There’s no doubt that a sunroom makes for a stunning addition to any home, especially since it allows you to maximise the amount of natural light your property receives, plus it can provide extra space to dine, lounge or relax in.
However, there’s just the small matter of the temperature in the sunroom, which can fluctuate more dramatically than in other areas of your home.
In the summer, all that glass can make your sunroom feel more like a greenhouse. Then, when the temperature drops in winter, the lack of insulating features or connection to traditional central heating can cause sunrooms to feel rather chilly.
Let’s solve your sunroom temperature woes once and for all in today’s post, as we’re going to cover the best heating or cooling options for your sunroom so that you can enjoy the space all year round.
Portable Heating And AC Units
Starting with the most obvious choice, and that’s to buy either portable heating or air conditioning unit. Now, such devices are excellent to bust you out of a hot (or cold!) jam, though they can often be very expensive to run. Plus, portable devices can take up much-needed floor space, and in the case of portable heaters, can pose a potential hazard for pets or small children.
With a portable air conditioner such as a fan, you also have to remember that, unlike a professional air conditioning system that extracts warm air from the room, a fan will simply create a breeze. Therefore, it’s difficult to get long term relief, let alone make the entire space feel cool. Once you switch the system off, the intense heat feeling will instantly return, which isn’t economical.
Wall Mounted Air Conditioning Or Wall Mounted Heaters
Placing an air conditioning or heating unit on the wall is an excellent way to save floor space within a sunroom. Such units also offer a cost-effective solution, making them a popular choice for residential and commercial environments alike.
As a step up from portable devices, wall mounted air conditioning or heating comes with temperature control as standard. Best of all, an air conditioning system will work to extract the warm air from the environment meaning it makes a long-lasting and noticeable difference to the temperature of the room.
Many wall-mounted units also have an internal temperature sensor, meaning they can be programmed to turn on or switch off so that the room always remains at an ambient temperature.
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Expand Your Existing Air Conditioning Or Home Heating System
There are many different types of heating and air conditioning systems, and for air conditioning specifically, this includes ductless, ducted, wall mounted, floor mounted and ceiling mounted.
Installing a heating or cooling or solution in a sunroom or conservatory is a little different to the rest of your property, since the type of plumbing, heating or electrical structures that are available may not extend throughout the newer constructed areas of your property.
The two options here are to get your heating or air conditioning installed or upgraded at the same time, which will mean a specific solution can be found to integrate with your sunroom. Alternatively, you can request a heating engineer or an air conditioning installer such as ourselves to come up with the best solution based on the design of the building and your budget.
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Air Source Heat Pumps
In recent years, heat pump technology has become more commonplace, making an air or ground source heat pump yet another idea to consider.
If you’re new to heat pumps, how they essentially work is that they heat from the outside air and transfer it indoors. Most modern heat pump systems also provide cooling in summer by reversing the process, making them a genuine year-round solution for a space that’s prone to temperature extremes in both directions.
For a conservatory or sunroom, this makes it one of the most efficient long-term heating solutions available, capable of maintaining a comfortable temperature even when outdoor temperatures drop.
However, there are a couple of major factors to consider with heat pumps:
A high upfront cost: Even after the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant, a full air source heat pump installation typically costs between £8,000 and £15,000 depending on the size of your property and the complexity of the installation. That’s a significant outlay compared to a wall-mounted split system, which can be installed for a fraction of the price and will handle both heating and cooling in a conservatory setting with minimal disruption.
System adaptation: If you’re planning to integrate a heat pump with your existing central heating, the process is rarely straightforward. Heat pumps operate most efficiently with underfloor heating or oversized radiators, which means your current radiators may need upgrading across the whole property, not just in the conservatory. That’s a considerable additional cost and disruption, and in older properties with existing pipework that wasn’t designed for lower-flow temperatures, the work involved can be substantial.
In short, if you don’t have £7,500+ to spend on the project, and you also don’t want to make significant changes to your property (like getting rid of your boiler and changing the radiators), a heat pump isn’t the right solution.
Beyond Your Sunroom, Also Consider The Temperature Of Your Garage
While garages have a different construction to sunrooms, they too can suffer from the issue of becoming hot and humid in the summer, and freezing cold in the winter.
In particular, excess heat and humidity in a garage can affect the condition of your vehicle, especially vehicles that are highly valuable and need to be kept in pristine condition. We highly suggest wall mounted, ceiling mounted or ducted air conditioning units for garages.
After all, unlike with a sunroom, with a garage, it‚’s not simply a case of opening a window to let hot air escape. Even leaving the door open while the garage is unattended poses a huge security threat. But with professional air conditioning, your garage will remain cool at all times, making it pleasant to work in, plus your valuables will not suffer due to excess heat either.
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Air Conditioning For Sunrooms and Conservatories – Nottingham, Derby & Leicester
Need further advice on installing heating or air conditioning in your sunroom or conservatory? Here at Lee Jackson Air Conditioning, we’re expert air conditioning installers with over 15 years of experience. We offer our customers a fully customised solution whether you only want to make your sunroom cooler or your entire property.
We install across Nottingham, Derbyshire and Leicestershire. If you have any questions on anything we’ve mentioned above, or if you’re ready to go ahead and book your air conditioning installation, we’re here to help!
Give us a call on 0800 949 9070 or drop us an email and our friendly team will get back to you.
