Wednesday, May 6, 2009

The Perfect Conservatory - How Best To Get The Most Out Of This Wonderful Home Add-On

As the good old media whip up the economic slow-down into a frenzy fewer and fewer of us are willing to part with our hard earned money and look to move home. Instead this year the bulk of the population that were looking to upgrade their homes for new and bigger versions will be staying put and instead trying to re-model their homes in the hope of adding extra living space to them as well as increase the market value of the property when the housing market finally does get the feel good factor back. Within a house there are many tasks that can be carried out to improve the value of the home, some are easier to carry out than others, some are more expensive to carry out than others and some will yield a higher return when it comes to sell the property in question. So what options have you available if you are in this position and are looking to progress?

Whatever you do you need to think long term, adding value to you property so that you see a return on your investment has got to be the overall objective but adding something to your home that makes it a more pleasant place to live should also be a major consideration.

One such addition that fits the bill is adding a conservatory to your home. Depending on the climate of where you live adding a conservatory could add a touch of outdoor living to your home for most of the year without having to worry too much about the outdoor elements. A conservatory should create a light and airy room with the feeling of the outdoors but with the security of the indoors. A conservatory is a multi functional room that if constructed properly can be used all year round, although there are a few very important things to bear in mind if you want to achieve the perfect conservatory.

Heating a conservatory is a concern for many people, those of you that have ever been in a greenhouse will appreciate that when the sun is not shining and it is cold outside a greenhouse is freezing but when the sun comes out it is sub-tropical. The same can happen with a conservatory if not constructed with the correct materials. The problem lies within the glass that goes to make up the bulk of the construction of the conservatory. If cheaper quality glass is used then in winter when you go to heat your conservatory the heat will disappear as types of cheaper glass do not have any insulating properties at all hence the heat disappears out into the atmosphere. Likewise, in summer as the glass has no reflective property the heat from the sun streams through into the conservatory and makes it unbearably hot. However a glass has been developed that minimizes this effect by reflecting heat waves back into the conservatory during the colder months as well as reflecting the heat waves away from the conservatory in the summer months. This helps to keep the temperature manageable all year round.

Of course in the winter months it is always advisable to have some form or other of heating in the conservatory but what are the best options open to you? Many people tend to go with the small conservatory convector heaters which heat up air and then via a fan within the heater distribute it around the room. These are quite effective as long as your conservatory is not too big but they can be expensive to run. A cheaper alternative to run but more expensive to install would be to add a radiator or two to the room. If you already have gas central heating with radiators in your home it is not too big a job for a heating engineer to add a couple of radiators to a conservatory. The heat from radiators can help to give a nice cozy feel to a conservatory. The final option that is proving to be more and more popular is the installation of under floor heating within the conservatory. This is probably the most expensive option to go for but can give the best results as well as making the conservatory feel the most livable.

As anyone who has ever spent any time in a conservatory will tell you they can be a little bit like being in a goldfish bowl, completely open for everyone to observe what is going on. To minimize this effect it would be an idea to fit some conservatory blinds, these come in many different sizes and colors and it is generally pretty easy to get a style that fits in with the rest of your house decor. You can go for the conventional curtain or drape style window covering or you can even go for the more fashionable venetian blinds type covering. Whatever window covering you go for the most important thing is that it enables the conservatory to blend in with the rest of the house rather than looking like an afterthought or bolt on.

For more info on all things conservatory, blinds and kitchen please visit our site - http://www.kitchen-blinds.com
Conservatory Blinds
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Harwood E Woodpecker

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