(week four)
Buying a conservatory is a major investment which needs to be researched and considered with care. Whatever it is you want to use your conservatory for, getting the right conservatory will renew your home and ultimately add value to your property.
So, with this is mind we want to share our unique conservatory buyers guide so you can buy the conservatory of your dreams – with confidence and peace of mind. Our no-nonsense guide will enable you to evaluate, compare and hopefully find the right conservatory that compliments your home.
Although you can download our buyers guide in its entirety from the Hazlemere website, we’ve decided to break it down into digestible sections for you. Once a week we will provide you with the key advice and benefits of introducing a beautiful and practical conservatory to your property. Our aim is very simple: to turn what could be a potential headache into an altogether more pleasurable experience!
Last week we looked at Materials. This week we’ll be focusing on Ventilation, Shading and Heating which ensures you’re not wasting valuable energy and keeping your utility bills to a minimum.
UPVC Conservatory With Top Opening Vents
As hot air rises it is therefore sensible to incorporate opening vents into the roof of your conservatory as well as into the windows around the sides. Roof vents can be designed to open manually or electrically. Manual options include a hook and pole or a winding handle mounted on a nearby wall, whilst electric vents can be controlled by a wall switch or remote control.
A ceiling fan can be a huge help in re-directing cool air in the summer and warm air trapped in the roof area in the winter. Most conservatories can also be fitted with extractor units into the roof panels. Extractors will help to reduce the internal temperature and humidity.
Air exchange systems work in a similar way to extractors but with the added benefit of pulling fresh air into the room at the same time. You can of course opt for an air conditioning system for your conservatory but they can be costly to run, potentially noisy and will require far more maintenance than simpler mechanical systems.
Conservatory blinds play a huge part in controlling the heat in your conservatory and are best measured, supplied and fitted in line with the main installation. Not only will they look far better but you can also ensure that you’re opening vents and other cooling systems all work well alongside each other. In recent years, new glass and polycarbonate has emerged that can also help to deflect the strength of the sun’s rays and therefore help to maintain a comfortable internal temperature.
Heating
Properly heating your conservatory is absolutely essential if you want to be able to use it in the colder months. The options for heating a conservatory are many and varied. Again, working with a competent, experienced company will usually ensure you get the right advice, plus the added advantage of an installation that is covered by a water-tight guarantee in the unlikely event that anything goes wrong in the future.
The first option is for your existing central heating system to be extended into the new conservatory. To do this you will need to have individual room thermostats – otherwise the cooler conservatory area that needs more heat than the rest of your home will disrupt the heating in the rest of the house. Alternatively the room can be serviced by its own heating system that is independently controlled.
Traditional wall-mounted radiators will sometimes look out of place in a conservatory but there is a wide range of alternative heating systems available. Under floor heating is another popular option for conservatories and is easily installed as the conservatory is built.
With the level of investment you will make in your conservatory you will quite rightly expect to be able to use it as you intended. The right combination of opening vents, extractors and sun shading will ensure it can be used throughout the year without compromise.
See our full conservatory buyer’s guide for advice on choosing a conservatory, the many styles available, the pros and the cons of different materials and how planning law applies to glass conservatories.
Next week: Safety and Security
CATAGORY|Conservatories
Hazlemere Window Company have published their 25th Anniversary Edition Newsletter online, which contains details about their expanded referral rewards scheme, A rated UPVC windows, an article on how to reduce your households carbon footprint, as well as other product and company news.
Front Page of Hazlemere Group's 2010 Anniversary Newsletter
Hazlemere Window Company Ltd was incorporated in 1985, and 2010 sees it celebrate 25 highly successful years as independent double glazing manufacturers.
Click here to download this 25th Anniversary Edition Newsletter
CATAGORY|Home Improvements
In the past Hazlemere Window Company Ltd have only offered their Referral Rewards Scheme to existing customers. Now they have opened it up to anyone who has had work done, or knows of friends or neighbours that have had work done, as well as anyone wanting to recommend Hazlemere for the quality of their products, installations and customer service over the last 25 years. Find out more about the Referral Rewards Scheme along with details on each of the rewards on offer.
In addition, they have expanded the rewards on offer to include women’s hairdressing, men and women’s massages, facials, nails and a whole host of hair and beauty treatments at Oxygen Concept Salon and Beauty located on Gregories Road in Beaconsfield, Bucks. Those wishing to Register for the Hazlemere Window Company Referral Rewards Scheme can select to receive up to £75 of John Lewis Gift Vouchers, Oxygen Gift Vouchers or up to a dozen bottles of Laithwaites Wines.
Alternatively, Hazlemere have set in place the option to donate your rewards of between £15 and £75 to one or more of three registered charities with operations in Buckinghamshire. The three charities are the Iain Rennie Hospice at Home, Macmillan Cancer Support and Hearts & Souls. Feel free to Download a Referral Rewards Scheme Application Form
CATAGORY|Retail
(week three)
Buying a conservatory, like many purchases, is a substantial investment which needs to be thoroughly researched and considered with care. Whatever it is you want to use your conservatory for, getting the right conservatory will revamp your home and ultimately add value to your property.
So, with this is mind we want to share our bespoke conservatory buyers guide so you can buy the conservatory of your dreams – with confidence and peace of mind. Our no-nonsense guide will enable you to evaluate, compare and hopefully find the right conservatory that compliments your home.
Although you can download our buyers guide in its entirety from the Hazlemere website, we’ve decided to break it down into digestible sections for you. Once a week we will provide you with the key advice and benefits of introducing a striking and functional conservatory to your property. Our aim is very simple: to turn what could be a potential headache into an altogether more pleasurable experience!
Last week we focused on Aesthetics and Conservatory Construction. This week we’ll be looking at Materials which contribute to the sustainability of your installation.
Aluminium Oak Conservatory Under Construction
PVCu, aluminium, timber – the choices they offer are seemingly limitless. Here we take a look at what the different materials have to offer and some of the terminology you are likely to come across.
There are three main materials used for building conservatories today – PVCu (also known as uPVC), aluminium and timber. All offer similar options in terms of glazing, security and the styles available. In fact, at first glance through any conservatory sales brochure, you would be hard-pushed to spot the different materials. But there are distinctions between them that you need to be aware of before you make your final choice.
The PVCu Story
PVCu has without a doubt, dominated the window and door market for the last 20 years and for the last 10 years has grown to dominate the conservatory market as well. PVCu is a great building material – lightweight, highly thermally efficient, easy to maintain and cheap to produce. Innovations in the design of PVCu conservatories mean that they now offer many, many designs and styles, from classic Edwardian and Victorian to contemporary.
PVCu frames have little integral strength and so need to be reinforced to offer the stability needed for windows, doors and conservatories. This reinforcement involves steel or aluminium sections being integrated into the frame, however, this essential reinforcing makes the frames far bulkier than other materials. Look for systems with a slim frame depth (front to back) but also consider how bulky the frames are when you look at them straight on – after all, you are buying a conservatory to enjoy looking through the glass – not at the frames!
Systems at the cheaper end of the market will typically have chunkier frames and this becomes particularly noticeable if the conservatory is smaller. A good way of assessing the difference is to observe the conservatories you see around you – once you know what to look for you will soon start to see the difference it can make.
Talking Aluminium
Aluminium is inherently strong and makes an ideal material for conservatories, especially those that are particularly large or where they may be exposed to severe weather conditions.
Aluminium conservatories have a ‘powder-coated’ paint finish (see glossary of terms opposite) which is a particularly durable and an easy to maintain finish for both the internal and external surfaces of the conservatory. Another feature that makes aluminium very popular is that it can be extruded with very fine details so that traditional features can be built into the designs to give a more authentic appearance which is particularly important to many homeowners. Modern ‘New Generation’ aluminium is very thermally efficient as it features a ‘thermal break’ which effectively separates the exterior and interior surfaces to stop heat and cold crossing from outside to inside.
The structural strength of aluminium also makes it the perfect choice for some of the more contemporary styles of conservatory that are emerging, especially those that span more than a single storey.
Timber
For some homeowners nothing can compete with authentic timber, the original conservatory material. Superb thermal performance, unrestricted design and a choice of colours and finishes all add to its appeal.
Timber conservatories can be either hardwood or softwood and the difference between the two is considerable. Softwood is a considerably cheaper option but will have a far shorter lifespan and will need a lot more maintenance during its life than hardwood.
Timber conservatories are usually custom-designed to your exact requirements and can incorporate the same locking and glazing options that you would expect with other materials. If you do decide to look at timber, then take particular care to understand how they will be constructed – most use traditional mortice and tenon joints, but there are other jointing methods in use.
A final word about timber – just as frame thickness is an issue with PVCu conservatories, the same is true of timber ones. Although timber has been used for many years as a framing material, the use of modern, heavy double glazed glass has meant that the timber sections need to be much larger.
See our full conservatory buyer’s guide for advice on choosing a conservatory, the many styles available, the pros and the cons of different materials and how planning law applies to glass conservatories.
Next week: Ventilation, Shading and Heating.
CATAGORY|Conservatories
