SCOTT JAMES

Commercial Ltd

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GETTING THE RIGHT SIZE:

This is probably one of the more difficult aspects when you are considering a conservatory. The main point to consider is what you will be using the conservatory for, for this you will want to know what size floor space you will end up with. A secondary point is how much of the garden will the conservatory take up.

Many articles and people suggest stringing out the outline of the conservatory where you are going to put it. This is fine for seeing how it will fit into the garden but IT WILL NOT GIVE YOU THE FEEL FOR USABLE FLOOR SPACE! When you string out the conservatory, because there are no fixed points (like a wall) that the eye can lock onto, even if it is a large conservatory, it will appear smaller than it will be once it is built. This quite often leads people into over sizing the conservatory.

To get a feel for what floor space you will want, us a large room inside your home and measure out the area that you feel would be right for you, using two of the walls of the room as if they are the internal edges of a conservatory. You can even see what type of furniture you would be able to get into this space.

Now you need to convert this internal size into external measurements. For a dwarf wall conservatory you will need to add 250 mm per side. So, for a three sided conservatory, if you have decided that you want the internal area to be 3 metres wide and 3 metres projection you will need a conservatory 3.5 metres wide (two sides x 250 mm) by 3.25 projection outward from your home (one side x 250 mm).

If you are having a fully glazed conservatory then the measurement to add is 100 mm per side.

To get the internal floor space, if you have the external size, just deduct the appropriate side measurements from the width and projection.

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1: Get the right size conservatory to suit your needs.

2: Make sure you can use your conservatory all year round.

USING YOUR CONSERVATORY ALL YEAR:

Most people want a conservatory that they can use all year round. Unfortunately, many conservatories that are built are not up to the correct standards to achieve this, and a lot of conservatory companies do not want you to realise this, as it means that the cheaper price that they have given you will not appear so cheap by the time they have got it up to the correct standard! (If you do not receive a full written specification for your conservatory that specifies everything that is going to go into it, do not deal with that company, after all, what are they trying to hide!)

The two main factors to consider when choosing your conservatory are to keep it warm in winter and cool in summer.

Ensure that the glazing in the side windows have a low emissivity glass like Pilkington ‘K’. This will nearly double the insulation when compared to normal double glazing. The same applies to roof glass, although most people would be better off with one of the new high tech glasses like our ‘ULTIMATE’ roof glass. Not only will this provide far better insulation than Pilkington ‘K’ (nearly to the same level of an insulated cavity wall.) but it will reduce the heat build up through the roof by 75%, helping to keep the conservatory cool in summer.

If you are having a polycarbonate roof ensure that the it is at least 25mm thick. Do not be tempted to have a 16mm thick roof sheet, which although cheaper, does not provide enough insulation. The best colours to have are Opal or Heatshield which will provide good protection against heat build up in the summer. Clear or Bronze act as a heat sink so are not recommended unless the conservatory is in the shade.

Adequate ventilation is also an important factor. Just having a couple of opening windows is not going to be anywhere near sufficient to provide good ventilation at any time of year. The best type of opening window in a conservatory is the fanlight. Have as many as possible and if you can combine this with a roof vent, how many will depend on the size of the conservatory, this will provide the optimum ventilation to keep the temperature at a comfortable level during the summer.