The appeal of conservatories is undeniable, and for most of the year, they are a wonderful place to relax and enjoy the beauty of your garden whilst still inside. Newer conservatories are designed to be year-round extensions.
However, during particularly frosty cold snaps, older conservatories can feel particularly cold to the point that some people opt not to use them at all during the winter months. Conservatories should be usable throughout the year.
These same conservatories can often be blisteringly hot in winter, and in both cases, the cause can be fixed through expert conservatory repair and renovations. Here are some of the causes and what can be done about them.
Damaged Window Linings
Because conservatories typically have more glass than other rooms of the house, the windows need to be carefully looked after to ensure that they do not let in a draught.
Aside from outright cracked or dislodged window and roof glass, both of which can let in a lot of cold air from outside.
A repair service can examine the window frames and fix the issue with linings and sealants, ensuring that the conservatory does not let heat escape.
Whilst some damage is very obvious, in other cases it takes a conservatory expert to notice that minor damage or wear is letting cold air in.
Older Glass
Older conservatories were designed with either single glazing or more primitive double glazing, both of which become less effective at trapping and retaining heat over time.
Modern double glazing has far more chambers than was historically the norm, which not only makes the glass stronger but also more effective over the long term.
Older double glazing relied on noble gases such as argon which could often escape through the edges of the window as the uPVC aged.
Ultimately, the best option here would be to replace the glass entirely, which would not only revitalise your conservatory space but also provide a long-lasting space that keeps its warmth.
Poor Insulation
Remarkably, some older conservatories were built with very little insulation, and what little insulation they had was far from adequate for the room.
This not only makes the room colder in winter but can also allow the heat from the sun to easily enter during the summer.
Replacing or improving the insulation will not just benefit you during cold snaps but also during summer heatwaves as well, as the same materials which keep heat in also block outside temperatures.
The Wrong Type Of Roof
Early conservatories were designed to be more like sunrooms, meaning that they would feature more glazing than any other type of extension, and the glass that is used would often cause a lot of heat to escape.
They were not only uninsulated but were sometimes made from thin single-pane glass or thin polycarbonate materials which were not insulated enough.
In these cases, the best solution would be to replace the roof entirely with a more solid, insulated one, but if that is not an option, installing roof blinds or replacing the existing glass with thicker, more insulating materials can work as well.