Does a conservatory on your lounge make the lounge gloomy?

My conservatory has added a lot of extra light. I think that's because the windows it replaced were fairly low - and it's the light coming in from a height that makes the most difference.

If you had a garden room, with a solid roof, it would certainly make things darker, though. What's outside does make a difference. We noticed that the living room was brighter when we put pale gravel down outside. The ceiling is lit by reflected light. A pond would be even better!

We have a twelve foot by fifteen foot conservatory built onto our dining room, and yes it makes the dining room gloomy - more so since we had a solid roof put on it. But we hardly ever use the dining room and the conservatory is a wonderful space that visitors seem to gravitate to. If it was built onto the lounge I might have a different opinion, but then we hardly ever use the lounge either!

Surely it depends on the aspect and what the conservatory roof is made of.
My lounge is north facing with a large conservatory on the rear, the conservatory has a white glass roof and I don't think the lounge is gloomy. I don't think the conservatory has made any difference to how bright or gloomy the lounge is. I should say my conservatory has a very tall apex roof and the conservatory itself is vary bright.

Our conservatory roof is clear glass, the conservatory is north facing. We don't have any blinds (not needed) and the dining room isn't gloomy. I don't think the conservatory makes much difference to the light.

One neighbour has a polycarbonate roof, another has blue tinted self cleaning glass. I imagine they make their dining rooms gloomy.

Mine was built in the 1980s at a time when tacking one to a house was very fashionable. It’s built onto a south-facing dining room onto on open garden. I have a very clear recollection of coming home from work the day it was finished and feeling disappointed at the lower light level in the dining room. It’s not dark by any means but not as much light as there once was. That said, the conservatory has a solid flat roof.

My neighbour had hers installed same time, same company, same style of house but she opted for a clear roof made from some kind of synthetic material, with windable roof vents to aid ventilation. Her dining room has better light but she has also been plagued with rain leaks over the years.

Would I have it installed again? Probably as it’s lovely to sit in in springtime (summer is too hot for me and plants). It’s also great for drying laundry because it's south facing.

My north-facing living room which has a large front window onto an open aspect still has less light than the dining room and is cooler. So that’s something to consider - a little less light but more warmth.

My conservatory is built on the lounge and doesn’t make it gloomy at all.it is east facing.
That said, the window in the lounge is wall to wall with sliding doors into the conservatory.
I love that room more than any other in the house and would really recommend one.

My conservatory is built onto the lounge and it certainly doesn’t look gloomy. It’s south facing and I love to sit in it all year round. It definitely hasn’t taken away any light from the lounge so that’s not something that would concern me.

We have a south west facing conservatory that it attached to our sitting room.

No it is fine. We have blinds that go up from April to September which dims the sun as it would be unbearable without them.

The conservatory holds the heat, so very often in the autumn, winter and spring the heat during the day from the sun means we don’t have to heat the sitting room.

Our conservatory faces East and covers the back of our bungalow. It was built primarily to give us a large space for family visits. Some roof panels are blue self cleaning the rest are opaque white to reduce glare. We did notice a reduction in brightness in other rooms when it was installed. Now? We don’t notice it at all, certainly wouldn't call them gloomy and love having the bright, light space the conservatory gives us. There are many styles and types of conservatory roof granny3rose I’m sure an installer could advise on the best one to retain light inside your home.

I had a conservatory in my last house which did make the room a bit darker but if you have windows at either end of your room, it should be light anyway.

We have a conservatory built onto the dining room and it does make the dining room gloomy.

Hetty58

My conservatory has added a lot of extra light. I think that's because the windows it replaced were fairly low - and it's the light coming in from a height that makes the most difference.

If you had a garden room, with a solid roof, it would certainly make things darker, though. What's outside does make a difference. We noticed that the living room was brighter when we put pale gravel down outside. The ceiling is lit by reflected light. A pond would be even better!

My garden room certainly does make my lounge dark, I need the lights on a lot. It was already built when I bought the bungalow and I love the extra space which I use as a dining area. The original 1950’s double doors and side windows still separate it from the lounge which adds a focal point to the room and I tend to leave them open other than on dark cold nights.

I love sitting in the garden room in the winter in my reclining chair, it’s got a lovely big radiator in and is also warmed by the sun. I probably use it more than I would a conservatory but the downside is definitely the reduced light from the solid roof.

Many thanks to all of you for your replies. This is very helpful. After your replies I thought I would go for a conservatory with a glass roof, as it seemed that the majority of you with a clear roof said it didn't cut down the light.

So then I started to read about the different kinds of glass roofs which led me to seeing that even the best ones don't insulate anywhere near as well as solid roofs. That put me back in a quandary and then I saw that I could have a solid roof with either glass panels or Velux roof lights in it. So now I'm thinking that might be the way to go.

We have a glass room on our living room so no it doesn’t make it gloomy.

The roof will make a huge difference, we’ve had our glass/Perspex (??) roof insulated and lined for heat efficiency which has worked a treat to keep it cooler in summer and warmer in winter, but it has definitely made our lounge and dining room much darker.

The short answer to the OP is yes....unless you have a south facing sitting room, and even then, you will lose a little light.
Every room where a conservatory is added on becomes a bit gloomy usually, particularly so if facing north.
We have one that runs off the study, so it isn’t too bad (noticeably darker though) and DD has one that runs off the sitting room ( also facing north) and on cloudy days it’s a real
Stygian gloom in there.