talkmagic.co.uk

You can't put heating in a conservatory without getting pp - I checked this with our planning dept..it is a rule applicable across UK and was a shock to us - we also bought a house with a conservatory added.
Heating a conservatory is not a good thing because most of the heat escapes, so the environment is harmed. If you follow the rule, then you can't use the room for 3 or 4 months of the year. Presumably you could get ground core heating or solar, but the cost would be thousands.
We ased about suitable roof types to be retro fitted, to improve the spec, but this was a pp issue again, and though some slate is very thin and can be fitted by skilled builders, an alternative would be to put in a supportive frame as well as a roof.

We even contacted the Machnlleth eco centre for advice, but they were a bit useless really - if you think of all the thousands of conservatories all over the UK being heated with the owners oblivious to the harm they are doing, maybe a little less focus on grass roofed buildings costing half a million to build (say 3 a year across the whole of Britain) and more focus on how millions of people actually live, and some good suggestions about how to heat and shade structires already in place- preferably affordable, long lasting and not ugly - now that would be good magic

Btw, we had fancy blinds in place, and they made no difference to heat loss, though gave some shade. Any blind will give shade. My parents used cheap IKEA roller blinds on their roof (though they replaced the inner core with a broom handle) fixed on the upper wall, and then taken over to the centre and fixed with cup hooks. Look great actually, cost about £50.