Conservatory Climate Control - can this be built in with the initial design?

All conservatory designs should be considering this aspect right from the start. Simply adding extra climate control devices or equipment to a finished conservatory such as air conditioning is a failure of the conservatory. All homeowners seeking a new conservatory should be discussing how the internal environment of the conservatory will be controlled without the need for expensive equipment costly to run with high energy demands.

Most conservatory manufacturers will be able to offer design solutions that can be built into the design of the conservatory that will be able to offer climate control without huge amounts of energy or equipment. However, many conservatory sales agents are reluctant to discuss climate control issues for fear of overpricing and appearing to be more expensive than their competitors which is a real shame.

Therefore, the homeowner often needs to instigate the issues of climate control for their conservatory design in order to ensure that they have explored all the options that can be built into the conservatory design to help make the internal environment of the conservatory useful and functional throughout the year rather than just in the spring and autumn.

Some of the ‘design in’ elements to help control the internal environment can be as simp0le as having automatic ridge vents or roofing panels but these could cost £500.00. Having triple glazing with solar reflective films built into the glazing will reduce overheating to very low levels and improve the thermal performance during the winter months in order to retain the embedded heat of the floor and walls during the day.

Additional forced cooling or heating may be required but these should be designed for minimal use during extreme conditions only. Again it need not be difficult or expensive. Having lots of opening sashes opposite one another within the conservatory is a great way for flushing out the hot air by cross venting. By extending the house heating system into the conservatory with the minimum sized radiators allowable under Building regulations will ensure a cost effective heating provision rather than using mobile plug in units that will use more energy. Even a simple roof fan will circulate the warmer air downwards into the conservatory walking areas.