What's so wrong with a conservatory?

[conservatoryconfusion]

So I need more space due to having 3 children incl set of toddler twins - no playroom and id say a smaller than average lounge. Kitchen/diner and no other space downstairs

I must have contacted a dozen builders for a quote on an extension but the ones that do bother to speak to me say they are booked up for 2 years

So I've booked a couple of companies to quote a conservatory but then everyone I mention it to so says "don't do it"

I don't get it? As far as I can see

pros
One company - all complete in short space of time
Finance options to spread cost over 5 years
Cheaper
Less disruption

cons
Apparently too hot in summer - but wouldn't you just open the doors? Install roof blinds?

Apparently too cold in winter - don't you just have a radiator installed? Or at very least an electric one?

Inside. it’s velcroed to the beams so we can take it down in winter. It’s relatively new-I had a rigged up arrangement before that worked but looked a mess -but initial signs are good!

Even with a super duper very expensive heat reflecting ceiling it will be too warm and FREEZING in the winter.

I would consider a conservatory with a proper roof but really I'd look a a sun room with big windows.

I have a conservatory and have underfloor heating (electric) and also use a plug in oil filled radiator if I am cold. I use mine a lot all year around. In summer it is hot but I have large ceiling fan and open windows and leave patio doors open. Blinds help. The only downside for me is I don't like it when hail goes on roof. It is very noisy.

Ours is the most used room in the house. It has the special glass roof and underfloor heating, it's aluminium rather than PVC with one brick wall.
We eat in there every day except when it's nice enough to eat outside, we have sofas at one end it's lovely to be surrounded by the garden. Our living room only gets used it the evenings now.

We couldn't get planning permission for the extension we wanted, so we did the conservatory instead.

Even with a super duper very expensive heat reflecting ceiling it will be too warm and FREEZING in the winter.

Mine isn't like this at all. There's usually a few days in summer when it's very hot but these are the days when it's hot wherever you are and it's nicer to sit outside in the shade.
The under floor heating makes it toasty in winter, the only time I've been cold in there was when the boiler was off and the whole house was freezing.

My PIL have a modern conservatory, half brick with a solid roof and French doors to the living room.

Pros: much better than their old conservatory with a glass roof in summer. The heat in a conservatory in summer in full sun is unbearable so if it won’t be in shade, then get a solid roof.
very pleasant on a warm spring or autumn day.

cons:
makes the living room seem darker.
it is STILL poorly insulated and unusable in winter without burning LOTS of energy to heat it. Heating it makes it expensive. My PIL don’t use it in the winter months and those French doors stay firmly locked!

never, ever, ever contemplate having a conservatory open to your house. You may as well pile your money up in the fireplace and burn it all winter long.

My only criticism is that a lot of people use them just for storage rsther than living space. My mum is the only person I know who uses hers as another living room all year round

We had one fitted about 15-years ago and found it a very useful space (even moreso now we have moved, new house is larger but miss our "garden Room").
4.5Mx3.5M approx, V.high glass roof with gable-end. One side full height wall, dwarf wall around other side's. Tiled floor, roof blinds and two panel-heaters (later reduced to one as the second was never used).
Yes of course it was hot when we have temps in the high 20's+ but otherwise it was used all year round and the living room door closed only when we went out or away. When the outside temp is that high most people would be out in the garden (while I retreat to the coolest room in the house!).
With it being open to the living room almost all the time the temperature was regulated and even during the coldest winter the panel-heater was on only very low to maintain the temp at the furthest point (it wasn't heating all the time of course as it was thermostat controlled).

Will definitely be considering one in the new house.

I have one, we had it built 15 years ago, so not a new one. I'm sitting in it now, it's lovely, like sitting in the garden. Its lighter and brighter than the front room, it has sofas and a tv. It's used a lot and is nice if you have visitors so want some privacy. I wouldn't buy a house unless it had one, or space where I was able to build one. I have an oil filled radiator in the winter, which is perfectly adequate and a ceiling fan and rotating fan for the summer.

Thanks all sorry got distracted by work 😂

I think I'll ask for the extra over cost for an orangery

In terms of being too hot for a playroom if it's that hot we'd be in the garden or beach

Our house is 1970s so even bedroom windows run full width of the room so 3.5m wide so those rooms can reach over 30 degrees (great for heating bills!)

When they're done properly I think they can't be beaten but this does make them more expensive. The temperature extremes can't be underestimated!

Glass roof doesn't make any real life difference btw.

For summer, you need lots of ventilation, a fan and I'd recommend uv reflective coating to roof and any windows that take the full blast of direct sunshine, to reduce summer heat. Yes to blinds in summer.

For winter, underfloor heating works best. I find this makes the room a really lovely place in winter months helping to get more daylight and spend time feeling you're outside when the weather is bad. I've found they help insulate the room they're attached to in winter as well.

I do think there's a lot to be said for having more of a garden room than a conservatory though, with a proper roof and a lantern and large windows set into proper walls.

Ours is a bit of a dumping ground. But it's useful to have the extra space. It's south facing so like a sauna in summer and unbearable. Then damp in winter but DH is going to properly seal it at some point. To make it useable it has blackout curtains and foil insulation for the roof. It has made a bit of a difference but if we owned the house we'd pull it down tbh!

My mum got a premium 3mx3m conservatory. With heaters. Cost her £45k.

If you get a proper roof on your conservatory it'll be perfectly fine

The problems you'll have are if you have a glass or plastic roof, not only will you have the heat and cold issues, the noise of rain, hail and wind is ridiculous aswell

My parents had there roof replaced a couple of years ago after about 15 years of hardly using their conservatory and it's just like any other room in the house now

My friend copied this exactly and it’s wonderful:

aliceinscandiland.com/tag/conservatory/

….hers is west facing.

We have an orangery that's quite old. It does get hot but it has roof vents that you can open that help make a nice breeze, especially if you open the windows or doors. I am sitting in here now and it's the perfect temperature! In winter it can get cold. It has underfloor heating but we didn't realise that worked until recently so have been using an electric heater. This works really well, as does a nice thick rug to make the room cosier. We use it most days, the odd exception being in the deepest darkest depths of winter if we have been away from home for the day and the forecast is predicting minus 3 temperatures or worse overnight. When that happens it doesn't seem worth the bother of heating it so we retreat to the lounge instead. I love the light it gives, the natural warmth in winter on a sunny day and the views over the garden. It's also good to overwinter plants in and start seedlings off in too! As long as you dress the room as part of your house and use it, as opposed to using it as a junk or storage room, then I don't think you will regret it at all.

Oh and make sure you get good blinds installed too. These make such a difference in summer!

We bought a house with one insulated roof blinds throughout underfloor heating plus two electric radiators. We use it all year round.

Yes you do need to pull blinds down iopen windows on sunny weather, days, think ahead re underfloor heating. But it does augment heating in the winter on a sunny day. It's our dining room come play room

Glass roof doesn't make any real life difference btw.
Why do you say this?
We had a polycarbonate and then a glass roof. They are very different in our experience. The glass is streets ahead.

This is billed as saving heating costs:

www.griffinglasshouses.com/greenhouse-collections/lean-to/

The eco brigade want them banned because of overheating theory ditto large windows and bifold doors. They assume we're too dumb to close curtains and open windows I guess. Google solar gain New rules from June 2022

This is just not always the case

We’ve had a lovely one built - air con and underfloor heating. Using it as a dining room, it’s got amazing decor and lighting and it is a fantastic room useable all year round.

We paid a lot for ours but it was worth it and it definitely isn’t a dumping ground as it is our dining room!
we also paid extra for internal blinds that sit inside the glass. They are great and so smart.

Glass roof doesn't make any real life difference btw.

It makes a massive difference

To you, maybe. (Not being snippy, that's great).

But a glass roof won't stop the conservatory getting bitterly cold in the winter and certainly won't help keeping it cooler in summer (unless uv shielded).