Conservatory climbers

[PeterS]

I was very aware that you have a lovely range of Lapageria Charlie, but I think you have also said that you can't send them through the post - so they are temporarily out of the picture.

I have no idea of the summer temperature yet, but with an almost flat (lean to) roof my garden room can't have a roof vent - so I fear it could get hot.

[kGarden]

I have had some small vents (much wider than tall) installed high up on the back wall. They just have some Bayliss openers fitted - so that I don't need to get up there to open them - and I am hoping that convection, rather than forced-draught, will be the cooling method for the majority of the year - bar the hottest part of the Summer. I also have some electricity to the ceiling with a view to install Punkah ceiling fans if I find that they are needed. Dunno if that might be an option for you i.e. as a retro-fit, e.g. if you find you have a heat problem in Summer.

[PeterS]

Thanks kGarden. I do have some vents high up - but in retrospect they are probably too small. So I may have to think in terms of forced air circulation if the worst comes to the worst.

But, hey, I am anticipating something that may never be needed. :)

[kGarden]

But, hey, I am anticipating something that may never be needed. :)

Indeed, me too. I haven't found any definitive advice on how to build a conservatory / plant house in terms of the amount of ventilation etc. Most modern uPVC conservatories I see are like ovens in Summer and useless for plants and have no ventilation suitable for plant growing - probably all sold by ex-Double Glazing Salesmen now retrained to sell Photovoltaics!

The Victorians seemed to know how to ventilate such structures (I like Charlie's front facing vents, for example) and I don't know if that knowledge has been lost, or whether it is just that I didn't try hard enough to find specialists who had the knowledge - so am relying on the calculations my architect made - and he is clearly not a conservatory specialist.

Time, and subsequent retrofits!, will tell

[charlie]

I seem to recall I had a rather heated discussion with a conservatory installer, I was pointing out that without roof vents it couldn't really be described as a conservatory as you couldn't put plants in it, his retort was that "Well people never ask for them and it pushes the price up to fit them" I pointed out people don't ask specially to have brakes in their cars but never the less expect them! he replied I was just being silly and anyway nobody uses them for plants so its OK. (and I suspect gives them a chance to sell some of those almost useless internal blinds to try and make the place habitable (Might stop the glare, but of course if its inside so is the heat) Victorian low tech seems to work best, just a shame the upvc people can't work out how to use those systems because I do like the thought of no painting and no putty!!

[PeterS]

Charlie - I think that there is a certain mind set - that I don't understand. My house is 50 years old and when built they put a short pipe extension and tap outside the house to drain the central heating system. I have used it twice and found it to be very useful. I mentioned this to a plumber, who I knew in South Wales, who was replacing a radiator in a friend's house and had to drain the central heating system into a bucked set on the sitting room carpet. He said it was a very good idea and would cost almost nothing extra when installing a central heating system.

So I then said will you be doing this in future when you instal new systems. His reply was NO - not unless someone asks for it. :lol:

kGarden - If you look at commercial greenhouses, where they have got it right, there are roof vents that extend the entire length of the building. In a conservatory, more than half of the roof is made up of the triangular ends, where you can't have vents. So with the best will in the world, the number of vents is very limited. In addition they have a through draft and an automatic opening and closing system. When a conservatory is attached to a taller house its difficult to get a proper through draft.

Even though my garden room is free standing, planning laws limit its height to 2.5 metres, so I had to have a lean-to with an almost flat roof. And you can't have roof vents in an almost flat roof - I think its to do with being water tight. And whilst you can get domestic automated roof vents (cost £500 or more), I am told there is no such thing as an automatic window in the side wall.