Conservatory Roof Insulation Hot / Cold Conservatories are a great all-round addition to any home. Find help, advice and information on all aspects of this area.

[Suzan]

Hi,

I have a south facing conservatory, with a polycarbonate roof. The usual problem is it's cold in the middle of winter and hot in the summer. I am considering internal insulation under the polycarbonate with 4inches of polyurethane etc.

Has anyone any experience of this? The rafters are 6inches and I am considering a 2inch gap between the polycarbonate and the polyurethane or fix The polyurethane directly against the polycarbonate. The only problem I can see is the possibility of mould in the dead area between the roof and the insulation. Any body tried this ?



Thanks Suzan

[rosebery]

What are you going to do about the light reduction?

You could try either of these:

Goolge "llumar.co.uk"

Google "polycool.co.uk"

I've used the latter in my own and also fitted it in 3 / 4 others. Makes a world of difference in the summer to the too hot scenario. For the winter I'd suggest blinds or some sort of portable heating. You could extend the central heating but then, for planning purposes, it would be classed as an extension.

Hope that helps.

Cheers

[Suzan]

Thank you for your suggestion. There are three quarter glass windows to 3.5 sides, so I don't think the light reduction will be a problem. There is also a central heating radiator, which is of some use but not in the very cold weather. The idea of blocking in the roof will address the two problems at the same time ie. the excessive light and heat in the summer and the high heat loss in the winter. I do realise that is a conservatory and without a great additional heat source it would be unusable in the few very cold winter days. however it would be usable for 98% of the time.



The only concern I have is the possibility of mould between the underside of the polycarbinate and the upper side of the insolation. Is it better to glue the insulation to the underside of the roof or to leave a 2inch air gap..

[neilmessenger]

Google "conservatoryroofprojects.co.uk" they specialise in 2 systems that replace the roof with a proven system that really works

[dobbollah]

I am trying to overcome the same problem, how can i make it less cold in the winter, and while the website mentioned looks great, how can it be gauranteed that my roof can support this extra weight.....

And then dump a load of snow on top too.....whats happens if it all collapes.....no come back I'm sure.....

If te solution was this easy surely everyong would have conservatories with this roof rather than paying a considerable amount more for actual extensions..?

[Perry525]

I had a conservatory that I built and designed myself, with underfloor heating, double glazed floor to ceiling walls and polycarbonate roof.
This worked perfectly during the winter, the downside was the heat in summer and the noise from the rain, when the sun came out, you couldn't stay in there it was so hot and the noise of the rain was impossible.

My latest sun lounge has a solid roof, with six inches of polyurethane foam between the joists and two inches below. the roof is 18mm tongued and grooved oriented strand board, covered with a geotex fabric, one piece rubber membrane and three inches of pea gravel.

This keeps the sun out and stops the noise of the rain.

It is also a lot cheaper to keep warm as again we use it all year.

The thing with conservatories and the sun, is that internal blinds merely get hot.

What is needed is an external layer to provide shade from the sun and a buffer to keep the noise of the rain off the polycarbonate.

You are allowed to build with a part solid roof, to enable access to the wall above, window if any and guttering etc; this at least will provide some escape from the sun.

[andy01]

a conservatory is not a 'real' room in so much as it doesnt have to meet building regs and thats why you must have an exterior grade door seperating it from the main building.

the idea of poorly insulating it and adding heating to me seems bizzare, its like leaving the freezer door open all the time and expecting the food inside to remain frozen all year round

[teameric]

Hi guys, just to let you know I just had my conservatory roof done by a company from newport.
They put silver insulation with a white finish on to the roof panels and the difference is amazing! Highly recommend them, quick and no mess.
Recent sunny days temperature hasnt gone above 18 degrees c, and they say it will make a big difference in the winter too, totally believe it!Called Eclipse

[gonzo39]

I have had similar problems with my conservatory roof and have checked out the websites that you guys suggested and have found some very helpful and valuable info on there. I really appreciate someone bringing this topic up as it has saved me a lot of hassle and time.

[Mattyb86]

You might want to try a company called "roofcozy.com" , we used then to do the insulation on our conservatory and it looks excellent and was not to expensive either. There where very professional and use a better grade of insulation then other companies that do a similar thing.

[julian latham]

[quote=hi thare is a company in lytham, lancashire that solve all these problems.they are called cosy conservatory (Google "cosyconservatory.co.uk ") they have a ventilation method then a multilayered insulation and boarded and plastered see their website for photos. regards jordan."dobbollah"]I am trying to overcome the same problem, how can i make it less cold in the winter, and while the website mentioned looks great, how can it be gauranteed that my roof can support this extra weight.....

And then dump a load of snow on top too.....whats happens if it all collapes.....no come back I'm sure.....

If te solution was this easy surely everyong would have conservatories with this roof rather than paying a considerable amount more for actual extensions..?[/quote]
[quote][/quote]

[welsh brickie]

for conservatory roofs the best on the market is pilkintons self clean activ suncool,based on reactolight sunglasses technology,it keeps the room cool yet retains a thermal Uvalue for the winter,Extremly tough, impact resistant and with noise reduction properties,It is expensive but retains the beauty of the conservatory without comprimising sunlight.

[nick.j1]

My Conservatory too hot/ too cold was solved by getting a lightweight insulated ceiling installed. Their website is Google "sun-room.org", all I can say is I could not be happier, 1 Day to install - they stayed until 8PM, delightful installers and I now have a room I use all year round.

[kirky]

Thanks for starting this topic - looking to do something with our conservatory at the moment. Would be good to hear from anyone that's had their conservatory roof insulated for more than 12 months - and therefore give some feedback as to just how good it was last winter. (nick.j1 - when did you get yours done??)

And an idea of comparative costs would be good to know as well - I know every conservatory is different, but before I start phoning around it would be good to know what sort of ball park cost I should expect (are you talking hundreds, or thousands of pounds??).

Would be really good to get this done, we hardly use our conservatory at the moment - and it would make a perfect play room for the kids!!

Cheers

Kirky

[kirky]

Thanks for starting this topic - looking to do something with our conservatory at the moment. Would be good to hear from anyone that's had their conservatory roof insulated for more than 12 months - and therefore give some feedback as to just how good it was last winter. (nick.j1 - when did you get yours done??)

And an idea of comparative costs would be good to know as well - I know every conservatory is different, but before I start phoning around it would be good to know what sort of ball park cost I should expect (are you talking hundreds, or thousands of pounds??).

Would be really good to get this done, we hardly use our conservatory at the moment - and it would make a perfect play room for the kids!!

Cheers

Kirky