Conservatory Roof Insulation Hot / Cold

[Suzan]

Hi,

I have a south facing conservatory, with a polycarbonate roof. The usual problem is it's cold in the middle of winter and hot in the summer. I am considering internal insulation under the polycarbonate with 4inches of polyurethane etc.

Has anyone any experience of this? The rafters are 6inches and I am considering a 2inch gap between the polycarbonate and the polyurethane or fix The polyurethane directly against the polycarbonate. The only problem I can see is the possibility of mould in the dead area between the roof and the insulation. Any body tried this ?



Thanks Suzan

[rosebery]

What are you going to do about the light reduction?

You could try either of these:

Goolge "llumar.co.uk"

Google "polycool.co.uk"

I've used the latter in my own and also fitted it in 3 / 4 others. Makes a world of difference in the summer to the too hot scenario. For the winter I'd suggest blinds or some sort of portable heating. You could extend the central heating but then, for planning purposes, it would be classed as an extension.

Hope that helps.

Cheers

[Suzan]

Thank you for your suggestion. There are three quarter glass windows to 3.5 sides, so I don't think the light reduction will be a problem. There is also a central heating radiator, which is of some use but not in the very cold weather. The idea of blocking in the roof will address the two problems at the same time ie. the excessive light and heat in the summer and the high heat loss in the winter. I do realise that is a conservatory and without a great additional heat source it would be unusable in the few very cold winter days. however it would be usable for 98% of the time.



The only concern I have is the possibility of mould between the underside of the polycarbinate and the upper side of the insolation. Is it better to glue the insulation to the underside of the roof or to leave a 2inch air gap..