Conservatories: pros and cons
 

I'm thinking of buying a house which has a UPVC conservatory.
I've never lived in a house with a conservatory before. But my
perception of conservatories is that they a

* Boiling hot in summer
* Full of condensation in winter; need loads of heating

What are the "real world" experiences of people on this NG who have a
UPVC conservatory?
For instance, could I comfortably sit in the conservatory on a winters
evening without feeling chilly?

Thanks
Bruce

On 7 Sep 2004 00:48:44 -0700, (bruce phipps)
wrote:

I'm thinking of buying a house which has a UPVC conservatory.
I've never lived in a house with a conservatory before. But my
perception of conservatories is that they a

* Boiling hot in summer

Not if you ventilate and shade them.



* Full of condensation in winter; need loads of heating

If you use double glazed units, then you won't get condensation as
long as there is reasonable trickle ventilation and you are not
pouring in a lot of water vapour from the kitchen. Ours connects to
the kitchen and there is never a condensation problem.

We used low emissivity glass and units filled with Argon which
improves insulation further.

When it snows, the snow tends to hang around on the roof for a long
time - can be days.



What are the "real world" experiences of people on this NG who have a
UPVC conservatory?
For instance, could I comfortably sit in the conservatory on a winters
evening without feeling chilly?

Definitely. I do, with seldom more than 2kW of heating in a 25sqm
conservatory.



Thanks
Bruce

..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

For instance, could I comfortably sit in the conservatory on a winters
evening without feeling chilly?

My calculations show that my conservatory should be eminently heatable in
winter. It has double glazed walls and ceiling. I haven't actually ordered
the heating yet, though.

Christian.

In message , Andy Hall
writes
On 7 Sep 2004 00:48:44 -0700, (bruce phipps)
wrote:

I'm thinking of buying a house which has a UPVC conservatory.
I've never lived in a house with a conservatory before. But my
perception of conservatories is that they a

* Boiling hot in summer

Not if you ventilate and shade them.


We're just in the stages of ordering our conservatory. We've decided on
2 manual vents in the roof, but they've quoted us 350 quid each :-o
This is against a fairly cheap quote of 8k for all the rest of the work
(includes demolition of existing ****e extension and french doors in the
lounge). Anybody know if this is a reasonable figure (the roof vents,
not the overall quote)? Had a google and found that the vents themselves
are about 100 quid each, but obviously they need fitting and I'm not
sure how involved that is. However even with a generous markup it seems
pricey.

--
Mike Buckley
RD350LC2
http://www.toastyhamster.freeserve.co.uk
BONY#38

"bruce phipps" wrote
| I'm thinking of buying a house which has a UPVC conservatory.
| I've never lived in a house with a conservatory before. But my
| perception of conservatories is that they a
| * Boiling hot in summer
| * Full of condensation in winter; need loads of heating
| What are the "real world" experiences of people on this NG who
| have a UPVC conservatory?

Somewhere to keep the coal or hang the washing when it's raining outside.

Owain

In article , Christian
McArdle writes
For instance, could I comfortably sit in the conservatory on a winters
evening without feeling chilly?

My calculations show that my conservatory should be eminently heatable in
winter. It has double glazed walls and ceiling. I haven't actually ordered
the heating yet, though.

Ours has polycarbonate roof & dg walls and is heated adequately by a 2KW
electric convector heater even on very cold days.
--
Tim Mitchell

On Tue, 7 Sep 2004 11:35:02 +0100, "mike. buckley"
wrote:

In message , Andy Hall
writes
On 7 Sep 2004 00:48:44 -0700, (bruce phipps)
wrote:

I'm thinking of buying a house which has a UPVC conservatory.
I've never lived in a house with a conservatory before. But my
perception of conservatories is that they a

* Boiling hot in summer

Not if you ventilate and shade them.


We're just in the stages of ordering our conservatory. We've decided on
2 manual vents in the roof, but they've quoted us 350 quid each :-o
This is against a fairly cheap quote of 8k for all the rest of the work
(includes demolition of existing ****e extension and french doors in the
lounge). Anybody know if this is a reasonable figure (the roof vents,
not the overall quote)?

The overall quote is quite cheap, but the vents, in proportion are
expensive. I would try beating them up on the price and get them
down to £200 each. That would be reasonable.

Don't be tempted to omit them though.

Had a google and found that the vents themselves
are about 100 quid each, but obviously they need fitting and I'm not
sure how involved that is. However even with a generous markup it seems
pricey.

..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

On Tue, 7 Sep 2004 11:37:41 +0100, "Owain"
wrote:

"bruce phipps" wrote
| I'm thinking of buying a house which has a UPVC conservatory.
| I've never lived in a house with a conservatory before. But my
| perception of conservatories is that they a
| * Boiling hot in summer
| * Full of condensation in winter; need loads of heating
| What are the "real world" experiences of people on this NG who
| have a UPVC conservatory?

Somewhere to keep the coal or hang the washing when it's raining outside.

Owain


No that's the bath.....


..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

"mike. buckley" wrote in message . uk...

We're just in the stages of ordering our conservatory. We've decided on
2 manual vents in the roof, but they've quoted us 350 quid each :-o
This is against a fairly cheap quote of 8k for all the rest of the work
(includes demolition of existing ****e extension and french doors in the
lounge). Anybody know if this is a reasonable figure (the roof vents,
not the overall quote)?

We've just had a conservatory built and when I asked the saleswoman
about roof vents she advised us against them. All our window units
open though so that provides enough ventilation to cool it down. With
all the windows and doors shut I've had temperature build up to 46
degrees C in the afternoon.

In message ,
writes
"mike. buckley" wrote in message
.uk...

We're just in the stages of ordering our conservatory. We've decided on
2 manual vents in the roof, but they've quoted us 350 quid each :-o
This is against a fairly cheap quote of 8k for all the rest of the work
(includes demolition of existing ****e extension and french doors in the
lounge). Anybody know if this is a reasonable figure (the roof vents,
not the overall quote)?

We've just had a conservatory built and when I asked the saleswoman
about roof vents she advised us against them. All our window units
open though so that provides enough ventilation to cool it down. With
all the windows and doors shut I've had temperature build up to 46
degrees C in the afternoon.

We will only be able to open 50%ish of our windows. One side of the
conservatory has to be a brick wall as it butts right against the side
of our property, and we don't really want a view of a scabby old garden
fence 2 inches from the windows. At 350 quid each we'll probably pass
though, spend the extra on fans....

--
Mike Buckley
RD350LC2
http://www.toastyhamster.freeserve.co.uk
BONY#38

"Andy Hall" wrote
| "Owain" wrote:
| | What are the "real world" experiences of people on this NG who
| | have a UPVC conservatory?
| Somewhere to keep the coal or hang the washing when it's raining
| outside.
| No that's the bath.....

No, the bath's where mum kept her pet alligator when she wasn't doing her
erotic dancing with an alligator act.

Owain