Sun Room

The Versatile Sun Room

Known by a lot of names, like greenhouse, patio room and solarium, the versatile sun room is one of the most popular additions that many homeowners will add on to their homes. Providing extra living space, as well as a literal window onto nature, this addition will add value to your home, as well as years of enjoyment.

Want to know more about how adding a sun room can enhance the enjoyment of your home? Everyone at Crystal Construction has the expertise to answer any questions you may have, so call us today.

Evolution

In the past, people would sit on their front porch or stoop, and socialize with neighbors and visitors during the hazy days and nights of summer. Great plan, except for when the weather would turn inclement, or the mosquitoes would home in. No one wanted to give up this luxury, but something had to be done about improving it. The next phase was the screened porch, which worked out fine, but could not be used year-round. Thankfully, someone then came up with storm windows that could be fitted and removed easily.

After this, it was only a matter of time before plans were streamlined year after year until designers finally created the sun room. A veritable hybrid between a greenhouse, porch and patio enclosures, it provides year-round enjoyment and can be one of the most economic rooms in your home, because of its ability to harness the environment around it, and use it to its best advantage.

Purpose and Design

The purpose of this kind of home addition is to store up as much solar energy as possible. For this reason it should be built so that it faces towards the sun for as much time as potentially possible during the day. The materials used in its construction will help it store up the sun’s energy so that the room would then be heated through a concept called reactive heat during the night, and this function comes in especially handy during the winter months, saving the homeowner on their heating bill throughout the colder months.

The best materials for creating this type of enclosure are thermal mass materials that will efficiently conduct and store solar energy, and those that will release it when needed. Materials like brick, pressure-treated wood and aluminum are the primary choices when creating this kind of energy-efficient structure. Double glazed windows are also best used for sun room, because they decrease the glare of the sun while providing the right level of insulation so that the reactive heat energy built up will not be wasted.