CONSERVATORY Roof Vents
ARE THEY REALLY THE BEST WAY TO KEEP YOUR CONSERVATORY COOL?
Many people have roof vents fitted to a conservatory because the Salesman advises that as hot air rises the best way for it to escape would be through a “hole in the roof”. At first glance, this would appear to be sound advice and certainly they will create a degree of heat loss.
However, the general idea of a conservatory is that its design and position provide a suntrap and thereby a warm and protected area where you can be sheltered from the British climate. This means on the hottest days of the year, generally between 10.00 am to 4.00 pm conservatories can become extremely warm and even if you had four large opening roof vents you would still generally be encapsulated with glass – tinting or various plastics provide little or no cooling. Plastic in fact generally increases the temperature!. Therefore, on particularly sunny days roof vents only provide a degree of cooling as all the other `non-opening panels of glass’ will still be building up heat within the conservatory.
EXPERIENCE FROM EXISTING CONSERVATORY OWNERS CONFIRMS THAT PROPERLY DESIGNED BLINDS COVERING THE ROOF GLASS PANELS PROVIDE BY FAR THE BEST COOLING. THEY ALSO GIVE INSULATION DURING THE WINTER MONTHS AND REALLY BRING THE CONSERVATORY TO LIFE WITH THE EXCITING COLOURS AND DESIGNS YOU CAN CHOOSE – RATHER LIKE WALLPAPER, DRAPES AND CURTAINS WITHIN YOUR HOME.
ROOF VENTS ALSO HAVE A NUMBER OF SIGNIFICANT DRAW BACKS :
- Somebody has to be around to open and close them
- If left open during a cloud burst rain can cascade into the conservatory
- When open easy access is provided to burglars
- Roof vents can be notorious for creating leaks, operating problems and structural roof weaknesses
- Many insects can easily gain entry and sadly a bird could do so causing havoc inside as it tries to escape
- Money spent on roof vents, which often do not provide overall efficient cooling would be far better directed towards roof blinds.
Heat reflective blinds really do work and have considerable aesthetic and insulating advantages.
They are the most efficient way of keeping a conservatory cool.
