There is a large range of polycarbonate sheets on the market today.
Which is the best for use in a conservatory? What is the best polycarbonate sheet thickness? What is the best colour? In the next couple of blogs, I will give you all the information you need to make the right choice for your project. Let’s start with polycarbonate sheet thickness.
My colleagues and I speak to a lot of customers who either have a conservatory they want to revamp or are building a new one. The number one priority, almost without fail, is to be able to use their conservatory as a room i.e. use it as much as possible throughout the year.
We would always recommend a polycarbonate sheet thickness of 25mm as a minimum, and 35mm polycarbonate if budget permits.
As a general rule, the thicker the polycarbonate sheet the lower U-values you can expect to achieve from it. The U-value is the amount of heat in units of W/m²·K that is transferred or conducted through a material, from hot to cold or vice versa. The lower the U-value the better the insulation performance will be. This is a particularly crucial factor to adhere to building standards / regulations.
Another benefit of using thicker sheets is that the thicker the polycarbonate sheet the stronger and more rigid it becomes. It can therefore, achieve greater spans between supports and you will need fewer glazing bars to hold it. This can give you savings which help to mitigate the cost of the thicker sheets. You also need to factor in better insulation = lower heating bills.
Our next blog will look at which colour polycarbonate sheet is best in your conservatory roof