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?

From lots of the comments here with people knocking down walls and attaching rads to their central heating system, these dont meet building control I wouldnt have thought?
I agree. I thought you had to have a lockable door between the house and the conservatory and any electric or heating systems had to be on a separate breaker to the house. Where did your conservatory come from @bellac11 as the sound of your roof sounds wonderful

Same here. We have automatic roof lights which are on a thermostat , so it’s never too hot. We also have a wood burning stove.

We use ours all year round, we have our Christmas dinner in it. It’s my favourite room in the house.

Its a firm in Kent, Total glaze. I think its just Pilkington glass from memory which is blue tinted, self cleaning, has solar protection which somehow witholds heat but at the same time is solar control

I couldnt say how it works or the physics of it but we love our conservatory.

Not sure why a lockable door would be needed, the issues are with energy efficiency, not burglars! Electrics are fine and heating just needs to operate independently.

It's fine to have conservatories open to the house, you just need building regs approval, which you don't if it's closed off. They would just require you to make it energy efficient with extra insulation/thermal glass etc.

I have one and I like it a lot but it does have limitations. I try to think it if more as an extension to the garden than to the house.

It's lovely in the early morning and evening, or when it's just too chilly or breezy to comfortably sit outside, but the temperatures at certain times of the year are extreme (I have a recording thermometer; so far this year we have had lows of 4C in January and highs of 46C on a hot day in June when we were out all day and unable to leave the doors open for ventilation - even plants will struggle in that).

It's south facing and doesn't have blinds, heating or any insulation (it would cost a fortune to bring it up to a usable temperature in the winter) - but is shut off from the house with a door, thankfully. In the depths of winter we use it for storage and in the summer we leave the doors open as much as we possibly can.

Just saw this and thought of this thread!😆

@CellophaneFlower you are right, it's an external quality door that is required if not done through building regs not a locking one. I knew it needed a door

We did this, it’s great even in winter.

We have one and love it.

Yes, it's hot in summer, but open the doors and windows (if you're south facing, get an opening roof window too) and the heat soon escapes. We also have the blue tinted roof glass and decent blinds (Duette honeycomb blinds which help retain some heat in winter).

The insects are an absolute menace though but since investing in one of these (Curtain) it's been fine. Prior to that there were so many flies, bees, wasps, butterflies, dragonflies, damselflies, etc... I had a permanent pint glass in there to rescue them!

In winter we have an oil filled electric heater in there. If you want to sit out there and watch TV of an evening in the deepest depths of winter it can get chilly but I have a couple of decent throws/blankets out there to get snuggly with. If it's really cold, it's key to have decent quality external doors separating the space so you can cut it off entirely if you need to.

We use ours all year round and we don't have children. Other friends and family both have conservatories and use them for playrooms/TV rooms for the kids and they're in constant use.

that's good to know @LovinglifeAF

Im moving into a house with no doors between the conservatory and the main house. I am on a very tight budget. What professional would I engage to fit doors- a builder or a carpenter?

I have an old conservatory/outhouse with block walls but 2/3 polycarbonate roof.
it’s like an oven in summer, love it for drying laundry, boots etc. Faces SW.

@Zoeslatesttrope

Carpenter.
If you have the room each side of the opening you could have two sliding doors which slide apart so it is completely open and them close them when you wish.

(that's what we have!)

Ours is about 20 years old and what everyone says about temp in summer and winter. We were going to knock it down but realized it's a great buffer between the garden with having the kids and a dog for all the muddy stuff you don't want in the house.

Thank you, that sounds great! Would it be expensive, do you think?

It depends why you want the doors. If for insulation or to satisfy building regs, you might need an actual door and window company.

Today we have had pretty much blue skies and full sun all day.

I have just taken the temperature in my conservatory: 80 degrees.
The temperature in the garden is 100+ degrees.

Don't tell me that conservatories get "too hot". Get proper solar-control glass.

My parents had a large conservatory. It had a ceiling fan for summer (and they’d keep the doors open) and a radiator for winter. We used it all year round, I have loads of photos of us all in it at Christmas when the kids were little.

The only sensible way to get round the issues is to have a very expensive conservatory! Even then you need a builder for the foundations! Ours is oak framed and it’s my kitchen. It has underfloor heating run off the house system and very expensive stay clean glazing. Loads of ventilation and a highly insulated floor. It’s used every day. But it cost a lot of money! Cheap and cheerful ones are next to useless.

We had one with all temp problems you mention. Plus the noise issues people don’t mention that if it’s raging you can’t hear yourself think
We removed the regional poly carb roof and replaced with low weight tiles and an insulted ceiling.
best thing we ever did. It became a lovely room. We had 2 Velux windows in roof so still enough light came in and worked brilliantly for hot days.

so if you do it think seriously about a garden room instead with these lightweight tiles. Still cheaper than a standard roof but will make it so much more usable.

If it has foundations and is attached to the central heating, that’s not a conservatory

@CellophaneFlower it's just for insulation.

We had the same- also form Pilkington. It was excellent. Ours was tinted grey, as I needed to work in there and couldn't have a colour 'cast'.
If peopel don;t wnat a conservatory to get too hot, It realy is a MUST to have opening roof lights. If you just have doors/windows there will still be masses of heat stuck in the roof that can't get out. Builders don't like putting them in because they worry that they will leak. The solution is to find a builder who is competent- not easy to be sure of this, I know. We need one here, and I;m struggling to find a decent firm.

Our conservatory has foundations - they were built at the same time and to the same depth as the foundations to the house extension next door was having at the same time. If you're having a modern conservatory with a glass roof you need foundations to support the weight.

You can have a conservatory connected to your home central heating system. The difference is you probably have to have planning permission for it, but having one without heating connected to the house (like mine) did not.

So I had a quote come back for a "simple" lean to style glazed roof conservatory nothing fancy - £30k!!!!!! Honestly I'm a bit shocked

So this evening I will be looking at builders to quote on a "proper" extension 😂