conservatory or sunroom

[stet]

I'm after putting a conservatory on my house but want some advice off people who have them. my question is do you use yours all year round or are they too cold in winter. The other option is a sun room with a solid roof one side will be a solid wall so will need an I beam on the other have any of you got one of these and what do you think.

 

cheers

[figgy]

Go for a sunroom it's a proper extension not a plastic add on and usable all year also adds value to your house.

 

I think conservitories used for plants that are rare or need heat in winter or hot climate fruit are great, as a room to use too hot in summer and if not heated properly freezing in winter.

That's my view

 

Figgy

Edited November 26, 2012 by figgy

[officerdibble777]

my last house had a huge wood and glass conservatory,nice in the spring and late summer but too hot in mid summer and too cold in winter.We had underfloor heating ,but it was too costly to have it on constantly through the winter,so ice and condensation was always a problem.Go for the sunroom ,if I everr had a notion for another thats what I'd do

[Alanl50]

Sunroom all the way, as above cold winter-hot summer, and it will add value to your property.

Alan

[Gimlet]

No room with large expances of glass is ever as thermo efficient as solid roofs and masonry walls. The big mistake is to knock through to a conservatory so it can't be closed off in summer and winter. Victorian plant conservatories were never intended to extend living space. They were greenhouses with a connecting door. Sun rooms with solid roofs and roof lights are far better than conservatories, but even modern glass is not as effecient as masonry.

[Del T]

Proper extension with floor,wall and roof insulation.Some nice velux windows in the roof and some A4 rated glass French doors. Much better

[jef]

Solid roof all the way. Nice bit of fibreglass with lead rolls.

 

JF

[neil3728]

I have a large wooden conservatory at home, was way too cold in winter, so we had someone come in and they put a insulated solid roof up on the inside of the glass.

The glass is still in place so it can be turned back into a glass roof if ever needed.

[four-wheel-drive]

Sun Room you can put a radiator in it and use it all year round.

 

 

We had a conservatory when I was young it was a complete wast of time to much to hot to use in the summer and cold in winter we used it as a shed mostly storing stuff in it.

Edited November 26, 2012 by four-wheel-drive

[Archie-fox]

I have a conservatory on my house that backs onto the garden...nice in the summer but ice cold in the winter...if I had a choice it would be a sunroom...

[Mrs Sweepy]

I have a open planned Conservatory which leads on from my dining room

The reason we went for conservatory instead of Sunroom was because of the views we have at the back of the house

Though we use it all the time. i wouldnt have another one

lucky enough the bottom half is brick so maybe in a few years time we will be able too change it too an sunroom (depending on planning permission)

summer when it hot i just open up the double doors which is lovely and winter it is heated

Its lovey this time of year as we can get over a seven foot tree inside

once its dark it look so lovely with the lights from the tree and all the glass, and its a lovely room to throw a party in (even in the summer when we have garden parties)

But like everyone else has said if i had my choice again i would go for sun room, only because of the cost of heating and am guessing a sunroom would add more value to the house

more then a Conservatory would.

xxxSuzy

[artschool]

build one of these bad boys!

[Mrs Sweepy]

Wow!!!!

Love it Mr Art

Silly question the glass front are doors ?

xxxxSuzy

[al4x]

as said sunroom with decent velux windows and bi folding doors if you want to increase the glass area. Keeps it warm and useable all year I have a loathing of conservatories for all the reasons mentioned above

[Asa Bear]

Conservatory all the way!!!

 

Do you want to buy one? I'm taking one down next year to build a PROPER room that can be used all year round.

[Dekers]

Mine was on the house when I bought it. Perhaps I missed it somewhere above but I don't think anyone asked which way the house/conservatory/whatever was going to face.

 

Mine is a nightmare, even though it has heating, ceiling fan and blinds.

 

It is an absolute OVEN in the summer, useful only for drying clothes (instantly), it KILLS even tropical plants because it is FAR too hot, in the winter it takes a lot of heating.

 

£30K mine cost in 1998 (I have the paperwork), frankly a complete waste of time and actually an inconvenience, in my case a conservatory is a sad joke, an extension would have been a MUCH better option!

[artschool]

Wow!!!!

Love it Mr Art

Silly question the glass front are doors ?

xxxxSuzy

 

no doors in that one. but this one has a door. we do quite a few of these.

 

[Hamster]

I have a open planned Conservatory which leads on from my dining room

The reason we went for conservatory instead of Sunroom was because of the views we have at the back of the house

 

 

Same here, open plan from dining room and kitchen access but we also went for underfloor heating at the same time so it's totally usable all year round and we wouldn't be without one on the next house. All depends on which way it faces I suppose, ours is if anything cool in the summer, certainly cooler than the main house and warm enough to dine in even in the middle of winter.

Edited November 26, 2012 by Hamster

[Mrs Sweepy]

They lovely rooms, though i would love to have the first one

along the whole back of my house

Am one of these people who like open space i hate feeling shut in

Light and airy, Thats me a bit like my head

xxxxSuzy

[filzee]

now days you could have an active blue roof on a conservatory which cools it down in the summer and warms it up in the winter also it would be self cleaning which is nice for when the birdies plop on it.

[Mrs Sweepy]

My boys sometimes have partys and sleepovers

So when they do we always let them have free run of that part of the house

It always pays to clean the conservatory glass the day after

Otherwise you never know whats going too appear next time your got Granny round for tea !!!

xxxxSuzy

[Gimlet]

Mine was on the house when I bought it. Perhaps I missed it somewhere above but I don't think anyone asked which way the house/conservatory/whatever was going to face.

 

 

That is a very good point. If an extension is north facing it will never be a cheerfully bright room, particularly if its in the back garden with trees in front and neighbour's add-ons either side, which is often the case. On the other hand if its south facing a little glass goes a long way. A single story extension with two large rooflights and a pair of french doors with sidelights, which is about the cheapest spec you can get, will feel like an artists studio, especially if its a shallow roof pitch with sloping ceillings and wide splays on the rooflight embrasures.

[stet]

Got someone drawing and priceing something up sort of a conservatory with one solid wall and tiled roof see what he comes up with cheers for the info

[rimfire4969]

We have a large wrap around conservatory L shaped around the corner of our house. We put under floor heating in there so is great all year around. We also knocked through the fireplace and now have a double sided woodburner as well. I love the light we get in there and use it as another two rooms.