A winter garden is the dream of many homeowners. Whether as part of the house or as an additional extension, it ensures a pleasant living experience. The large window fronts not only ensure that you feel closer to your garden and therefore to nature. They also make the room sunnier and friendlier. But what should you consider if you want to build a winter garden? Get some winter garden tips on the necessary materials, insulation and budget for a house with a winter garden in this article.
As with building a house itself, thorough planning is the be-all and end-all. Our tips can be very helpful to you. So first get a piece of paper ready and draw a sketch. This sketch is intended to illustrate the shape, i.e. the floor plan, of your future garden. Since you want to use the winter garden as a living space, you should also consider that there should be room for furniture when choosing the size. There may also be some plants and other things. Even if the winter garden connects several rooms, the traffic that this creates must be taken into account. There should be enough space, which you should consider when considering the dimensions of theWinter gardens have to be taken into account when planning the winter garden.
Once you have sketched out a floor plan, you can proceed with the following tips. You now have two options. Either you hire an architect to complete the project or you get a finished model from a catalog from the company of your choice. The second option is without a doubt the cheaper one. While we're talking about the price: Make sure you pay attention to the price-performance ratio. A lower price can often be due to poorer quality. So make sure you get enough information and compare different offers. Less is not more!
Whether you need a full building permit to build a garden depends on your state and the city's building plan. First of all, we would like to mention in our winter garden tips that it is best to pay a visit to the building authority and find out exactly what is required of you. If you hire a company to do the construction, they will probably do everything necessary because they should know the rules and regulations. The same applies to the architect. However, it will take between four and twelve weeks until you finally receive the building permit.
The winter garden should be able to be used all year round. Accordingly, the alignment needs to be planned carefully. Cooler areas should consider a southwest orientation, while in warmer areas a southeast orientation is more advantageous. The reason for this is that the winter garden begins to heat up in the early afternoon, which can become uncomfortable on hot days well into the evening. In contrast, the east side, which is cooler during the day, offers a pleasant balance to the south side. If you have no choice due to the construction or layout of your home, insulation is very important. In summer this is intended to protect against excessive heat and in winter it keeps the winter garden warm. Here are a few winter garden tips on insulation:
An important point that we would like and need to mention in our tips is of course insulation. Proper insulation starts with the roof. The heat rises, so it must be ensured that it cannot escape through the roof. Otherwise you will not be able to keep up with the heating or you will have to expect very high heating costs. Roof windows can prove to be very useful in the summer. If the hot air builds up, these can be opened to let the hot air flow outside. Better air circulation is guaranteed. Now the winter garden roof can consist of a tiled canopy or of special, transparent insulating glass if you value a glass roof. That depends on how much light you value in the winter garden. Nowadays, a self-cleaning glass roof is also available for the glass house. Check with the manufacturer. But it's not just heat that escapes through the roof in winter. In summer it can cause unbearable heat. In this case, solar protection glass is an advantage. Alternatively, a combination of glass and aluminum can be chosen. This makes the roof a lot cheaper and still allows as much light to penetrate into the winter garden through the glass areas, while the aluminum panels limit the heat from the sun.
You can find out how to clean the winter gardenread here.
In all of our tips we would like to draw your attention to something else. There is another variant to avoid overheating. The so-called flat roof winter garden, as the name suggests, has a flat roof and not a sloping one like the classic variants. The roof is not completely glazed, but can be expanded with a dome, through which sufficient sunlight can penetrate into the room in winter in order to use this natural heat and to be able to do without additional heating during the day. In summer, this limits solar radiation. This is almost the same principle as the combination of glass and aluminum that we already mentioned above. It is not without reason that this type of glass house is becoming increasingly popular.
Further tips on insulation relate to the side walls. These are another weak point of the winter garden. Since insulating glass is very expensive, you can simply use double glass so that the heat cannot escape. The type of glass you ultimately use depends on the location of the glasshouse. In the north, you only need to protect yourself from the cold with double glass, as the sun won't shine in there. In the south, the solar protection glass might not be enough in the middle of summer. Winter garden glass, which is impermeable to heat, has the disadvantage that the sun cannot be used in winter, spring and autumn, when it is desired again. Please seek advice from a specialist. In addition, thick curtains or blinds are recommended. On the one hand, they keep the heat in the room, but at the same time they also protect you from unwanted, strong sunlight and are therefore a useful winter garden sun protection. Also check the windows and doors that can be opened. Sometimes there are leaks through which heat can escape. A sliding door in particular can have leaks. In this case, the rubber seals may need to be replaced or cracks sealed with silicone.
You have the choice between different materials, although some of them have more disadvantages and are therefore usually replaced by others from the list. You decide for yourself which of the tips you choose in relation to the material, and it is best to do so with a professional. Plastic and aluminum profiles, steel and wood are typical. These materials are used to build the framework into which the glass is then inserted. Since steel is not very insulating, this material is rarely chosen these days. In contrast, plastic is much more popular. On the one hand, this is because it is very easy to care for. Since it expands and contracts with temperature fluctuations, it must be additionally reinforced with steel. Aluminum is just as strong as steel. The difference is that aluminum is easier to process. This material is also very easy to care for, which cannot be said about wood. It needs to be repainted approximately every three years. However, wood is very thermally insulating and radiates a cozy atmosphere.
Depending on how big you want your glass house to be, you can also choose to build it yourself. For this purpose, a suitable winter garden kit is available in hardware stores. These are usually made of wood, but can also be made of aluminum or plastic. There is no question that you can save money if you use a kit and build the conservatory yourself rather than hiring a company. However, if you prefer a company, some winter garden tips can help you make the right choice. A company is also necessary if your winter garden has a more atypical shape or is to be larger than the finished kits. Choose a company near you. This will ensure that she is aware of the building rules and laws in your locality. It is also easier to visit the company or workshop if additional questions arise. A certified company will educate you well about the right materials and safety regarding the glass and put together the perfect project for you.
Of course, safety comes first. That's why we'd like to say something about that too. Particular attention should be paid to the roof if it is made of glass. During storms, it can quickly happen that heavy objects fall onto the roof and break the glass. The falling shards are extremely dangerous. You should therefore look for an alternative to conventional glass panes. So-called laminated safety glasses are therefore offered. These are discs that are covered with a special film. If the pane breaks, the shards and splinters are held together by this film instead of falling down. But if you want to save money on your roof, you can choose plexiglass or acrylic glass instead of glass. This material is actually not made of glass at all, but is a plastic, which makes it significantly less dangerous if it breaks. In addition, Plexiglas is even more translucent than real glass. But here too there is a disadvantage. The material is not scratch-resistant. Over time, unsightly scratches form due to dirt and other external influences. These usually occur when cleaning the roof and cannot be avoided. It is therefore helpful not to always rely on the cheapest option. Think carefully about the areas in which you would like to save money and where you would be better off investing more money.
So that you can use the glass house even on non-sunny days in winter, heating is of course necessary. There are a wide variety of options available to you, which either involve higher heating costs or higher purchase costs, and we would like to give you some winter garden tips. You should decide for yourself whether you would rather spend more money on the purchase or later on the energy. Air conditioning is perhaps the simplest option. It is installed quickly and is an advantage if the winter garden is not used regularly but needs to heat up the winter garden quickly as needed. This is of course associated with higher energy costs. Heat pump heating is intended to effectively exchange heat and cold. For this purpose, two devices are installed - one is located inside, the other outside the winter garden. This type of heating can both heat and cool and cleans and dehumidifies the air at the same time.
Copper heating strips, which are mounted on the walls or directly on the glass fronts, are another variant for cultivation. The cold air that is outside is thus perfectly repelled. The strips function like a kind of insulation and at the same time give off heat. It can be combined with underfloor heating. Incidentally, underfloor heating is one of the best tips when it comes to heating. However, this is associated with larger acquisition costs. It is integrated into the ground and operated with a pump. Alternatively, so-called heating mats are suitable. These can be installed subsequently and anywhere in the winter garden, which avoids the laying of pipes and cumbersome work. However, they are only powered by electricity, which can be an expensive affair. You can read about the necessary requirements for the heating system in the EnEV. Your heating engineer can also tell you about the different options.
The costs are difficult to estimate because, as you have probably already discovered from our winter garden tips, they depend on many things. On the one hand, there is the size you have chosen for the winter garden. Added to this is the material you want for the construction as well as the type of glazing and roofing. In general, however, it can be said that a glass conservatory costs an average of 1,500 to 2,500 euros per square meter. In addition, there are the additional costs that we have already mentioned: heating, ventilation, planning by an architect, the building permit, but also the foundation. For a 12 square meter winter garden, these amount to around 3,600 euros. The winter garden is not a particularly cheap affair, that is clear. You should therefore be clear about your budget and assess when building a winter garden seems feasible. The best way to get precise price suggestions that take all of your wishes into account is to contact a certified company in your area. Our winter garden tips are only intended to give you some suggestions and a rough idea of what you need to consider.
