Our house is blessed with a very large conservatory - all glass walls, no brick mini-wall, and polycarbonate roof.
It has no central heating, freezes in the winter and bakes on sunny summer afternoons (faces West).
Spurred on by the example in "No Waste Like Home", we invited a rep in to give us a quote on the SolarTex blind system, which apparantly makes a great difference to both heat loss and gain.
Cost, including a 55% discount - �2688 - still very steep, but JUST manageable (especially with 18months interest free credit ... )
I am tempted. But before I labandon myself to consumer slavery, does anyone have suggetsions for other ways of improving the heat loss in there? Some kind of film I could stick to the windows or something?
Excellent - except it says "Rejects up to 82% of solar energy". Wouldn't that make it dark? I wonder how it would affect the plants in there. I am off to find out more!
"Rejects up to 82% of solar energy". Wouldn't that make it dark?
We've got a solar film in our offices and it does make it darker
Bernie66
Joined: 14 Jan 2005 Posts: 13967 Location: Eastoft
Posted: Mon Sep 19, 05 1:08 pm Post subject:
How much would it cost to get an extra radiator in there compared with a 55% discount down to that price? If its on a thermostatic valve it can be regulated to whatever temperature you like. The radiator is not that expensive probably around �100-�150. The fitting cannot be too much.
Some greenhouses, such as Alton, have timber boards that can be attached round the base of the greenhouse to create a halfheight wall for use over winter, I wonder if you could create something like that just to give some extra ground level insulation.
How much would it cost to get an extra radiator in there compared with a 55% discount down to that price?I
This is a good idea too - but unfortunately our existing boiler is not strong enough to power it. Plus any heat that the rad generated would simply canish out of the roof, anyway - as it currently does with the oil-filled radiator we have in there. I have edited my previous post to talk about this:
Some greenhouses, such as Alton, have timber boards that can be attached round the base of the greenhouse to create a halfheight wall for use over winter, I wonder if you could create something like that just to give some extra ground level insulation.
Some greenhouses, such as Alton, have timber boards that can be attached round the base of the greenhouse to create a halfheight wall for use over winter, I wonder if you could create something like that just to give some extra ground level insulation.
Joined: 15 Jan 2005 Posts: 7184 Location: South Kent
Posted: Mon Sep 19, 05 1:44 pm Post subject:
The classic "green" solution is to grow something like a vine - whose leaves will provide shade in summer and which can be pruned right back in winter. This can be grown inside or outside, depending on space and your liking for grapes!
A rather nice effect can be produced by loosely hanging a (white?) translucent, not opaque, cloth 'tent' inside the conservatory roof - this can be very classy with a cheesecloth-y rough weave... the trick is to find an open enough weave to let light through, yet closed enough to provide enough of a sun-screen.
If anyone asks, you can say you got the idea from the simple light diffuser in Frank Lloyd Wright's Circle Gallery. (Or blame me.)
It should look much prettier than most polycarbonate roofs that I have seen.
You might investigate a greenhouse automatic ventillator to further control temperature rise in summer.
You might look to hang a black (well, at least dark) curtain on the house wall of the conservatory to increase solar gain in winter. (Remove for summer or replace with a white one!) Same goes for floor covering...
It aint pretty, but bubblewrap makes a good insulator- bubbles against the inside of the glass/polycarbonate. Perhaps you could keep the 'tent' up in winter, to hide the bubblewrap on the roof (where I expect most of the heat loss will occur - just as with loft insulation!)
Posted: Wed Sep 21, 05 11:00 pm Post subject: Heating a conservatory
How about sighting a tumble drier in there or just ducting all the hot damp air from one? You could then grow all manor of tropical plants, keep the place warm and reuse hot air that normally goes to heat the atmosphere up. Might have a condensation problem unles you could work out how to collect the water and recycle that as well.
My tumble drier died and went to heaven about 4 years ago and I never replaced it. I do dry my clothes in there, on a rack. We have a de-humidifier in there in case it gets really tropical, but I am worried that the money I save on heating the greenhouse, I would be spending on running the tumble drier or dehumidifier instead.
Some chappie from a local company is coming to see us next week to talk about special inserts to go in the polycarbonate roof. I will report back!
- still very steep, but JUST manageable (especially with 18months interest free credit ... 
)
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