Basics on Sunrooms, Patio Enclosures and Attached Greenhouses

Sunrooms, greenhouses, screened rooms, patio enclosures

Sunroom? The word has several meanings: attached greenhouse, solarium, patio enclosure, attached room (bedroom or family room), screened room or porch, pool enclosure room… And you should take that into account, when equating options, prices or manufacturers.

Sunrooms may indeed involve different styles and forms. They can be 1) attached or indoor buildings; 2) separated buildings; 3) full glass buildings (greenhouses, garden rooms…) 4) partial glass buildings...

Sunrooms may also involve very different goals: an extra living space, a piece of a garden hobby… or a piece of a smart environmental and energy efficiency strategy. 

Sunrooms and house energy efficiency

In cold climates, sunrooms (as attached greenhouses) may be part of a home advanced energy efficient strategy: they can be used to supplement your home's heating needs.

For more details:
Sunrooms and house energy efficiency

Sunrooms and daylighting

Sunrooms may be part of daylighting strategies for your house (daylighting is the use of sunrooms, windows and skylights to bring sunlight into your home and reduce fossil energy consumption).

By the way: you should use light colors in your sunroom. Light colors help the room to stay warmer in winter and cooler in the summer. In other words: it’s a way of energy efficiency and also a more neutral base to harmonize the sunroom with the surrounding natural colors.

For more details:
Natural Day lighting throung windows, skylights and clerestories



Sunrooms and Windows

Windows are a key element in many sunrooms. Well dimensioned and placed windows allow excellent aesthetical solutions for partial screened sunrooms.

Today's highly energy-efficient windows can be the major component of walls, allowing sunrooms with excellent insulation and low energy costs. Sunrooms shouldn’t be badly attached divisions, rather unaesthetic.

See also:
Advanced windows
Insulation basics


Sunroom prices and manufacturers

Sunroom prices may vary substantially.

They depend on the type of sunroom: An addition to an existing home? A standard greenhouse? A year round sunroom, highly insulated? A screened room or porch? A partial glass room? A pool enclosure room?

And depend also on dimensions, design and materials used in it: Vinyl? Wood? Other?

For more details:
Sunrooms prices and materials
Find sunroom and greenhouse manufacturers and contractors       

 
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