Conservatories, Opinions Please!

Love ours- it extends the Summer warmth well into Autumn when the sun shines in late Sept/early Oct, and similarly its lovely to sit in when the sun shines in early Spring, but its still chilly out. Use it as a playroom too when the grandchildren come.

They seem to be popular with old people and those with insufficient space who use them as a dumping ground or even a washing machine.

We have one upstairs - it joins the 2 halves of our house and majes it really light.

Don't like them at all. Different opinions are available.

I cannot understand how anyone could hate a conservatory. We had one in our previous house and bought our present house because it had room to build one. We have no heating in it but if the sun shines it warms up and we use it all the time we can . We just love it we sit and read have a snooze and appreciate the heat. It also warms up the rest of the house so avoids putting the central heating on. If it gets too hot we open any number of windows then open one door or even two if really getting warm. What is there not to like about it ? When we got our first one a friend said we would get adicted to the light and it is true the extra light is a great lift for the spirit . We have no blinds at all so do not have the bother of cleaning them .

The back of our house faces south and is a real sun trap, we have a big conservatory on the front of the house (the house is not overlooked or close to the road) which faces north. We don't heat it but it acts as an entrance to the house where we can kick off dirty boots etc. When the weather is warmer, it gets the morning and evening sun but doesn't get too hot. We just have blinds down the west side, not needed elsewhere. We have comfortable chairs/sofa in it so it's a nice place to sit. We also eat there when it's not quite warm enough to eat in the courtyard at the back of the house. I love ours but I think it has to face the right way, definitely not south.

After years of having a conservatory we heated it in the winter with an oil filled electric radiator. It made a huge difference. We dine in the conservatory and use it all year round. Only mistake, we didn’t put double doors in so when replacing a fridge freezer we had to saw the handles off the old one to get it out!

Can't stand conservatories.
We used to have one and it was a pain having to clean all the blinds. And there were a LOT of blinds.
And they're spider magnets.

I think it depends which way your house faces. Our back faces south and we would bake in a conservatory. The first thing we did was fit a huge electric awning.

I have a garden room off my lounge which has a solid roof and deep windows all round. It is heated and I use it as my dining room and also have a reclining chair to look out over the garden. The previous owner, who built it, left the original 1950’s french doors on which I love, adds character to a fairly boxy room. I get more use of the area than I would a conservatory as its south facing so would need blinds and no roof windows to clean.

Judy54

We had a tiled roof put on our conservatory because it was very hot in the Summer and cold in the Winter. We now find it more comfortable and it definitely gets used more.

Same here. Tiles are resin, so no more weighty than glass, and may even be lighter. It has solved the perennial issue of too hot in Summer/cold in Winter.

A garden room extension is an extension built in traditional fashion but with big windows and doors to sit and enjoy the garden. Or you could be really posh and call it an orangery. I don’t know about a Victorian verandah.

We’ve got a lovely conservatory that has an electric heater. I used it for a playroom for the first grandchild but this year realised heating it when we have a centrally heated house made no sense so moved the playroom to the dining/dog room.
I like it in the summer as the kids can go in and out from the garden.

We had a conservatory built on a previous home. Despite a door into garden, opening windows and blinds it was either too damn hot or too cold. My oh (whose just waking up 4 months after our house move!) suggested a conservatory on the back, I said no. However would be open to other ideas, the back faces N/NW.

Sago &GSM - what's a Victorian verandah / a garden room extension ?

We have a glass room with large bifold doors. It’s brilliant. I don’t know how I managed without it. The dog and cat love it too.

crazyH

I would spend that money on a solid extension. For all the sun we get in this country, it really isn’t worth it. When it was in fashion all those years ago, two of my friends had them added on to the house - within a year, it was used as a see-through storage room .?

I agree with that. At our last house we had a ‘garden room’ extension built, brick walls, tiled roof, underfloor heating and one wall of bifold doors. It was brilliant all year round.

We had a tiled roof put on our conservatory because it was very hot in the Summer and cold in the Winter. We now find it more comfortable and it definitely gets used more.

I would spend that money on a solid extension. For all the sun we get in this country, it really isn’t worth it. When it was in fashion all those years ago, two of my friends had them added on to the house - within a year, it was used as a see-through storage room .?

Self-cleaning glass and roof windows - along with plenty of opening doors - make it a year-round useful room that doesn't shade the rooms inside. Where else could I keep my vast collection of plants?

I’m afraid I have always hated them.

Miss mine! We had one off our lounge but took it down to make a large kitchen diner.
Although I love the new space I miss the heat generated from the conservatory all through summer.

We have had a Victorian verandah built on the back of our coach house, it means we can sit at the end of the garden and look at the house, we also have a deck and patio at the back of the house.
It’s the best thing we ever did, we had electric heaters fitted to the wall so we can use it most of the year round.
It was a fraction of the cost of a conservatory and it means we utilise the whole garden.

PS we also have brick walls approx 3 feet high then the glazing starts.

The trick is to have plenty of windows , doors and top openers.

We have double doors either side so that the air flows through and all of our windows open, we have 4 roof lights that open and close according to the temperature or you can do it manually, they also close if it rains.

3 large radiators for the Winter.

So with proper planning ( at the ordering stage) you can use it all year round.