The big considerations before your great conservatory extension

It’s one of the more common home improvements that tends to be made, but that doesn’t mean to say that a conservatory is a light-hearted investment. On the contrary, this is still going to be a significant investment for your home – even if it’s one that so many of us make every year.

One of the main reasons behind the popularity is undoubtedly because planning permission for a conservatory is so relaxed. While you might have to wait months for other changes to your home, and undergo wholesale changes to the original plans along the way, the same doesn’t occur with the typical conservatory. Instead, it bypasses the planning department – saving us all plenty of heartache.

Despite the easy nature in which conservatories can be erected, there are some key considerations to take into account before you take the plunge to build yours. Through the remainder of this guide, we’ll start to investigate them.

Do you want a conservatory so you can take advantage of its heat?

There’s no doubt that one of the principle benefits of a conservatory is the immense heat it can bring to your home – at least in the summer months.

Some people will opt for the extension for this reason alone – they want a room that uses the natural temperature to heat itself, and that’s sufficient.

At the same time, some people might look at the conservatory from a much wider perspective. It’s not hot all-year round, and this means that during the winter you’ll be left with a cold room. It’s these individuals who will have to invest more in their conservatory to ensure that it satisfies their requirements during the colder months of the year. These types of room will use more materials, like bricks, to ensure that they are protected all-year round and are therefore more expensive.

Are you looking to build the room around existing living space?

Again, this consideration leads itself onto cost. Those of you who want to truly integrate it into your existing living space need to realise that this will involve knocking an entire wall down, which obviously adds to the bottom line.

There are also temperature considerations to bring into account. The heat, or cold depending on the time of the year, will make its way into the rest of your home if it’s directly attached. This means that you need to think of some form of heating or cooling solution – with radiators and blinds being the respective options generally.

How much attention are you giving to the aesthetics of the new room?

Once again, cost enters the picture here. If you really want to make a statement with your room, there’s no doubt that an orangery trumps the typical conservatory. The former is constructed from brick and just ties into the rest of the house much better. With that being said, this does add much more to your final budget which will of course have to be legislated for.