Insulating/Improving a conservatory and fully utilising the space

We have probably gone about as far as we can with home insulation generally, but we do have a conservatory which is about 10 years old which I want to modify/improve a bit.

The conservatory is in good condition, double glazed, with brick built and plastered lower walls, a solid floor and a polycarbonate roof.

I would really like to open the dining room and conservatory up by removing the doors inbeteen and taking out some of the side walling (which will need another lintel). This would make very good use of the two rooms. We obtained planning approval for the conservatory when it was built, but I don't think it would now meet the improved regulations if we were to join the rooms up.

Does anyone have any ideas what we can do to bring the two rooms together effectively whilst making it well insulated and and reasonable to heat. We have gas central heating in the dining room, but have always relied on electric heating for the conservatory. It's mainly the insulation that is of concern.

I quite like the openness and good light that the translucent roof gives and I am thinking about a new roof for the conservatory, which could be double glazed Pilkington glass instead of polycarbonate. Would this be effective enough for insulation do you think? It seems extravagant to have to take the conservatory down and start again and if we did this I think we started agaian we would probably go the whole hog and go to double storey and make a bigger job all together, but this would cost a fair bit and we don't really need the extra room upstairs.

Any ideas folks.

Re: Insulating/Improving a conservatory and fully utilising the space

Hi Rena, from memory and as far as I understand it, a conservatory is classed as a temporary building and would not have had to meet any building regs when constructed, and therefore there is nothing that you could now do to it, in a legal sense, to increase the specification to turn it into habitable space.

You could, of course, increase the spec by making the glazing triple rather than double and upgrade the roof, but with the ever increasing thermal regulations pertaining to construction these days I very much doubt whether you would be able to catch up with the regs without a total rebuild. Of course the upgrade may be worth doing anyway for your own comfort, but in a legal sense the conservatory will always be a temporary building, and your habitable space should always be separated from it by lockable doors..

Re: Insulating/Improving a conservatory and fully utilising the space

Mmmmm..... I wondered if that might be the case Barry and thank you for your reply. We may just have to wait until the roof leaks or it falls down then. I have seen folks just carry on and take the doors away, but it must get cold in winter. I wonder what they do when they want to sell the house if they have nibbled the walls out as well.

Re: Insulating/Improving a conservatory and fully utilising the space

Sorry the news wasn't better, but it may be worth ringing the local authority just to confirm what I've said, they don't bite and the advice is free....

Re: Insulating/Improving a conservatory and fully utilising the space

I googled a bit and found this thread on a forum: http://www.avforums.com/forums/home-cinema-building-diy/1527272-advice-insulating-conservatory-winter-use.html

Good luck!

Re: Insulating/Improving a conservatory and fully utilising the space

Thanks for the link Annie. By the sounds of it this is going to be more complicated than I thought, but I think we will get a price for a new roof in double glazed glass and then maybe go for some underfloor heating. For much of the year the conservatory is fine and we do use it quite a bit. At the moment the doors are open between the dining room and the conserrvatory and it is not cold at all, but I know that it will get colder as winter comes on. We also have a ceramic tiled floor which doesn't help keep things warm, so maybe heating the floor and putting down something like laminate or wood on top of it will make a diference. Trouble is it is still too good to pull down and start again. OH has suggested taking the doors out and then putting them back in winter, but I'm not sure if that would truly bring the two rooms together. Need to have a bit more of a think.

Re: Insulating/Improving a conservatory and fully utilising the space

Rena, this could be a nightmare.
Conservatory's lose heat quickly unless they are heated with the rest of the house. You could try putting an insulating layer of fibreboard on the solid floor covered by good quality timber floor tile or laminate.
You could triple glaze it as Barry says and change the roof to framed triple glass which needs to be up to building regulations strength.

Does it have heating in it? If not would it be easy to add a radiator extended from your central heating system?

I think you can remove the doors which then turn the conservatory into an extension but I am almost sure that you need to supply the building control department with the amount of window, floor and roof area.
To start removing walls etc you need planning permission which may mean that you have to upgrade the building materials of the conservatory which further complicate things.
The conservatory walls need to cavity walls as they are then the external walls of you home and external walls can not be single brick.

Have a talk with your planning department as local planning have different rules all over the country.

Re: Insulating/Improving a conservatory and fully utilising the space

Thanks Antibrown. The conservatory is of brick and block cavity wall construction, so it would be easy to insulate the walls. It's the roof that is going to be the thing we need to get sorted and I didn't know you could get triple glazed roofs, so I will investigate that. We did get planning permission when it was built because we have a double garage and outbuildings to consider, so it maybe OK to remove the interconnecting doors as it is included in the total floor space of the house. Maybe we will do the roof and insulate the floor and walls. What I want is seamless flooring from the dining room into the conservatory and if we insulate it and put underfloor heating in it may just do the job. I think we we also get the people who built it back to see what they think. Thanks for your help.

Re: Insulating/Improving a conservatory and fully utilising the space

Don't confuse planning permission with building regulations Rena, they are completely different.

When you applied for planning permission the council would only be considering the aesthetics and not the method or quality of construction, and as I said before, building regs would not be required as it would be classed as a temporary building.

Just another word of advice though, if you do decide to upgrade the insulation and heating of the room for your own comfort, if you do install underfloor heating then try to maintain a hard floor such as tiling, as it allows the transfer of heat much better than a soft floor such as laminate, which can behave as an insulator to prevent the heat being released upwards...

Re: Insulating/Improving a conservatory and fully utilising the space

Thank you Barry. I thought a wood or laminate floor might be warmer than a tiled floor. There is a lot to think about and I suppose the first thing is to get someone round to give us their opinion. At least then I will then know how much we need to do to bring it up to the building standards and if it is worth it or not. No point if it is not practical and easy to do.