Making a conservatory bearable in July and February

The roof is where the heat is

Pleated conservatory roof systems run on tensioned wires between the glazing bars, hold their position on a sloped or angled pane, and are available with reflective backings that bounce a large share of the solar gain before it enters the room.

Where the roof is polycarbonate rather than glass, the temperature swing is worse and a reflective pleated system is close to essential. On a lantern roof in an extension the same principle applies, one blind per pane, all in the same fabric.

• Reflective pleated roof blinds: the biggest single temperature improvement.
• Solar screen rollers on the sides: cut glare without blacking out the garden view.
• Perfect fit frames: no drilling into uPVC, and the doors still open properly.
• Thermal honeycomb fabrics: hold a layer of still air for winter performance.

Glare, screens and the view

Most people do not actually want to block the garden, they want to stop the laptop screen washing out at four in the afternoon. Solar screen fabric with a low openness factor cuts the glare while keeping the outline of the garden visible, which is why we fit far more of it than blackout in a conservatory.

On west facing Kent conservatories, especially around Ashford and the inland villages where the evening sun sits low across open fields, screens on the west elevation and plain fabric elsewhere is a good compromise.

Fitting realities in a glass room

Glazing bars, trickle vents, tie bars and roof vents all get in the way, so a conservatory survey takes longer than any other room in the house. We photograph the bar layout and check every opening vent still clears before we order.

The 5 year installation warranty applies here just as it does anywhere else, and it matters more in a conservatory because the temperature cycling is harder on fixings than in a bedroom.