balidey
|
| posted on 17/1/11 at 11:17 AM |
|
|
OT conservatory roof solar inserts DIY fitting
I have a conservatory that gets like an oven in the summer so before the summer starts we need to sort out something in the roof. We were quoted for
roof blinds which my wife likes but they are way over our budget. And they will darken the room a lot.
I have been looking at Solar Insert strips, its a foil coated strip that you slide up inside the twin wall cavity. Could buy these for a couple of
hundred (ie a tenth of the price of blinds) and fit them in a weekend. I need to do some maintenance on our roof so I will be up a ladder anyway.
But, I can not seem to find many 'real world' feedback from people with it fitted. Plenty of suppliers have 'feedback' on
their sites but they are only going to give you positive comments.
I understand it will slightly darken the roof, but aparantly not by much. And I am not bothered about heat in the winter, purely want to know if it
really makes a noticeable difference in the summer.
So, anyone got these fitted? Any comments?
Was looking at buying from C and A Building Plastics. Any comments on them?
Thanks.
Dutch bears have terrible skin due to their clogged paws
|
|
|
|
|
nick205
|
| posted on 17/1/11 at 12:05 PM |
|
|
I have some experience here! Same scenario, too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer - wouldn't build another!
Blinds are a total waste of time, they cut out the light and do very little for the heat. The heat still enters the conservatory, and then gets
trapped by the blinds. They're also hideously expensive and collect dust like a magnet.
Ours has a glass roof so slightly different, but we looked at the same inserts you describe (SWMBO got samples not realising they were for polycarb
only). The concept seems good in that it reflects the sun's energy before it actually enters the roof, but from the samples we saw it would
cut out quite a bit of light. Also, you cant fit them in the side windows which is where energy also enters the room.
We went for a foil type product stuck to the inside of the glass which gives (from the outside) a mirrored type effect. We had the roof and south
facing side covered for <£500 including materials and fitting on a 5x3m lean to style conservatory. They clean the glass, spray a mist of soapy
water on then apply the film and squeegee out all the air bubbles. Once fitted you struggle to notice it's not part of th glass itself.
The difference is STAGGERING! from being unusable on a hot sunny day and building up heat in the rest of the house we can now use it comfortably all
summer long including watching TV in direct sunlight. It's had minimal affect on the actual light levels in the room and has also added an
element of privacy from above.
If you want I'll dig out the details of the company that did it. For the cost I wouldn't even contemplate trying to fit it myself - think
in terms of wallpapering a ceiling. That said if you're removing the roof panels anyway it would be easy to do it with the panels laid flat on
the floor.
Cheers
Nick
[Edited on 17/1/11 by nick205]
|
|
|
balidey
|
| posted on 17/1/11 at 12:24 PM |
|
|
Thanks for the info Nick.
My wife wants roller blinds on the side windows. Not sure if she would consider the film on the windows.
The strips in the roof sounds in principle similar stuff, ie like mirrored sunglasses. I could fit this, but as you say, I wouldn't fancy
sticking the film inside the roof myself.
Dutch bears have terrible skin due to their clogged paws
|
|
|
hootsno1
|
| posted on 17/1/11 at 12:24 PM |
|
|
I hade the same problem the wife went to a fabric shop and bought some black out materieal,
cut it to the right length and width sewed it all together and put it up on the inside off the roof, ii used a hole in the sheet with a leather punch
and screewed it up with self drilling screews and cup washers, works realy well keeps the heat out stops it getting to bright and hold the heat.
|
|
|
nick205
|
| posted on 17/1/11 at 12:53 PM |
|
|
quote:
Originally posted by balidey
Thanks for the info Nick.
My wife wants roller blinds on the side windows. Not sure if she would consider the film on the windows.
The strips in the roof sounds in principle similar stuff, ie like mirrored sunglasses. I could fit this, but as you say, I wouldn't fancy
sticking the film inside the roof myself.
Mine wanted roller blinds too, but since the film's been fitted she's given up on that idea. Mind she's now started looking at
other things that "need" doing - e.g. replacing the house number that's been there for years and looks absolutely fine! They need
constant occupation to prevent them noticing these things 
|
|
|
jimmyjjohn
|
| posted on 5/12/13 at 09:55 AM |
|
|
SPAM - REMOVED
[Edited on 5-12-13 by Fozzie]
|
|
|
Irony
|
| posted on 5/12/13 at 10:42 AM |
|
|
Sounds to me like this reflective material is just car window film marketed for another purpose. I have used for a number of novelty installations in
my job. But never in a conservatory.
This is the stuff I have used.
http://www.metamark.co.uk/pages_sv/windowtint.htm
|
|
|
mcerd1
|
| posted on 5/12/13 at 11:20 AM |
|
|
quote:
Originally posted by balidey
I have been looking at Solar Insert strips, its a foil coated strip that you slide up inside the twin wall cavity. Could buy these for a couple of
hundred (ie a tenth of the price of blinds) and fit them in a weekend. I need to do some maintenance on our roof so I will be up a ladder
anyway.
the GF's brother just fitted some of these (the sort of textured gold foil stuff you can half see through)
but they couldn't get ones the right width so they had so spend ages cutting them all down from a wider roll - and they are very fiddly things
to fit (it'll take twice as long as you think) so you'll hate the job of fitting them....
but that said it does seem to work 
-
|
|
|
