Hi,
We will soon apply for planning for our project in the north.
There will be a large conservatory (8x4metre footprint) with the wide aspect facing west.
The conservatory is intended to extend our living space for a significant part of the year, not only as shelter from the elements, but from the midge population too! It should also contribute to the insulation (and waterproofness) of the lower 2/3rds of the West facing main wall of the house, and as such will have highly insulated glazing as is possible/we can afford.

We will probably add a woodburning stove to the space but are concerned about running under floor heating out there.
We'd like to go down the high thermal mass route (over insulation) for the floor.
We'd be very interested to hear of members experiences with Conservatories and particularly what represents a really good design for a thermal mass floor (it's on soil so could go down quite deep)?
and the wisdom of underfloor heating.

Even now, (admittedly before we have improved the insulation etc) the house is cold except for the upstairs g the day, and for the first time in my life the central heating comes on in the mornings and the fires are lit in the evenings - and it's June! hopefully the Conservatory should help this.

Cheers

y

Yes - we considered a more solid roof - but unless we use lead we can't get the pitch right - it's too low for slate.
The single unit air/air HP offers promise though - hadn't thought of that. It would mean we could try without CH and add it later if the place was too cold/too hot.

Cheers
Y

Actually 15 degrees is what we're looking at - i thought slate was really limited to around 30 degrees ...... but I'd prefer to use it rather than lead so i'll check out the specs.

Cheers

Y

Interesting - I wonder whether the Lake District Planning Authority will allow them - I'll add them to my list of possibilities.
Thanks for the link
Cheers
Y

Are you going to have the facility of closing the conservatory off from the adjoining room to conserve energy in the heating season?

Generally it's better to avoid a glass/clear conservatory roof because of summer overheating. An AAHP would be a good solution provided you have walls in the right places to attach both the indoor and outdoor units.

It's important to be really clear about what you want from your conservatory and how you are going to use. If you read up online about solar porches, you'll see that single glazing (even simple poly sheeting structures) are very effective in harvesting solar gain – albeit at the expense of comfort!

If solar gain is important, a black stone floor and painting the outside wall of the house inside the conservatory a dark colour would help most.

I think a 'purist' green builder wouldn't be heating a glass conservatory.
Owlman solution seems a good compromise .

Thanks everyone.
So, I think i'll aim for a high thermal mass floor with above building regs insulation beneath, no UFH and a slate floor above.
Wood burner and partially non-glass roof.
We were always going to have double glazed doors into this space from the main house so looks like we might have a plan.
i'll let you know.
cheers

Posted By: CWattersPerhaps don't make it all glass? Most people end up putting chairs against at least one wall so why not make that wall an insulated brick stub wall?

If the main wall is west facing, that means one end is north facing. I strongly recommend making that solid and thermally massive on the inside.