Whether you’re thinking about home improvements or are a professional business working from home, there’s no doubt that the summer leaves you contemplating how to make the best of your home space.
Although it’s always a gamble in the UK to enjoy hot weather, even in summer, there’s no doubt that most people will be preparing extra outside space and garden opportunities for when the warm weather hits.
One feature you may consider concerning your home office space or living space is an extension into the garden, which leaves you with two great options: the orangery or the conservatory.
You may be wondering which of these is the better option for summer, and this guide is here to help.
Orangery vs Conservatory: What’s the Difference?
An orangery and conservatory are very similar, which leads to many people feeling uncertain about which is the best option. Both an orangery and conservatory will give you a home extension space created predominantly with large windows.
An orangery can be considered more as an extra room with stone structures, such as pillars and a roof; a conservatory, on the other hand, is constructed more of glass, such as a glass roof and less brickwork.
What You Need to Know About Orangeries vs Conservatories for Summer
Both an orangery and conservatory are great options for the summer months, but what are the benefits of each?
Natural Light
A conservatory will be the better choice if you’re looking for maximum natural light. This is because a conservatory is built of more glass compared to an orangery.
The latter may have brickwork or roofing elements that constrict a full natural light flow, whereas a conservatory with wall-to-wall glass windows, doors, or a roof will invite in as much warm natural light as possible.
Increased Summer Living Space
You have the freedom to decide how big you would like either your orangery or conservatory. They both provide a substantially increased summer living space in regard to the extension itself.
It all depends on the type of extra living space you would like. If extending for extra working space, an orangery may be the better choice for additional features like brickwork and a more extravagant home feature.
A conservatory may be better for relaxing summer days if you’re looking for somewhere to sit and lounge in a bright, open space.
Air Flow
An orangery and a conservatory both have the potential for comfortable air flow. With a conservatory, efforts to improve air flow are even more important because of the extra exposure to warm, unrelenting light due to the extra glass, so it will be important to think about ways to improve air flow if you’re opting for a conservatory.
If you’d rather not worry about extra efforts to shield from harsh light, an orangery may offer a more comfortable air flow.
Ventilation
Both orangeries and conservatories will have adequate ventilation, depending on how they are designed.
An orangery with more brickwork and stone pillars may have less ventilation potential than a conservatory made of glass walls, doors, and windows that can invite in that extra breeze.
Nevertheless, an orangery conservatory can be fitted with fold-open doors for extra ventilation if you’re concerned about brickwork blocking ventilation.
