sunroom

[totoro]

I really want to build a sunroom on the south/west side of our house. 

Does anyone have any tips on how to do this on a budget?  Or websites?

FYI there is a small (two foot) roof overhang at this spot of the house which is only ten feet from the ground.  I would love to use mostly recycled materials but would like a good plan to start with.  I'd like it to be about ten foot deep and about twenty feet in length.  We live in a 1400 square foot cottage at the back of our property so it needs to appeal to us but regular curb appeal is not a problem.

[jpo]

http://www.notsobighouse.com/nsb_remodeling.asp

Check it out at your local library. Lots of ideas on how to design an efficient space.

[totoro]

Thanks!  Her first two books are favourites, next to Christopher Alexander's "A Pattern Language".  I didn't know she had a new one.

[StarswirlTheMustached]

"Build it Solar" just put up a bunch of stuff on low-thermal-mass sunspaces for heating. Check it out here: http://www.builditsolarblog.com/2013/01/muli-purpose-low-thermal-mass-sunspaces.html

[jameswilson]

We got a new sunroom from Champion. Why don’t you see if they’re in your area? They usually send their guys over for a free estimate. Or you can research more about their sunrooms online.

[Jill the Pill]

Thanks!  Her first two books are favourites, next to Christopher Alexander's "A Pattern Language".  I didn't know she had a new one.

Oh, "A Pattern Language" is wonderful!  I'm especially moved by the sections about teen-ager/old folks cottages. 

[Jamesqf]

First question: where do you live?  In a place with hot & sunny summers (like where I live), a permanent sunroom can be counterproductive half the year.  My solution was to enclose my south-facing covered patio with removeable panels.

[totoro]

I live in Victoria BC.  Weather is a bit nicer than Seattle.  It is a good sunroom area but need vents and I want some opening windows and blinds.  The exposure is SW so it will get a bit hot in August - but should be excellent the rest of the year.

I'm going to look up Champion.

[Welmoed]

We added a sunroom to our last house. I'd never do it again. The heat gain in the summer was horrendous and the loss in winter was equally bad. We used the area for indoor plants, so humidity was always a problem. There was always a mildewy smell, and while it was kind of fun to grow our own bananas and citrus fruits, the hassle of caring for the area soon outweighed the advantages. We ended up having to close up most of the openings to the rest of the house since it was dumping moisture everywhere. We ended up closing it off completely with doors and windows, and the trapped humidity just accelerated the problems. We tried a lot of different methods of controlling the solar gain/loss, and ended up spending hundreds of dollars we really didn't want to.
Yes, they're gorgeous. But ours ended up being too much work. I'm glad we don't have one anymore.
Just my $.02.
--Welmoed

[totoro]

I wonder why it was like this for you?  We don't have high humidity here in general and I have never heard of this problem with sunrooms here.