How to Tackle Condensation in a Conservatory
Condensation in conservatories can become a real issue in the colder months, when the air outside is cold and the heating is on inside to keep your home cosy. Common causes of condensation in a conservatory are cold spots, inefficient heating and poor ventilation. These can all be helped by replacing your old, inefficient glass or polycarbonate conservatory roof with a Leka solid conservatory roof.
How Does Condensation Form in my Conservatory?
Condensation happens when cold and warm air meets – it’s known as the dew point. Warm air carries more water vapour than cold air and it is more buoyant too. When this warm air, that’s full of water vapour, comes into contact with a cold surface, such as a pane of glass or a polycarbonate roof, the vapour cools into water droplets, resulting in condensation.
If your conservatory faces north or north-east, you might find that condensation happens more often, because it won’t get as much sunlight, making it naturally colder.
Importance of Ventilation in a Conservatory
Over the years, the energy efficiency of our buildings has increased, with double glazing, insulated cavity walls and roof spaces installed to make homes warmer. But in older properties, this extra insulation can reduce natural ventilation, leading to moisture being trapped in rooms.
As the room cools down, either overnight whilst not in use or when the heating is switched off, the air condenses, misting up the glass of windows and conservatories. If your conservatory is not adequately ventilated, this condensation can start to build up, leading to damp and mould.
This is why most modern homes have extractor fans in wet rooms like bathrooms, utility rooms and kitchens and any other areas where extra moisture is generated.
Opening a window for ventilation will allow fresh air to circulate and reduce the moisture levels in your conservatory, but if condensation is particularly bad, a solid roof conservatory refurbishment could be the answer for you.
Solid Conservatory Roof Replacements
Significant condensation in a conservatory can indicate poor insulation and ventilation, but with a solid roof conservatory, you can convert your space from cold and damp to warm, dry and cosy – more like an extension.
Energy efficient Leka roofs help to transform your conservatory into a space that’s comfortable, whatever the time of year. It is highly insulated, resulting in a low U-Value of just 0.15 W/m2K and a well-insulated conservatory.
The Leka roof structure uses Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP) ring-beams and rafters to prevent cold bridging – this means that the roof has consistent insulation, with no heat-conducting materials that can allow warm air inside to meet cold air, eliminating the risk of condensation in your conservatory.
Using GRP also makes the roof super lightweight so that it can be installed on existing conservatory window frames.
A 15mm air gap is left in between the roof insulation and the specially-designed Leka internal sheets – this creates air flow in the roof to fully ventilate it and remove any moisture so that condensation in conservatories doesn’t occur.
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Find an Installer to Fit Your Conservatory Roof
All Leka roofs are installed by expert certified Leka installers and our network spans all along the South Coast, from Bournemouth to Portsmouth and into Kent and Essex. You can find an installer here.
