Hot conservatory

My conservatory is south facing, so very hot in summer. I have seen an ad for a sort of plastic cover you pull on over the outside of the roof. Does anyone have experience of these. They are supposed to give a dappled sort of light, maybe not as gloomy on grey days as a solid one. I’m afraid a solid roof will make my lounge and kitchen very gloomy.

Yes, a ceiling fan would be nice, but we don't have one. We do have a stand alone fan which blows hot or cold air which is fairly useful on occasion, although we haven't used it a lot.

My thoughts too roseq

Rattan furniture (with smooth arms! - the furniture, not mine), and we chose cream cushions in the end, after looking at lots of lovely designs. I was a bit dubious about cream but they seem to be OK so far and if they fade they can't fade much more

We don't have a conservatory but my sister has one. She has installed a ceiling fan which seems to do the job.

I must say this is a great forum for helpful advice.When we were considering having the conservatory built, so many people responded with what to avoid, and what to go for, and it was incredibly helpful to us.

Were they sporting the shabby chic look before OR after you bought them kitty?I suspect the 'after' well, why not, it's all the rage.I bought a cream shabby chic wall shelves unit for mugs in the kitchen last year, decided it was shabby more than chic, and painted it a bit with cream eggshell.Dh never noticed it was different.Rattan/cane seems the best for furniture as it copes with both extremes of temperature.I think everything will fade anyway with the sun , so maybe go with a light colour, is that what you all did?

We have rattan too. We got ours from MGM [near Burton on Trent] and could chose from lots of different seat covers. It wasn't hugely expensive but is designed for outside so shouldn't be damaged by the sun though the covers are sporting a lovely shabby chic look!!

Don't have a conservatory sadly, previous owner put a large complicated goldfish pond with waterfall (Disney r us) in the exact place where a conservatory would go. However a friend paid £7k for blinds which makes the £4k previously mentioned for a roof quite a bargain!

Thanks roseq for the info, I wouldn't want dents!

ps rosesarered: we chose smooth rattan arms as I found that woven wicker arms left dents in my own arms!

Clean?

The furniture we bought was by a firm called Daro. We went all over the place looking; it was what I chose in the first place but it was quite expensive. However, I we decided in the end that it could be false economy to buy something cheaper then have to replace it sooner rather than later. Our suite doesn't have padded arms but it is very comfortable.

As this is a conservatory thread...... how do others clean the high domed glass roof inside?is there a special thingamajig?Also, does anyone know a good place to buy conservatory furniture, cane, but padded and comfy?

It's quite new, isn't it? The plastic tiled solid roofs.They just lift off the old one and replace it with the solid one, it's very light-weight, as the tiles just look like tiles.I think for a south facing conservatory it's a good idea probably[I think they cost about £4ooo for an average sized one according to a friend.]Ours is new [not quite finished] but we have gone for an all glass domed roof as we are north facing and I wanted to see the sky.It has top windows that open and double doors to open if it gets hot, and I suppose a large fan if needed.However, if it becomes too hot, surely you would be sitting in the garden anyway?I really don't see why you would need planning permission.

Right - so roof lights are definitely out! And I don't think roof blinds are an option either - it's a big area and they'll probably sag. Cleaning would be a problem too.

Ours is south facing and had a corrugated roof which was very noisy when it rained. It was also very hot and the roof vent leaked however hard we tried to fix it. A couple of years ago we took off the roof and put on a solid, insulated roof. It's the best thing we ever did; it is still nice and light, it's quiet and pleasant to be in all year round.
Don't know if we should have had planning permission, we just got on with it. DH did most of the work (with me as labourer) and a plasterer finished it off.

Mine is also facing south, it is unbearably hot at this very mo.
I do have blinds and it does help. Also it proves how dark a solid roof would make it.
I leave my windows open when I go out, as I had security bars put in, not expensive.
I did have air vents that lasted a few years, then the leaks started.
I must say that the Summer evenings in the conservatory are lovely.
If its a little chilly outside, the temperature inside is just right, and you are overlooking the garden of course.
When it gets dark I light the candles, which creates a charming ambience.

ours is northwest facing..just and find we can use it all year round...we just open windows or doors (like today) but when we built it we put big radiator in so we use it as second lounge throughout the winter..also it is attached to our lounge so it makes it a sort of long lounge....we didn't need to put doors in between at that time..so its big open space...OH fav place when he can manage to get in it.

I love ours too - although it only looks onto the garden - and the neighbours house. I've seen one which had been 'roofed in' and it still have the same feel - high ceiling, light and spacious - but it wasn't a lady I could be nosy with and ask how she liked it. I think she would have been very polite and said it was wonderful (I certainly couldn't have asked where she got it or how much!)

We use ours all year round - doors open and fan in the summer; and the radiator on in the winter, when it warms up very fast as it grabs even the tiniest bit of heat from any sun going.

I love my conservatory - my favourite place in the house, where I sew and read and snooze and just wallow in the loveliness - it has the best view in the world too! I am a lucky lady.

I had heat deflecting double gazing panels in my back door which is a utility room where we keep the freezer and it was really getting too hot in their for it. It's south facing getting the full sun.

They have made a big difference. But it might cost a whole lot more for a whole conservatory roof of them.

With regard to a conservatory the over heating vs very cold issue is why I don't have one.

Oh, Nfk, not sure then. Ours does get hot closed up, but soon cools down with the double doors open. We haven't got opening lights in the roof for the reason you mentioned, just a vent thingy that we can open and shut (if I could reach it).

We've supposedly got anti-glare heat reflective panels in the roof already! We were advised against opening lights in the roof as they apparently tended to leak. We were told it would be very unusual for it to go over 40 closed up. It was a fib!

Most of the time it's lovely but, having only a small dark sitting room (a lovely snug in winter) we'd like to be able to use it full time. I also thought a solid roof might enable us to listen to the radio in heavy rain!

Ours faces west, with one side facing south. It does get hot in there, but is fine once opened up; it has double doors and top opening windows all round. It also has a Solaroof which reduces the heat and glare, and vents (manual ones) in the roof and around just under the roof.

We had underfloor heating installed which is not enough in the depths of winter but takes the chill off in spring/autumn, but also use an oil-filled radiator which warmed it up nicely even when there was snow outside. We are very pleased that we have been able to use it all year round, unless, of course, it is about 30C outside, when we would be looking for a shady spot in the garden anyway.

We have just been away for a week and we shut all the blinds before we went and I moved my houseplants inside into a cool room before we went. The blinds are vertical blinds (not as expensive as some) so we can open them fully, 'slant' them or close completely.

Perhaps the roof panels could be replaced with anti-glare panels which would still let light in, Nfk? It could be a cheaper option than a proper roof.