Is solar glass worth having?

[DerbyLad]

 

Hi All,

 

To the rear of our self build, we have a flat roof area that forms part of the kitchen.  We have north facing bi-folds and East facing tall windows.  The rear of the house including this section is east facing.  In the flat roof we have a 2500mm x 1500mm flat roof light, slightly smaller than what is shown on the plan.  My question, is it worth paying the extra £330 to have solar glass.  My builder thinks not but I can't decide.  Any experience or advice would be most welcome

Thank you for reading 

 

Kitchen Plan June 2023.pdf

[ToughButterCup]

Any question which asks '....is it worth (anything) ...' begs the question  : worth it to whom?

 

If by solar glass you mean glass which reduces heat gain - and possibly flare -  and your roof is in the shade of the rest of the building, then you might welcome the extra warmth generated by not installing solar glass. But, what if your microclimate is noticeably warmer and drier than the local average - our microclimate is affected by the sea a couple of fields away - and sunnier than a few miles inland ?  

 

You'll need to make a judgement in the round - the cash price is only one thing to consider.

[MikeGrahamT21]

How insulated is the rest of your property? I have a large triple glazed window on the west side of my bungalow and that can bring some heat in during the summer months, there have been times i wish i'd have had solar control glazing.

[Mike]

Solar control glass would have been very useful on my current project - in summer. However I decided against it because it would have cut the light transmission through the window from something like 82% to 54%. I don't want to loose that much light.

[Mr Punter]

I cannot work out where North is on the drawing.  Can't see any bifolds.  If the 2 windows at the top are the East facing tall windows, then are the French doors facing South?

 

Wall insulation looks a bit thin but you SAP person will say if it is acceptable.

 

Whatever, you may find that decent blinds will help potential overheating.

[DerbyLad]

Hi,

 

Yes the French doors (which are now bi-fold doors) are facing south.  The insulation is 100mm full fill, this was building reg's at the time (reg's might have been 75mm actually) of my material start, it's been a long project!  We currently live next door and have a conservatory that is unusable on hot sunny days.  I will probably go with solar glass after my weekend research.  The room has plenty of light, so I'm not concerned about losing some light.

 

Thanks all

[Chanmenie]

1 hour ago, DerbyLad said:

Hi,

 

Yes the French doors (which are now bi-fold doors) are facing south.  The insulation is 100mm full fill, this was building reg's at the time (reg's might have been 75mm actually) of my material start, it's been a long project!  We currently live next door and have a conservatory that is unusable on hot sunny days.  I will probably go with solar glass after my weekend research.  The room has plenty of light, so I'm not concerned about losing some light.

 

Thanks all

I have a south and west facing conservatory with solar glass and can use it comfortably on the hottest of days, so yes solar glass really works