We have a conservatory of approx (estimated) 4.5m by 2.5m that we’d like to explore turning into a livable room. We simply do not use it in the winter and feel that a normal ‘room’ would get much more use. There is a radiator on the wall inside the house next to the conservatory door so I’m hoping it’ll be easy enough to extend the central heating through the wall for a large radiator. The conservatory has one wall all the way up to nearly the roof and little teeny tiny walls on the other 2 sides under the windows.

Any thoughts on rip it down and start again Vs try to convert welcomed….. and approx costs involved for either?

Don’t leave anything valuable or shiny in it. Even if it’s broken, it’ll still cost you in new glass/doors/locks when the scrotes decide they’ve earned it more than you

replacing a polycarbonate roof with double glazing might not be as expensive as it sounds and should see big insulation improvements. Would like to get ours done but it’s currently 1689th on the list. 😆

Depends what you mean by ‘a room’. You can improve it as a conservatory by improving the insulation of the glazing and walls but you must keep it separate from the house with external doors and any heating must have independent control so you can’t just extend off the existing radiator. To turn it into a proper room it’ll need to meet regs which likely means new foundations and insulated walls, solid roof. Pretty much a knock it down job. There’s a chance the current footings will take a lightweight build but I wouldn’t count on it. Might be able to do all this under permitted development depending a few things (look at http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/commonprojects/extensions/). Cost is tricky depending on location, site, how much DIY, finish, etc but £10-15k ballpark. Easy to spend more

Sounds like it needs a wood burner to me.

I’ve never got the point of conservatories up here in the north, way too cold in the winter.

you must keep it separate from the house and any heating must have independent control so you can’t just extend off the existing radiator

What’s this about? We recently got a new boiler and central heating system put in and they put a radiator in the conservatory (on the same loop) without hesitating, let alone mentioning this isn’t allowed.

I did think about having a wood burner but the main user(s) of the room will be small children who we’d like to leave to play unsupervised from time to time. Plus I don’t want the faff.

What’s this about? We recently got a new boiler and central heating system put in and they put a radiator in the conservatory (on the same loop) without hesitating, let alone mentioning this isn’t allowed.

http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/commonprojects/conservatories/

Salient bit:
However, conservatories are normally exempt from building regulations when:

-They are built at ground level and are less than 30 square metres in floor area.
-The conservatory is separated from the house by external quality walls, doors or windows.
-There should be an independent heating system with separate temperature and on/off controls.
-Glazing and any fixed electrical installations comply with the applicable building regulations requirements.

Theoretically if you fail to do this your conservatory is not exempt so will need full building regs for the rest of the structure (which it will never meet unless you pay 0000s for the glass). The reality is no one will ever check but it might pop up when you come to sell

This sounds very much like our current (rented) living room, which seems to work well and doesn’t have any dividing doors to the rest of the house. It is a wee bit cooler in there but not much.
I’ve lived a few places with regular conservatories before and really can’t see the point- freezing in winter and unbearably hot in summer.

freezing in winter and unbearably hot in summer.

Pretty much the definition of a conservatory nailed there. You do get a couple of nice days in the spring and early autumn when it is perfect though.

I was considering this, ours is a long room across the back of the house, so if it could be insulated would make a nice extension, but at the moment it’s cold in winter*. The only problem is making a properly insulated roof (plasterboarding between the 8×2 joists and rock-wool behind that) would probably cut off a lot of the light to the kitchen and dining room. So it’s not really a simple job as although removing the dining room window and kitchen door/windows would be a relatively straightforward job (take windows out which make up pretty much the length of the walls, knock out everything below the windowsill), that would require the conservatory re-building to comply with building regs (it’s currently more a lean-to, walls not tied in, I’m not even sure what the joists rest on).
.
*heat in summer isn’t an issue, just open a window 5 min before you want to use it.

Don’t leave anything valuable or shiny in it. Even if it’s broken, it’ll still cost you in new glass/doors/locks when the scrotes decide they’ve earned it more than you

No more risky than having TV & Hi-fi visible through the living room window surely. And if it were a regular room then I’d not be storing bikes in it anyway.

Pretty much the definition of a conservatory nailed there. You do get a couple of nice days in the spring and early autumn when it is perfect though.

Ours seems great all summer, BBQ in the garden till it starts to get dark, then spend the evening in the conservatory. And at this time of year it’s an Ok 16-18C all afternoon until the sun goes down, so makes a nice ‘outdoor’ space when it’s too cold outside. It probably helps that it’s on a big concrete slab, has cavity brick walls, and backs onto the brick wall of the house, so there’s a lot of thermal mass.

-There should be an independent heating system with separate temperature and on/off controls.

Would a TRV not count?

If it is a recent build, the footings are probably fine. We had two conservatories on two new builds. the first was north facing and excellent most of the year. We left the internal doors open and used it as a normal room. The second was west facing and frankly far too hot/cold. both had separate controlled heating.

Doing it again, I would build an extension with a proper insulated roof and velux windows instead, with plumbed in central heating. I like the light from the large windows, but if exposed to direct sunlight for prolonged periods, the temperature changes are just too extreme.

In your position, I would look at replacing the roof, providing the footings are suitable.

I did think about having a wood burner but the main user(s) of the room will be small children who we’d like to leave to play unsupervised from time to time. Plus I don’t want the faff.

My lad started a fire in the living room (moving the chair to the middle of the room didn’t fool me) and the attic. To be fair the attic was genius. It took a couple of years for me to find that one.

Having a metal box for the little gits to set fire to stuff while unsupervised sounds like a win to me.

There are lightweight roofing products for this sort of thing, will turn it into a sunroom which is much better at regulating the heat through the seasons.

When I had the “Conservatory” built on the other house – they were told in no uncertain terms that the side walls were to be full height brick and the front wall – standard window height as there was a sofa going along it.
They didn’t flinch.
Footings were done, signed off, etc.
Drain moved.
Windows were internally beaded and reinforced as per regs.
Still got the polycarb roof on for now – but that’ll be going this summer for a pitched, insulated one with 3xVelux.
Been there since 2004 now so no issues with any roofing changes 😆

Something like this OP

http://www.ultraframe-conservatories.co.uk/solid-roofs/realroof/

No experience of it myself but am interested in changing my conservatory at some point so watching with interest

I have been looking at the roof replacements but I’m not convinced that replacing the roof alone will make heating the room economical and livable. There’ll be still be 2 walls which are effectively windows, albeit double glazed.

the main user(s) of the room will be small children who we’d like to leave to play unsupervised from time to time

I’ve got a great plan!

You could put a paddling pool in it, in the summer its nice and hot for swimming. In the winter it freezes and becomes an ice rink.

Saves any alterations to the conservatory.

I have been looking at the roof replacements but I’m not convinced that replacing the roof alone will make heating the room economical and livable

In all seriousness, my In-Laws did that, it has made absolutely no difference to how much they use the room in winter.