Traditional conservatories are a wonderful addition to any home, providing a light and airy space that extends your living area and allows you to enjoy your outdoor space, even in the depths of winter.
However, one issue that homeowners often face with older conservatories is heat loss during the winter, which means that the space often doesn’t get utilised to its full potential. All of that can change with modern technology and design though.
Below are some top tips to help prevent heat loss in your conservatory, as well as factors to consider if you’re looking to add this feature to your home in the coming months.
Let’s begin with the glazing for your conservatory. As a post for Real Homes noted earlier this year, the glazing is key to ensuring that this space has a comfortable temperature all year round.
One option that is certainly worth considering is low-e glass, which has an argon-filled cavity as well as a thin low-emissivity coating. The coating on the glass reflects heat, while the argon in the cavity between the panes significantly reduces the transfer of heat.
There are also several other glazing options that feature various anti-sun coatings, all of which are designed to prevent the conservatory getting too hot in the summer or losing too much heat in the winter.
Make sure you also don’t forget about the doors that lead from your conservatory to the garden. These need to draught-proofed to ensure that you aren’t losing heat from your home to the outside, and that cold air isn’t able to seep into the space.
If you already have a conservatory, you can always install a draught-proofing system to the doors if it doesn’t already have one, as the Energy Saving Trust noted.
It’s also advisable to have blinds or heavy curtains in your conservatory so that you can trap heat indoors in the evenings more effectively.
As the article for Real Homes pointed out, you can even get ceiling conservatory blinds if you want to have some additional protection for your roof.
When you’re installing a new conservatory, it’s also worth considering whether to have one with a solid roof, rather than glass, as this can significantly improve its thermal performance. You can have roofs with skylights fitted, so that you still maximise the light available.
As the roof of a conservatory is where it will lose most of its heat from, making this simple change to the design before you install it can make a big difference to how warm it is in the winter. It will also help the space to stay a comfortable temperature in the summer by preventing excessive heating.
There are also options to insulate the roof of an existing conservatory, and we can help you select the most appropriate solution.
In addition to preventing heat loss, you also need to consider how to heat your conservatory in the first place. Underfloor heating is often found to be one of the most effective methods, so this might be another investment worth making when you set out to install a conservatory at your property.