Homeowners demand the optimum from their conservatories. They expect a room for all seasons, an enjoyable and comfortable addition to their home. The management of the conservatory environment – temperature, airflow and condensation - is crucial for a conservatory owner’s enjoyment. Ultraframe has always made a virtue of its ventilation systems in its conservatory roof and is the only manufacturer to provide ventilation on all its roofing systems as standard.
Andrew Thomson, Design and Development Director at Ultraframe said: “It is essential that installers are familiar with the site conditions, specify methods for obtaining airflow through the conservatory and offer the homeowner the best advice on environmental control measures. At Ultraframe we offer installers a greater competitive advantage because all our roofing systems have a range of effective ventilation solutions built in as standard to ensure greater comfort for the homeowner. ”
Provision of conservatory ventilation falls into two categories – primary and secondary ventilation. Primary ventilation includes the opening of top light windows, roof vents. The provision of roof vents is a particularly effective method of ventilation with one roof vent providing the equivalent ventilation of four windows.
Andrew Thomson continued: “As well as roof vents and windows, consider secondary ventilation. Ideally ventilation should be provided in the ridge and in the eavesbeam to encourage air movement and minimise heat build up in the summer months. It is also important to consider cross flow ventilation, i.e. airflow across the width of the conservatory. This air movement can be enhanced by the use of fans, as well as natural convectional movement of air that can be gained through upward air flow from open windows to roof vents.”
A trickle ventilation system is integral to all Ultraframe roofing systems. This type of ventilation is essential to minimise condensation which can be a major issue outside of summer months and allows a natural extraction of moisture while providing a comfortable interior temperature.
Andrew continued: “The added benefit of incorporating integral trickle ventilation is that a degree of air movement through convection will be gained throughout the summer. Ultraframe offers patented controllable ventilation through the ridge as standard on our Classic roofing system. This takes advantage of warm air rising and collecting in the inverted ‘V’ at the ridge where trickle vents allow it to escape.”
The Uzone roofing systems both feature a patented ‘stack vent’ finial for further environmental comfort whilst the Elevation lean-to roof features trickle ventilation at the wall plate and eavesbeam. This allows ventilation to continue through the night when the danger of condensation is at its highest, and like all Ultraframe systems does not compromise security by the need to leave windows open.
Andrew Thomson concluded: “Homeowners depend on industry experts to assist in turning their dreams into reality all year round. To assist fabricators and installers, Ultraframe roofing systems include a selection of patented primary and secondary ventilation solutions. These help to ensure comfort for conservatory owners whatever the weather.”
