Regardless of which style you choose, your selection will have a big impact on the overall look and usefulness of your window.

There are a few broad categories of window treatments to choose from, namely blinds, shades, curtains and shutters, or some combination. After you have chosen a fundamental type of window treatment, there are choices in style and options, and of course price. For all of these decisions, the same primary factors apply.

The sections below are intended to guide you through these considerations to help make the most informed decisions and have the feel and function that you desire, considering the full selection of what is available instead of just what your local decorator may offer.

Shades, Blinds, Curtains and Shutters – Choosing a type of window covering

The overall type of window treatments that you choose may be somewhat of a foregone conclusion. If you are looking for window treatments for a single window and every other window in your home already has horizontal blinds, then you can simply consider styles and options. If your interior style isn’t yet set, we encourage you to consider your style preferences and the functional needs of the window before choosing ‘automatically’.

Identifying your style

The broadest considerations for styling are color, material and construction. Do you already have a color theme for the room? A material selection or a ‘feel’ that the window coverings must integrate with, complement or contrast? Fundamentally, the material selections are: fabric, wood (natural and faux), man-made (fabric-like), natural (bamboo, woods), metal and vinyl.

Materials are specific to a window treatment and are listed here in general:

Material options:

• Fabric options: Roman shades, Curtains
• Wood: Horizontal blinds
• Man-made: Cellular shades, pleated shades
• Natural: Woven wood shades
• Metal: Horizontal mini blinds

Color options are too varied to list-when you are shopping, begin with the feature (color or material) that is most important to you first.

Exterior style

Interior and exterior style do not have to be the same! Some products are available with distinctly different appearances on the inside and outside. Virtually all types of shades are available with a different color on the outside. Typically, roman shades and woven woods have a white or very light color lining available on the outside, or ‘street side’. While blinds are usually uniform on both sides, there are a few aluminum mini window blinds that are available with light colors on one side and a variety on the other (interior side).

Light colors facing the outside have a benefit beyond the aesthetic – since solar energy will be absorbed more by dark colors, a lighter color facing the outside will reduce the heat build up on your windows and in your home.

Energy efficiency

Generally, the window treatments that are the most energy efficient are cellular shades. Cellular shades have air pockets (the cells) that block heat transfer. Also, cellular shades tent to fit snugly in the window frame and do not have gaps like horizontal blinds to. With new, energy-efficient windows, this may be a smaller consideration. Essentially, having great quality windows makes energy efficience a lesser concern and opens up your window treatment options to be more solely based on your style preferences.

Function

The primary function of a window treatment is blocking light, but doing so just the way you like it. Blinds allow variable light blockage and are more than sufficient for light control in most cases. If you prefer shades or have a greater need for privacy, window shades offer privacy linings.

These linings are good for privacy, but not total light blockage. If you want total light blockage, such as for a media room or home theater, you’ll need a shade with a blackout lining.

Options to consider:

* For skylights, arched windows that are high on a wall or simply for luxury, motorized, remote-control is available for many window coverings.

* For households with children and pets, cordless lift is strongly recommended. The cords, especially looped cords, are a proven danger to children and pets and have resulted in recalls and safety warnings from consumer protection agencies. Cordless lift also provides a cleaner look and very simple operation and is normally a no-cost option.

* One type of cordless lift is called top-down, bottom-up. This lift option allows you to open the top of a shade by pulling down in addition to the more common operation of lifting up from the bottom. Often, this is a great way to allow in light without sacrifing privacy.

Firstly lets look at underfloor heating which in my opinion is the most efficient, practical, and safe method. There are two types of underfloor heating, either by hot water, or electric heat mats. Using the hot water method needs to be considered during the planning of your conservatory as the pipes needed to distribute the hot water, have to be laid within the concrete screed (floor). Heat mats can be applied after the conservatory is built. The initial cost of the hot water system can be quite high, but the costs over time will be cheaper than using an electrical system, as gas is the cheapest form of domestic energy. If your boiler is quite new, and has excess output to the size of the house, expanding it into the conservatory should be no problem. If this is the case costs will be quite low, and should be considered as your main option. If your current boiler would not be able to cope with the extra demand, and a new boiler would be needed, then the costs are quite high and might not be a feasible option. The long term costs can easily be controlled by having a separate thermostat in the conservatory so you can control the temperature. Electric underfloor heating is the other option, and has a cheaper instillation cost. It can be installed either during the conservatory build, or before laying your selected floor choice. The long term costs will be more expensive depending on the size of the conservatory. The heating is connected directly to the consumer unit (fuse box), and can be easily controlled with a separate switch and thermostat so you can keep a constant temperature. Below is a guide to the running costs depending on the size:-

             Size        Power          Cost/Day*        Cost/Week
            9sqM      1kw                 £1.12                £7.82
          18sqM      2kw                £2.24               £15.65
          30sqM      3kw                £3.35               £23.47

*based on 8 hrs a day at the National Average rate of 13.97p/kWh (Dec 2009 tariff) for a unit of electricity.

Both methods emit radiant heat which gently warms up objects in its path, eg tables, chairs ,sofa’s, and then radiates the heat to the rest of the room. Other forms of conventional heating use convection currents which circulates rising warm air, and sinking cooler air, which is not very practical in a tall glass structure. Underfloor heating also creates many other advantages, for example the floor is always warm, there are no unsightly pipes or wires, furniture can be positioned without any hindrance, and it creates more room allowing you to fully utilize your space. An insulating barrier would need to be put between the heating unit and the concrete floor, wether it would be through water or electric. This would stop the heat being absorbed by the floor. Laminate flooring for the conservatory would be more efficient rather than tiling. Tiles will absorb the heat more, and a significant upgrade in the power of electric underfloor heating would be needed if tiling was your choice.

There are many other options for heating your conservatory, from wall mounted convection heaters, storage heaters, oil filled radiators, and radiant heaters. Most of these types of heaters can also be bought as portable units so they are not only confined to the conservatory. Probably the safest and most efficient of these are the oil filled radiators, whether it is wall mounted or portable. Advances in technology have made these units much more appealing with many now coming with safety cut off switches if they get too hot or are knocked over. It is also worth spending the extra money on purchasing a model with a timer, and its own thermostat so you can switch it on, and the room will be kept at a constant temperature. Convection heaters are not that efficient, and as we talked about earlier heating using convection currents is not practical in a conservatory. The advantages of these types of heaters are that many companies are selling them in sizes specially designed for dwarf walls like you would find in your conservatory. Radiant heaters work by emitting an infrared beam that creates heat on contact with objects. The disadvantages of these heaters are that they can cause a possibility of fire if objects too close get too hot, and they are designed more for targeting heat to a specific place rather than heating an entire conservatory. Last of all is the storage heaters, but to me these are outdated, and terribly inefficient. They work by storing heat at night while electricity is cheaper, and then slowly releasing it during the day. You will find that the heaters will emit a lot of heat in the early part of the day, and then will get cooler as the day goes on. As most people will tend to use the conservatory in the early evening, this type of heating is not well suited for conservatories. All in all I think that underfloor heating is they way forward in conservatories, and if you need any further information please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us here at Firths.

People often don’t understand the work involved in planning, creating, and erecting a conservatory. In the first instance we would help you plan your conservatory around your intended use. There are that many different variants, and options sometimes the choice can be quite daunting. This is where we come in to use our vast experience to suggest some great ideas for you to choose from. Once you have chosen your conservatory, we then need to look at whether planning permission would be needed. In most cases planning permission from the local authority is not needed, but if it is we would deal with this on your behalf. Below we have a summary of the main aspects of planning permission revolved around conservatories, which need to be considered in the planning of your conservatory:-
Planning permission is NOT needed if the following conditions are met,
1) The conservatory must be less then half the area of land around the original house (this includes other outbuildings you may already have).
2) That it doesn’t extend to the principal or side elevation fronting a highway.
3) That it shouldn’t extend higher than the highest part of the original roof of the house.
4) If any part of the conservatory is more than four metres high, where it is within two metres of the boundary of your property.
5) If the volume of the original house is to be increased by more that 115 cubic metres.

Building regulations can be a consideration, but most conservatories are exempt if they are less than 30 metres square in floor space, and built on a single level. They are also exempt if they are separated from the house by external quality doors.

Your conservatory will be crafted from scratch by our expert joiners using the finest wood in our state of the art facility, which can take up to eight weeks. Once the conservatory is made we can then lay the foundations, floor area and build the dwarf wall. You will need to consider whether you want to have underfloor heating in your conservatory at this stage. The most efficient method of heating the conservatory is by having hot water underfloor heating. If you choose this method the water pipes would need to be laid within the concrete floor. There will be more on underfloor heating in our next blog. We can then erect your new conservatory.
Then the finishing decor, which is the part where you take over. I am sure you will love making the finishing touches, and personalizing your new space. So all in all, the process can take up to 5 months (a lot less if planning permission is not necessary), so this is why you need to get the ball rolling now, and have a stunning new conservatory all ready for those long summer days.