Conservatories are normally exempt from building regulations as long as they meet certain conditions. One of those conditions is that any heating in the conservatory should be completely separate from the rest of the house with its own controls for temperature and turning on and off. This means you can have heating in a conservatory, but if you don’t take the appropriate steps attempting to heat a conservatory can become a major headache.

Energy efficiency

Most conservatories are poorly insulated and tend to leak heat quickly in the colder months. This is because glass is generally not very effective as an insulator unless you opt for very high-end (and expensive!) products such as triple glazing. If you do heat your conservatory a large proportion of the heat you produce will likely end up flowing straight out of all that glass, leaving you with a cold space and a very large heating bill. You should therefore look at ways to improve your conservatory’s insulation before installing heating or you could end up wasting a lot of money.

Improving insulation

The easiest and most cost-effective way to improve the insulation in any conservatory is by replacing the roof. Because heat rises, a large proportion of the heat escaping from your conservatory will be making its way out through the roof. Therefore making your roof better at retaining heat can have a big impact. Adding a lightweight, solid roof to your conservatory means you can add insulation to the underside of the roof providing a highly effective heat barrier. You should then be able to heat your conservatory efficiently without breaking the bank.

Condensation

One issue to be aware of is condensation. Because your conservatory will be on a separate heating system to the rest of the home, there is the potential for a difference in temperature between the two spaces that can lead to condensation forming. If your conservatory is currently unheated, you may have already noticed this being a problem and in these instances heating the conservatory should actually help. However, it is still worth considering ventilation if possible. If you do go down the solid roof route, adding roof vents is a relatively easy solution to this issue.

Metrotile’s lightweight roofing makes the ideal conservatory roof replacement if you want to install heating and provide a more usable space all year round. Our products offer all the same advantages as a traditional solid roof but weighs up to seven times less making them perfect for the light structures of most conservatories.

To find out more, call Metrotile today on 01249 658 514 or use our contact form for a quick response.