just like any other extension so may require planning permission if the requirements for permitted development are not met.

www.planningportal.co.uk/permission/common-projects/conservatories/planning-permission

Like all things building-related, conservatories have moved with the times. A modern, glass-roofed, newly-installed conservatory does not have the too cold / too hot, rain-noise, etc problems.

They absolutely do and there's a reason that high end properties don't use conservatories to extend any more unless they actually want a conservatory.

It doesn't matter how 'modern' a conservatory is the issue is that it's all glass.

there's a reason that high end properties don't use conservatories to extend any more
Pah! "High-end" people were, not so long ago, all buying shepherds huts. It's purely a matter of flashing the cash fashion.

We have had a quote for an orangery with a lantern roof and gable to open up from the kitchen and again from the dining room. 7m x4.5m and it is in the region of 50k with electrics/heating but an unfinished floor. Detached house with no previous extensions, no planning required.

Note to posters- just because your conservatory is rubbish, it doesn't mean they all are. It just means that whoever designed yours didn't design it properly, or choose the wrong materials, for the site.
e.g., opening lights on the roof stop a conservatory getting too hot, as does the right kind of thermal glass in the roof. Siting it correctly makes a big difference - as does making one of the walls solid where that's what's needed.

@Findingneeemo

I like my conservatory. It’s used as a playroom, I do have a plug in fire in there.

My parents have one too, my mum is currently sat in hers and she said it’s warm already. She is trying to reduce her gas bill and said she will use the conservatory more on days like today.
Both have brick built walls.

They also make the house warmer in the winter. I wish people wouldn't criticise all conservatories just because they don't like theirs. That's like saying all houses are rubbish because you bought a bad one.

That would make me want one even more. Nothing like the sound of rain on the windows. Lovely

Rain on a conservatory roof really is nothing like the sound of rain on windows

@Rrrob

Thanks for the comments, as I thought, unless done ‘properly’ it would be a disaster.

To answer a few qs:
It would be on the N facing side and would need to have some partial walls. I like the look of the glass/ non upvc options but guess they might be extortionate.

In terms of value - we live on the London/ Kent border so whilst small, the house is worth quite a bit (in my view not proportional to the size but that’s the UK property market!). Someone mentioned adding a conservatory is fine in lower value properties, but I think if done nicely it could work? Quotes for the 2 storey extension are 200-250k which we can’t afford/ don’t want to remortgage and invest right now.

For people that have done the hybrid conservatory with roof/ underfloor heating etc, could you give me an idea of cost?

We had a N-facing one. IN the Midlands. UPVC. Double-glazed Argon-filled. Thermal and tinted glass in the roof, 2 opening roof lights to cool it in summer. One solid side wall (privacy with and for neighbours) to put pictures on and have bookcases in front of. Underfloor electric heating, set very low to keep frost out. On the very few occasions it was too cold to be in, we didn't up the floor heating, as it was engineered wood, we just popped a convector heater on when we were actually in there. We often switched it off when we were in there once it had taken the chill off. N-facing is actually great for conservatories. Not too hot in summer, and in Spring and Autumn they are pleasantly warm and help keep the house warm.

@BlueMongoose

I’m talking about the highest end - David Salisbury and Vale which are the ones you see in House and Garden, not cheap ones.

And I’m not criticising them because I don’t like mine - I have a brick extension - but because I’ve known many people who had them and rebuilt them. They were a fad for a while but people don’t ideally want an extension you have to keep the frost off and requires an extra heater in winter. North facing conservatories don’t get anything like as hot as south and west facing ones, but then they don’t catch so much sun in winter either as they they tend to be in the shadow of the house.

.

They’re fine btw for plants and sitting in when the weather is favourable.

But as either a kitchen or dining room - you don’t want extremes of temperature there that have to be managed (particularly with rising energy prices).

[quote TatianaBis]@BlueMongoose

I’m talking about the highest end - David Salisbury and Vale which are the ones you see in House and Garden, not cheap ones.

And I’m not criticising them because I don’t like mine - I have a brick extension - but because I’ve known many people who had them and rebuilt them. They were a fad for a while but people don’t ideally want an extension you have to keep the frost off and requires an extra heater in winter. North facing conservatories don’t get anything like as hot as south and west facing ones, but then they don’t catch so much sun in winter either as they they tend to be in the shadow of the house.

.[/quote]
I'm speaking from experience of having one that 'works'- so I'm objecting to those who insist that conservatories by definition never work. It isn't just expense that makes one workable, it's thinking them out and designing them properly, and putting them in the right place. I've been in expensive ones that are too hot in the summer- because they didn't have roof openings, and/or because they were in a south-facing position in a generally warm part of the UK. And been in cheap ones that are fine because they have been sensibly sited and carefully spec'd. Where I am, 600' + up in the North Pennines on a windy ridge, even a south facing one, provided it has opening roof lights, isn't going to get all that hot most of the year, so I plan to have one. A brick extension even on the south side just makes the inner room dark (I know because I have one here). And the rest of the year a conservatory will help keep the house warmer. If I was in the warmer south of England and only had a south-facing site, I would agree that it was not likely to be workable- an extension would be a better route. Likewise for a much colder part of the North East of the UK with only a north-facing site.
I had a north-facing one in the Midlands, it was usable all year, and needed very little heating even in the coldest winters. The light in there was brilliant even on the darkest days, far more than any extension could give, and I worked in there a lot. I worked in there pretty much full time for a year when I was working on a book, and did a lot of DIY in there too. Hardly ever had the heating on.
For some sites, sure, they are a bad idea. But for others they are still a very good option.

It depends very much on the quality of the conservatory and the aspect. A modern design , properly insulated with reflective glass, decent heating and not South facing they can be lovely IMO. Mine at my last house was my favourite room in the house, somewhere beautifully bright and warm on a sunny winter's day and a haven filled with plants.

A 1980s throwback UPVC thing, not so much.

Not cheap though.

They all had roof openings and expensive blinds blah blah.

Yours works for you, so you can’t conceive that it wouldn’t for other people. If you don’t mind upvc (sorry I loathe it) and you don’t mind getting a heater out when it’s cold that’s fine. As pleasant places in clement weather they can be lovely, as working kitchen and dining rooms not so much.

Either way, there’s a definite trend away from them down in London/SE which is where OP lives. So it would be better to invest in a different kind of extension.

I love our conservatory, its a blue tinted glass roof, with the solar and heating whatsit in it to make it retain heat but repel heat at the right times, plus same on the windows. The roof is self cleaning which it really is.

Its not too hot in summer, its north facing and in the winter we put a little oil filled rad in there.

Its lovely to sit and hear the rain on it, its not loud, just a soft pitter patter and at night the soft lighting in it is very cosy. I have white furniture in mine to avoid anything losing its colour.