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[Misc] Conservatory roof - glass or polycarbonate?



M

METALMICKY

Well-known member
Jan 30, 2004
6,058
Having done a little research on the matter I was wondering about the personal experiences of NSC home owners?

Want to avoid the usual pitfalls of too hot a room in the summer and artic like in the winter. Is the extra expense of glass really worth it? Just to clarify the the conservatory will only get the sun up till about 2pm then it's in shade.

Any observations or suggestions greatly appreciated.
 




dazzer6666

dazzer6666

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Mar 27, 2013
52,364
Burgess Hill
METALMICKY said:
Having done a little research on the matter I was wondering about the personal experiences of NSC home owners?

Want to avoid the usual pitfalls of too hot a room in the summer and artic like in the winter. Is the extra expense of glass really worth it? Just to clarify the the conservatory will only get the sun up till about 2pm then it's in shade.

Any observations or suggestions greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

Just having one put in (started work yesterday) so will be interested in the replies (even if too late for me) - went for tinted glass. I couldn't find a single piece of research or person that thought polycarb was a good idea other than to reduce the cost. Have added underfloor heating to ours so it's usable in the winter (didn't add a huge amount to the cost and won't impact on the space at all)
 




G

Greg Bobkin

Silver Seagull
May 22, 2012
14,837
We've got the original polycarbonate on ours, but we insulated it a couple of years ago and the temperature is fine all year around now (before it was the usual freezing in the winter and unbearably hot in the summer). It's improved it so much that we got rid of the doors that closed it off and now the kitchen just runs out onto it. For a new-build, tinted glass makes a big difference, not sure about metal I'm afraid.
 


D

Deleted member 2719

Guest
If you have enough light from the sides and front is it worth putting in an insulated roof in?

Polly is noisy and causes lots of leaking issues on expansion, glass is hot and would be worth putting in a skylight causing extra costs.
 




Audax

Audax

Boing boing boing...
Aug 3, 2015
2,929
Uckfield
North (mostly) facing large conservatory here. It gets morning and afternoon sun - the afternoon especially, as the west facing part of the conservatory is not protected currently. We went for tinted glass on the roof, which is lovely from an aesthetic point of view, but it is a) generally too hot in summer days like we've been having, and b) needs heating in winter (but it would anyway, ours is nearly the maximum size allowed under permitted development and is nothing but window on the 3m west face and mostly window on the 6m north face).

My wife is convinced the problem is actually the windows, so we might find that the overheating problem is helped massively if we invest in some blinds for the west-facing side at least (prevent the afternoon sun turning it into a sauna). Suspect she's right.
 


The Oldman

The Oldman

I like the Hat
NSC Patron
Jul 12, 2003
7,104
In the shadow of Seaford Head
West facing conservatory with tinted glass roof. We have side and roof fabric blinds to cut the glare and heat but it Still gets to hot in summer and needs heat in winter. We are thinking of going down the roof insulation route. Used to have the plastic roof but it leaked and was very noisy.
 
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K

kjgood

Well-known member
Nov 11, 2008
997
Brynna South Wales (And I'm not Welsh either!)
Had both on the same conservatory, without a doubt go for double glazed glass or self cleaning or solar glass if the budget stretches. One of the issues for us with polycarb was noise when its raining resolved with glass and the thermal efficiency both in hot and cold weather is massively different with double glazed units.
 




Bold Seagull

Bold Seagull

strong and stable with me, or...
Mar 18, 2010
29,787
Hove
Mouldy Boots said:
If you have enough light from the sides and front is it worth putting in an insulated roof in?

Polly is noisy and causes lots of leaking issues on expansion, glass is hot and would be worth putting in a skylight causing extra costs.
Click to expand...

I've just had an agreeing with Mouldy moment...I feel...dirty. :hilton:

I would add for general advice, any heating you add to a conservatory has to be independent of the main house with it's own switch otherwise it's subject to Building Regulations as it becomes an extension rather than a conservatory. :thumbsup:
 


Coldeanseagull

Coldeanseagull

Opinionated
Mar 13, 2013
7,765
Coldean
I went for polycarb at the time because it was cheaper and I built it myself and I'm tight.
I'd definitely go double glazed tinted next time
 


D

Deleted member 2719

Guest
Bold Seagull said:
I've just had an agreeing with Mouldy moment...I feel...dirty. :hilton:

I would add for general advice, any heating you add to a conservatory has to be independent of the main house with it's own switch otherwise it's subject to Building Regulations as it becomes an extension rather than a conservatory. :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Mouldy and Boldy sitting in a tree K I S S I N G.

:kiss::love:
 




Harry Wilson's tackle

Harry Wilson's tackle

Harry Wilson's Tackle
NSC Patron
Oct 8, 2003
49,909
Faversham
kjgood said:
Had both on the same conservatory, without a doubt go for double glazed glass or self cleaning or solar glass if the budget stretches. One of the issues for us with polycarb was noise when its raining resolved with glass and the thermal efficiency both in hot and cold weather is massively different with double glazed units.
Click to expand...

This. We had a south facing extension put in 2 years ago with 5 roof 'lights' (windows) and triple folding back doors, full hight. It is all UV-reflecting (but not 'tinted') triple glazed glass. Extension is cool in summer and warm in winter. Recently we have been keeping the windows closed to keep out the heat :lolol:

I'm now on holiday, sitting in a glass double glazed conservatory, no UV reflection, and it is like an oven when the sun shines. And the flies.... :facepalm:
 




B

Bodian

Well-known member
May 3, 2012
11,801
Cumbria
It doesn't matter what you use, it will still leak somewhere - probably some random point which you will never actually be able to track down. Speaking from my experiences anyway....

And make sure you can still get above it to repaint the upstairs windows...
 




DIFFBROOK

DIFFBROOK

Really Up the Junction
Feb 3, 2005
2,266
Yorkshire
We chose UV reflection glass and put in blinds underneath to block out direct sun.

Not sure if there is much difference in heat loss/gain, but I think there is re noise...particularly rain.

It has belted hard some days and it's ok on the glass. Have been round friends who have polycarbonate and the noise is almost unbearable.

Sent from my SM-A405FN using Tapatalk
 


Doonhamer7

Doonhamer7

Well-known member
Jun 17, 2016
1,284
We’ve just had a quote to replace our polycarbonate roof with a solid roof so we can use all year round as our new office.
 


S

Shropshire Seagull

Well-known member
Nov 5, 2004
8,496
Telford
Tinted poly for us ...

For hot days we switch this on [comes with remote control and 3 speeds]
fan.jpg
 










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