It doesn’t seem long ago since the typical conservatory was glazed with standard toughened double glazed sealed units in the frames and 16mm clear polycarbonate in the roof.

In fact for the conservatory roof, there were basically three polycarbonate options, clear, bronze or opal 16mm polycarbonate and for the frames there were two options, toughened glass or Low E toughened glass.

Since then, over the past few years,  there have been some major changes to the glazing being specified in a conservatory which is particularly due to advancements in glazing technology.

For the conservatory frames, and in addition to the above two options, there is now more more to choose from including Pilkington energiKare (not suitable for south-facing conservatories) and Pilkington Activ self-cleaning glass.

When it comes to the roof, there is an even wider of options available including 25mm, 32mm and 35mm polycarbonate thicknesses for improved thermal efficiency. There are also more colours to choose from including blue, solar ice, grey heatguard and silver heatguard.

Solar control foil inserts can also be fitted inside the polycarbonate, achieving a solar reflection performance of around 80%. These inserts are available in green, blue, gold and silver.

Perhaps the biggest change in conservatory roof glazing is the popularity of a glass roof. Normally 24mm thick double glazed units are available in a variety of options including standard toughened units, self cleaning and solar control options such as Pilkington Activ Blue and Aqua Green which are both self cleaning and solar control, making the conservatory more comfortable all year round.

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So what glazing type should you choose for your new conservatory roof?

Well, one in three newly supplied conservatories are now sold with a glass roof as opposed to polycarbonate and this percentage is continually increasing. Its really a matter of taste and personal opinion, as well as personal needs.

There are several advantages and disadvantages with both polycarbonate and glass conservatory roof glazing.

To start with, polycarbonate is cheaper, safer and can achieve better solar reflection performance (reduction of the suns heat and glare) if fitted with foil inserts than any glass product. Its also more robust and longer lasting than glass sealed units. On the other hand, glass roofs for conservatories can create a visually more appealing effect, allowing clear vision of the sky and letting in more light. It is also a lot quieter in rainfall than polycarbonate and is available with self-cleaning and solar reflective properties.

The choice is quite vast. With polycarbonate, there are a choice of several thicknesses with different u-values (insulating thermal properties) and various colour options to choose from, the most common of which are clear, bronze (tinted) and opal (white), all of which can be fitted with solar control foil inserts that can provide up to a massive 80% solar reflection.

With glass, there is normally just one thickness for modern PVCu conservatories which is usually 24mm. Other options include easy clean coatings, true self-cleaning (such as Pilkington Activ self-cleaning glass) and solar control (such as Pilkington Activ Blue or Pilkington Activ Neutral self-cleaning, solar control glass).

The only other issue is the weight difference. Obviously double glazed glass units are a lot heavier than polycarbonate panels and often create the need for additional conservatory roof reinforcement, further adding to the cost of glass roof conservatories. Further, if you’re looking for a very large or wide-span conservatory, you may be restricted to how big you can actually go with a glass roof as opposed to the lighter polycarbonate option without the need for a portal frame.

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So which is the best, of two of the most popular conservatory roof glasses? Well I decided to do a little research and came up with the following results.

Sources for above figures: 

http://www.cervoglass.co.uk/cervoactiv1.html
http://www.celsiusglass.com/tech.htm

As you can see from the above figures, it’s a case of ’swings and roundabouts’ and it really depends on what you or the customer wants.

Pilkington’s strong selling point with their Activ Blue glass is the self cleaning properties while K2’s strength with their Celsius Plus glass is the greater solar heat reflection.

Activ Blue has the additional advantages of a slightly lower U-value and a little better light transmission, although there’s not really that much in it.

Conclusion: It looks to me like both the Pilkington Activ Blue and the K2 Celsius Plus conservatory roof glasses perform pretty well and I believe are similarly priced so I guess it’s down to what’s most important the the end user, self-cleaning or a slightly higher degree of solar heat reflection (solar control).

Personally, I prefer the Pilkington Activ Blue as it still provides excellent solar control along with true self cleaning which is extremely convenient when situated in a conservatory roof.

I’ve also had personal experience of sitting in a conservatory on a hot sunny day with Activ Blue in the roof and also in the side frames, and I’ve got to say that I was most impressed with how cool it really was in there and that’s one of the reasons that I would personally recommend it.

Obviously, we also have the very strong selling point of the Pilkington brand name with all their marketing behind it.

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Sealed unit manufacturer Solaglas launches COMFORT+excel, the best performing conservatory roof glass on the market.

The multi-functional glass is a premium product in its existing COMFORT+ range of conservatory glass and leads the way in four key areas: solar heat reflection, thermal insulation, self cleaning and warm edge technology.

The new glass also comes with a market leading 1.0W/m2K u-value and Swisspacer V warm edge technology as standard to virtually eliminate internal condensation.

Thus COMFORT+excel reflects heat generated inside the conservatory back into the room and prevents it from escaping out of the roof, significantly reducing the need for heating in winter months.

Below I have included an extract from their PDF.

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I just came across this interesting product from Tuffx.

The revolutionary eco i-panel, is a insulated composite panel, suitable for conservatory roofing and walls, that offers incredible U-values as low as 0.20 & conforms to Part L of Building Regulations, removing the neccessity for dividing internal doors between the house and conservatory.

eco-i panel is the first thermally efficient system available in the UK that is suitable for both insulated conservatory roofs, walls and curtain walling applications.

 Of course, due to the fact that the roof is not translucent, the conservatory will need building regulations approval every time.

You can download their pfd leaflet for more details here.

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