On 30/12/2017 16:09, Jeff Layman wrote:
On 30/12/17 03:39, wrote:
On Friday, 29 December 2017 19:34:12 UTC, R D SÂ* wrote:
On 29/12/17 19:26, tabbypurr wrote:

How would you make the heat loss reasonable, triple glazing?


The place is a howling draughty mess at the moment, it could only get
better.

I have a feeling that means you have no idea, it will be boiling in
summer & freeze in winter.

You're not far off (isn't what you've stated the definition of a
conservatory?!).

We have a 5.5 x 4.5 m conservatory, double-glazed sides and roof; the
roof has heat-reflective glass. It's on the north side of our bungalow,
which means that from about mid-November to mid-January is the only time
the sun is not on it. In winter it is cold. Even 1.8kW of underfloor
heating will barely keep it above 10 deg C when the temp outside falls
below zero.

In summer, it is just the opposite. Full sun nearly all day. Even with
automatic vents, and all the side windows' fanlights open, it is too hot
to stay in there. Blinds help, but only on less-sunny days. Even if
blinds reflect the IR back, some heat will remain trapped under the
glass. The only way to keep it comfortably cool would be with blinds and
air conditioning (maybe a real use at last for solar panels? Highest
output to drive a 3 kW a/c unit exactly when it's needed!).

But really if it's hot enough to need all that expensive cooling, why
not just sit outside under a parasol in the cool breeze of a gentle wind
or a fan? Trouble is, you don't have that option with a kitchen if you
need to prepare food or cook in it.


FWIW my daughter and SIL have just had a conventional single story
extension built to enlarge the original kitchen/diner and removed what
was once a good quality extension for exactly the same reason, that it
wasn't really useable either in hot or in cold weather in spite of being
double glazed, properly heated, nice blinds, opening vents etc. New
kitchen part has pitched roof with three electrically operated velux
type windows to provide light and ventilation. Whole arrangement is a
great improvement.

Off at a tangent, she advertised the conservatory on ebay as buyer
collect, originally had a buyer for a few hundred pounds but they
dropped out. Second buyer only paid £5 but it saved them £350 in
disposal costs.