Home Extensions - Why All Those Windows?

Nov. 17, 2009 - PRLog -- As a designer of home extensions for more years than I care to remember I have seen various trends com and go. At the moment some of the most common discussions start along the lines of 'I do like a lot of light' or 'what about some of those bi-fold doors", perhaps a problem through watching too many episodes of Grand Designs! Ironically producing more light is easy to fix, you just flick a switch, a well designed lighting scheme will produce as much as you are likely to need. Whilst not suggesting that you have the lights on all day during the summer the reality is that you are still going to need them on at 5pm for most of the winter. On the other hand warming up a cold room or cooling down a hot one can take rather longer as many people with poorly located conservatories can testify.

Although there are energy savings to be had by reducing the use of artificial light, low rated bulbs (which are now becoming the norm) use relatively little particularly when compared to most heating appliances. Windows can help with heating from the solar gain but this has to be weighed against the generally higher heat loss and greater potential for overheating in summer from a lot of glass. If global heating does turn into a reality we may need to look at more ways of shading a building, possibly looking at how it is dealt with in hotter climates such as external shutters, deep eaves or verandas.

Windows often provide the character to a building and after you have seen a few 'glass box' types of extensions they can become a bit 'samey'. Often the examples one sees in magazines are attached to fairly typical Victorian terraces in the more salubrious parts of London boroughs. It seems that the people who live in them do not have children with piles of toys scattered around or buy the weekend broadsheets with their 10 supplements to cover the floor with. Since one can probably not see the Taj Mahal (except maybe the Indian restaurant) from Islington it is perhaps not necessary to have such large windows for the view - it just makes you more aware that your lawn needs cutting and the weeds are sprouting. On the other had it does give the neighbours a better view of you doing unmentionable things!

As for those bi-fold doors, yes they can be quite nice, but since they combine both a sliding and folding action my guess would be they may not be so reliable in the long term.

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David Longhurst has been designing home extensions for over 30 years for anything from contemporary houses to thatched cottages and mobile homes. He also contributes to the information website http://home-extension.info


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