Conservatory (heat loss)

[greggx101]

Looking at getting a conservatory south facing 3m x 4.5 lean to style to use all year round.
Had 4 quotes . 2 recommend 35mm heat-shield poly. 2 recommend Energy efficient glass and a couple of friends have told me not to waste my money on either and get real roof
Searched these forums and can only find older threads on the poly/glass debate.
Is the newer glass or poly better at keeping heat in/out nowadays than a few years back .
Any advise appreciated.
thanks

 

[flameport]

'Conservatory' and 'use all year round' isn't realistic.

If you want to use it all year, build a proper extension.
If you want a temporary room which can be used for some of the time, get the conservatory. It will be boiling hot in the summer and attempts to heat it in the winter will be futile.

 

[conny]

I had a conservatory, 3m x 4m, built about 10 years ago on my previous house.
It had 'K Shield' glass and a light with a fan. It was cold during the first winter, (build finish was December so had to leave the plaster to dry out thoroughly), so in the early spring I had my central heating extended by having a long low level radiator fitted, (1800mm x 600mm double panel). The difference was amazing. We were able to use the conservatory throughout the following winters and during the summer the fan helped to keep the temperature down.

 

[^woody^]

Plastic roofs are crap. The heat shield variety are more of a gimmick, not really much of an insulator, and with limited life before it degrades in any case. The only think going for them is the cost.

Glass is better, but you really need the premium coatings for it to be worth it. But then costs make it prohibitive. Even then, the life of the units can be as little as 10 years.

With either though, if you do extend the heating, then the room can be more useable - you just size the radiator appropriately.

A proper roof with a roof light or lantern is much better and all the rage. The down side is the extra cost and extra work needed to hold it up. This will last longer and make the room much more comfortable in terms of sound, and summer/winter use.

It's all about costs and compromise.