Keeping the conservatory warm in winter - sleeping cats

6 Ways To Help Keep Your Conservatory Warm In Winter *

23rd September 2019 Lisa 24 Comments

AD | One of the things that sold our house to us on our very first viewing was the conservatory. On a sunny day in early March, it was warm, light-filled and a wonderful space to sit in and enjoy the garden. Fast-forward to November through January, and it was a very different story. The floor was cold, the roof leaked, and it had damp. Luckily, we’ve made quite a few improvements since then (!) so I thought I’d share our tips. Hopefully, they might help you keep your conservatory warm in winter, so you can enjoy it all year round too.

How do you keep your conservatory warm in winter?

The bad news is that there are no really cheap ways to keep your conservatory warm in winter. But the way I see it, you’re investing in your home, so it makes sense not to cut corners. You want to add value to your property, not create an eyesore of a problem for the future. And many of these tips work for keeping your entire home warm in winter too.

Glass conservatory roof

Unless you have a modern conservatory, the chances are your roof will be either polycarbonate plastic (as ours was) or glass with very little insulation. Our polycarbonate had cracked so we got puddles when it rained. Oh, and we had to keep the doors closed too as you couldn’t hear yourself speak over the drumming on the roof, never mind hear the television.

So we replaced it with a beautiful high-performance glass conservatory roof * with a blue tint and self-cleaning properties. As well as better insulation and acoustic qualities, the new roof also cuts out up to 60% solar glare, so it’s much pleasanter to use in summer too. Obviously we had our roof professionally fitted by a local conservatory roof conversion company but if you’re in the East Anglia region, do check out Projects 4 Roofing * for some gorgeous design inspiration.

Flooring

Once we’d got the roof sorted out, it was time to review the flooring. Our predecessors had put down ceramic tiles which were FREEZING underfoot. After some deliberation, we decided to go for engineered wooden flooring, for that authentic wood look and feel at a cheaper price. Before it was laid, we also put down some foam insulation too, which makes it sooooooo much pleasanter to play on (according to Flora). Although we’ve experienced a little sun fade in certain areas, we don’t mind because it looks so lovely, and is easy to keep clean (hoover and damp mop).

Draughts

You should treat your conservatory in the same way as you need to make sure your front door, back door and windows shut properly and don’t let in draughts. We were amazed to discover how much heat can escape through doors which didn’t fit properly. In fact we only found this out when some papers blew off the table during a howling gale. At first I thought we had a ghost, but no, turns out it was just a badly fitting door. A good tip is to fit an architrave around the inside of your doors to help minimise gaps.

Heating

Our conservatory had no heating at all when we moved in, so we installed two whopping vertical radiators on the walls, which connected to our gas central heating system. I say “we” but we did get a professional in to do the job properly. Anyway, our radiators look great but you do have to whack the thermostat right up in order to get them working properly. Once they’re on though, they’re brilliant at keeping the conservatory warm in winter.

However, if we were starting from scratch, I’d go for a wet underfloor heating system, which would go down before the new wooden flooring. Tip: if you can, always go for a form of heating that connects to your existing system. Installing oil filled radiators or electric heaters can skyrocket your energy bills. Also bear in mind that your boiler will need to have the correct water storage capacity, especially if you have underfloor heating. If you want to know the correct size boiler to choose and how much it may cost, check out this article.

And don’t forget about some heating cover either – because you know your boiler will always break down when you need it most… On the flip side, a chillier conservatory is the perfect environment for any flowers or your Christmas tree, which prefers cooler temperatures and will drop less needles, ho ho ho.

Glazing

Our conservatory is floor-to-ceiling glass so, on the one hand it’s beautifully light, but on the other hand it’s not great at keeping the heat in. The glass is triple glazed but one day, in an ideal world, we’d really like to get it replaced with some heated glass. Although we’ll need to ensure we still have some ventilation too, to ward off any possible condensation-induced damp or mould that can’t escape from a hermetically sealed glass box.

Blinds or curtains

You might think that with all this glass, some blinds or curtains would be the ideal way to go. Practically speaking, either of these options would undoubtedly keep the conservatory warm in winter, as well as reducing heat in summer. But what can I say, we like to look out at our garden all the time, so we haven’t. And since Flora has started catching the bus to school, I now have time to use the exercise bike in the conservatory in the mornings. As many of you know, I LOATHE exercise, so having something beautiful to look at while doing so is the only way I’m going to stick to any attempt at a healthier lifestyle!