Alternative to blinds in conservatory

Not really answering your question, but we have a large conservatory and experience the same problems you do. My nephew who is a chartered surveyor says that heating in a conservatory has to be entirely separate from that in the main house. Therefore a radiator cannot feed off the main boiler. We are not sure if this is an old idea or new legislation, but perhaps you might check it out in case there is no need to wait to install heating. Hope that makes sense.

Thanks for your reply. Oh dear was hoping a radiator would solve it, not something I discussed with the plumber just me thinking I could do that. We have a dyson hot/cold heater but needs to be on for quite a long time to make a difference. The blinds were in when we bought the house and are past their best anyway but replacing them seems like a waste of money if the next ones go mouldy as well.

We had a radiator put into the conservatory in our last house from the main heating system, we read afterwards this wasn’t allowed. We left it. It seems an old regulation, I wonder why?

We have a large conservatory with 3 large radiators in, we had planning permission and building regs, so we were able to run the radiators from our house boiler, it’s double glazed as is the roof and nothing goes mouldy, it’s on minimal temperature in the Winter, but in a sunny day like today it’s warm and nice to sit in.
I think the heating system has to be separate if you don’t go for building regs. but not sure that this would apply retrospectively.
So there should be no problem putting radiators out there?
If it isn’t double glazed though, you are still likely to get damp and mould, so maybe plastic Venetian blinds might help? At least you can wipe them down with soapy water.

BBbevan

Not really answering your question, but we have a large conservatory and experience the same problems you do. My nephew who is a chartered surveyor says that heating in a conservatory has to be entirely separate from that in the main house. Therefore a radiator cannot feed off the main boiler. We are not sure if this is an old idea or new legislation, but perhaps you might check it out in case there is no need to wait to install heating. Hope that makes sense.

My sister had a radiator put in the conservatory which ran off the system in the house, it was probably about 6 or 7 years ago so rules may have changed since.

Personally, I think it's better to have separate heating in the conservatory. We have underfloor heating which kicks in if the temperature gets very low and a couple of oil-filled radiators.
We don't get condensation.

We've been out but I've just opened the door and checked; today it is a balmy 26C in there with the sun shining in and no heating on.

I have a large conservatory, double glazed throughout and also have two radiators and a large balanced flue heater. My conservatory is never cold or mouldy although it is north facing. Do you need blinds because the conservatory is overlooked? You could try window film if that's the case.

Callistemon
Same here. We moved here 7 years ago and had the boiler moved and rads put in the conservatory.

BBeven
So your nephew is saying you have to have a separate boiler for 2? radiators.

Thank you all for your replys. It is double glazed but as I say no heating. We are not overlooked and the side which overlooks next door has frosted glass so have decided to just take them down altogether. Perhaps when we get round to changing the boiler the regulations may be different again. Very jealous of the lady who has 26 degrees in her conservatory. We are up north and it’s freezing outside and hail stoning.!!

Not necessarily Merylstreep Perhaps electric radiators, or he did suggest another wood burner!
We are having a new central heating system next year so will see what the situation is then. Although my nephew is very conscientious and I would be surprised if he were wrong

Very jealous of the lady who has 26 degrees in her conservatory

I'm sitting in the conservatory posting this! It faces south/west/west.

In a minute or two the sun will go down behind a neighbour's tree and the temperature will go down quite quickly - but we have a plug-in electric oil-filled radiator.
We have sat in here with snow on the roof with the heating on and it has been warm.
It's double glazed with a glass roof but I did notice that they put in a very thick layer of insulation before laying the floor.

Could you get a dehumidifier?

How. About a dehumidifier you can buy them in Argos for about £200. I also have a conservatory off the kitchen and when we moved the blinds already had some black staining on them so when we had the roof changed and new blinds I have started to put my dehumidifier on every evening and leave it on overnight . Sometimes it is full in the morning but other times only half full but my new White blinds are staying white and clean and no condensation on the windows.

I've asked Him Who Knows

He advises that you need some form of heating eg underfloor heating with a thermostat or a thermostatically controlled radiator so that the heat cuts in if the temperature drops below around 12C. That should stop any condensation

(Uness you have a leak somewhere I suppose. I added that bit)

Our conservatory is off the kitchen and doubles up as a dining room when we have guests.

One of the most important things IMO is to have an excellent extractor fan above the hob ventilated to the outside so that condensation doesn’t form in the conservatory.

A friend copied our plans and didn’t bother with extraction, simply leaving the door open to get rid of smells and has a similar problem to the OP.

I’m in agreement with 62Granny about getting a dehumidifier. Have it running overnight, should solve a lot of condensation problems.

Forgot to mention we do have a radiator in there but it is controlled by the main thermostat in the house so tends to knock off before it gets really warm in there we did try putting the thermostat out there but then found the rest of the bungalow got to warm , so while it does offer some warmth not quite enough, so we have a calour gas heater which we use when we need it. We use our conservatory as a dining room so we eat out there 3 times a day. If it is a sunny day in the winter we don't need it .

All our radiators throughout the house have thermostats on them, 62Granny

I don't think it would cost much to have one fitted to the radiator in your conservatory.

DH has just explained that hot, moist air (kitchen steam) hitting cold surface (conservatory windows) guarantees condensation and extraction needs dealing with before heating otherwise you’re wasting money! Who knew ?

I didn't tell Himself about the conservatory being off the kitchen!

He'll probably say "well, you should have said that in the first place" if I ask.

Our conservatory is the same as Callistemone facing south west.
Today it has been lovely and warm inside.
Outside is absolutely freezing but apart from with a couple of squally snow showers it has been a bright sunny day.
Saving on cental heating, as rest house blummen freezing.

If it's cold in there we just put electric pretend log burner on.
It heats up in conservatory very quickly. This also stops any condensation .

I don't think I would consider a conservatory, if it was not facing south or west.

Since we had a thermal roof installed to replace the glass roof of our conservatory we haven't had any condensation or mould at all. It is south facing which helps I suppose but condensation had been a real problem from day one when it was first built. Now it can be used all year round and doesn't get too hot or too cold, it does have a radiator but that is only on for a couple of hours morning and evening.

Agree may be a humidifier would help with the condensation problem OP.

We were advised against running conservatory across kitchen .

Condensation and possible drain problems iirc.

Hello again. We have a dehumidifier which collects some water but haven’t left it in all night. Something to try. The conservatory does face west. The kitchen was extended and then the conservatory put on later. The cooker is at the opposite end and is vented through the roof so don’t think that’s the problem. Will speak to the plumber when he comes to service the boiler and see what he thinks. Many thanks for all your replies.

I hadn't had any heat on in here this afternoon as it's sunny, until the sun disappeared behind that tree then I put the floor heating on.

Now the temperature is dropping quite quickly (it's 6C outside apparently but 21C in here) but the heat's on in the house so I shall move into there.

It's already been said on here but a Dehumidifier will work.
My daughter has a large Conservatory with an just one Electric wall heater.
She just let's the heat tick over in there the dehumidifier keeps it stable and the first time she used one it pulled off gallons that no exaggeration.
On top of it now and it not a problem.
Best of luck