Conservatory, open arch or closed off

casey jones

Hi

I'm getting a conservatory added on beside my kitchen extension. The company suggests leaving an open arch to the kitchen with french doors to the dining room. I' m worried about cold in winter and thinking about retaining the kitchen door into the conservatory. The conservatory will be have triple glazed sides, dwarf wall and double glazed roof which the company thinks will be as warm as any room. It will have radiator and small air conditioning unit.

I like the idea of the open space that the arch would give but don't want a glass house that leaks heat in winter. Any advice ?

KoNiT

Imagine ball bearings bouncing off a drum = Heavy rain & hail on a conservatory roof!!!!!

My da's house has a conservatory & you have to shut the french doors immediately upon heavy rain/hail. Heat loss isn't really a problem when you've a rad.


Why the air conditioning unit??
Is the coservatory facing south? Can the windows be opened?

jack24

Hi,

We had a conservatory in my former house running off the kitchen with an open arch, it could be cold in winter, even with the rad unless left on all the time. Noise wasnt really an issue as it was a glass roof, I believe the plastic roofs are quite noisy. One thing I would watch out for are building regs, which dictate the amount of ventilation a room needs (window openings etc). If you block off the conservatory with double doors this is effectively considered another room for building reg purposes so the amount of ventilation in the other part of the room needs to be sufficient. This is only really an issue if you intend selling up sometime, at which point the architects cert may be requested and you may need to remove the doors. I found that it worked well as an open space, despite the heating concerns, its really a personal choice. Many conservatory companies recommend the open arch as the 1st choice probably because it gets them around building regs. Hope this helps

Jack

kadman

Hi,
Heat loss should not be a major problem with the u values that triple glazing would give. As well as this your radiator should have been sized in relation to your calculated heat loss through your , glazing, roof,walls, floor in your conserveratory, to maintain a comfortable temperature . If your plumber was of the opinion that doors were to be fitted in the conserveratory, chances are the rad may be undersized to cope with air transfer from one room to another. Bi fold doors that fold back into a boxed arch frame , would give you the option of closing off the conserveratory when required, without entering into the living zone of either room. Hope this helps

Kadman

pollyantic

I think open arch would be best, but what about planning?

Would i be right in saying that you dontr need planning permission for a conservatory at the back of a house whether or not you have an extension on the house already?

Would having an ope arch then make it an extension?

Possibly i'm wrong on both counts but check it out.
By the way if you dont mind me asking - How big is it and how much is it costing.
I would love one.

casey jones

The air conditioning is to avoid overheating in summer. The roof is double glazed so rain is not a noise problem as it is with polycarbonate. The latter is about €4k cheaper but can discolour and doesn't look as good from outside or inside. Price depends on colour also (white is cheapest). For a 120 sq ft your looking at €16k-23 k depending on choices above.

kadman

casey jones wrote:

The air conditioning is to avoid overheating in summer. The roof is double glazed so rain is not a noise problem as it is with polycarbonate. The latter is about €4k cheaper but can discolour and doesn't look as good from outside or inside. Price depends on colour also (white is cheapest). For a 120 sq ft your looking at €16k-23 k depending on choices above.

Do you have any opening sashes in the conserveratory . I would n't have thought the need for air conditioning, if you had the normal row of top opening sashes. The ventilating ridge is also designed to help air circulation. Must be top spec for 23k, toughened roof panes, k glass. Did not realise 120 sq ft is that expensive, its only 10'x 12' after all, sounds small for the money. Maybe its just me expecting more bang for my buck.
Was that a Dublin supplier.

kadman

boroughmal

23k should be more like 12-13k
Find yourself a good professional builder, he will charge 7-8k for the base & dwarf walls together with the plastering.
Go to b& q north of the border & buy a delivered kit 120sq ft 2.5k gbp3.75k
Ask the builder to fit it 2k.
the builder if he's got any sense will be glad to do it and you will be glad to have the saving
Try pete he's on this board
He will gaurantee it pay the tax and be happy.
You will still have the decision of whether or not to have the door

rooferPete

Hi Casey,

I would be inclined to ask questions if polycarbonate is proposed for the side walls as you need a good structure to carry a double glazed roof.

If the vents are spaced properly you should not need air conditioning, at worst on a big south facing conservatory automatic vents are installed in the roof.

FWIW, unless you are going to lose a lot of light the sun room might be worth considering, we get an average of one enquiry per month from people who want a "Real Roof" fitted on conservatory's.

The one's I have seen work best have doors (usually glazed) from the adjoining rooms and blinds fitted to the roof glazing.
.

P&L

I used to work in structural glazing for a short while, just curious as to why you would have triple glazing on the sides and double on the roof?

(probably a very simple explanation that I missed somewhere along the line, or have since forgotten)