DID you add a conservatory to your property while dreaming of enjoying lazy afternoons in the sunshine or hosting dinner parties for friends, only to discover that the space was often too hot in summer or too cold in winter to be used?
The extremes of temperature often felt in these extra rooms are, according to Chris Cash, the managing director of Conservatory Insulations, a problem which, until recently, seemed to be one of those unavoidable facts of life. Until, that is, his company secured the exclusive rights to Conservaheat.
‘This is an incredible product, used on the International Space Station, which has to deal with extreme temperatures at both ends of the scale,’ he explained.
‘This NASA technology is the only system which has been specifically designed to reflect the heat generated in the summer back out of the conservatory while, in winter, reflecting the energy from your radiator back into the room. This enables you to use the conservatory in the way that you had originally visualised.’
From its base in Manchester, Conservatory Insulations installs the roofing system on properties across Britain and, for the past year, its team of surveyors and engineers has made regular visits to the Island.
‘We were originally approached by a resident who had heard about the product and, since then, we have applied the technology to around 50 homes in the Island,’ Mr Cash added. ‘The response has been so positive that Nigel Philpott, the principal consultant at Silversolutions, has now become an ambassador for Conservatory Insulations in Jersey.’
While transforming the ambience of the room, Conservaheat is fitted to the inside of the roof, avoiding any structural changes.
‘If you were looking down from outside, you would not know that any work had been done, as the glass film applied to the ceiling acts as a privacy film,’ said Mr Cash. ‘From the inside, the tongue-and-groove white board gives the appearance of a solid roof while the semi-gloss finish reflects the light from the doors and windows back into the room, ensuring that the conservatory remains a bright, airy space.’
Having applied the technology to more than 20,000 conservatories across the UK, Mr Cash says that there are further benefits to be gained from the system.
‘Anyone who has sat in a conservatory with a polycarbonate roof during a downpour will know how noisy it can be,’ he smiled. ‘This treatment muffles the noise.
‘It can also bring tremendous energy and cost savings as, traditionally, conservatories are the rooms with the poorest levels of insulation, making this a really eco-friendly option. It is also a very long-lasting solution, as the technology – as you would imagine with anything associated with the ISS – has a very long degradation period.’
With all installations complete within a day, the work – which has also featured on Sarah Beanie’s Renovate Don’t Relocate television series – is undertaken by the company’s personnel, who receive extensive training on the product.
For more information or to arrange a site survey, telephone 0800 180 4000 or visit conservatoryinsulations.com
