Hello all:
We recently bought a house that came with a uPVC conservatory with polycarb roof. The place is rather nice now that it's neither hot nor cold, but I foresee it being a freezer in winter, and will be a shame to lose the space completely for so many months.
Considering any type of heating (of which there's none at the moment) seems like a waste of time (soon to become a waste of money once installed) unless we can do something to minimize the amount of heat lost through the roof.
I've been reading the endless amounts of threads on this topic and googled my eyes out, and not found any decent solutions, other than, of course, ditch the conservatory and build an extension. Budget wise, this is not an option for a while, so I have to find an alternative.
I'm aware of the little inserts to the polycarb roof panels, and I've also considered greenroom-type bubblewarp as well as blinds. But my thinking is: If I need 270mm of good insulating material in my loft to keep the house warm, how can a little 5mm deep strip/ canvas / other magic material be enough in my conservatory?
I'm therefore about to fit a temporary false ceiling, with decent amount of insulation on top. The false ceiling will be at the level where the DG windows end, and be supported by a wooden grid resting on the existing lip between the conservatory window frames and the pitched polycarb roof.
To this grid I will screw some thin ply (or other boards) and put plenty of insulation on top (currently looking at either thermafleece or kinspan/cellotex, whichever is lighter).
Weight is an issue as I'm aware the conservatory surely wasn't built to withstand much more than the polycarb panels, but it surely will be able to support the temporary ceiling.
When glorious summer returns, I simply take the insulation away, unscrew the ply and take the wooden grid away.
Has anyone attempted something similar? I'll be curious about your comments. I shall also update once I'm done.
We recently bought a house that came with a uPVC conservatory with polycarb roof. The place is rather nice now that it's neither hot nor cold, but I foresee it being a freezer in winter, and will be a shame to lose the space completely for so many months.
Considering any type of heating (of which there's none at the moment) seems like a waste of time (soon to become a waste of money once installed) unless we can do something to minimize the amount of heat lost through the roof.
I've been reading the endless amounts of threads on this topic and googled my eyes out, and not found any decent solutions, other than, of course, ditch the conservatory and build an extension. Budget wise, this is not an option for a while, so I have to find an alternative.
I'm aware of the little inserts to the polycarb roof panels, and I've also considered greenroom-type bubblewarp as well as blinds. But my thinking is: If I need 270mm of good insulating material in my loft to keep the house warm, how can a little 5mm deep strip/ canvas / other magic material be enough in my conservatory?
I'm therefore about to fit a temporary false ceiling, with decent amount of insulation on top. The false ceiling will be at the level where the DG windows end, and be supported by a wooden grid resting on the existing lip between the conservatory window frames and the pitched polycarb roof.
To this grid I will screw some thin ply (or other boards) and put plenty of insulation on top (currently looking at either thermafleece or kinspan/cellotex, whichever is lighter).
Weight is an issue as I'm aware the conservatory surely wasn't built to withstand much more than the polycarb panels, but it surely will be able to support the temporary ceiling.
When glorious summer returns, I simply take the insulation away, unscrew the ply and take the wooden grid away.
Has anyone attempted something similar? I'll be curious about your comments. I shall also update once I'm done.