What functional purpose does a sunroom provide? (flooring, fireplace, windows)

[vthok]

HOw often do you really use it? What is its main purpose in a house. Wondering if worth even getting a floorplan with one in it.

[TuborgP]

Depending on the exposure it is awesome. Wood floors, plants, ceiling fan and comfortable furniture. Sleep, read, relax, chat hmmmm add a wood burning free standing stove and man oh man. Our old house had one our new one doesn't but we are converting a second floor bedroom to one. Faces east, morning sun, fan, wicker furniture and curved windows. The wife said sunroom and claimed it for that purpose.

[Lizardlips]

It is like a really informal family room, that has lots of windows and views of your yard. It is my favorite spot in my house. Mine is really just a nice screened in porch with wicker furniture, but I sit out there every morning with my coffee, and my devotional. I sit out there almost every night with a glass of wine, and a good book.
I would totally advise you to have one, or at least build one later.

[J_Lurk]

We have a screened porch we added to the house. When we first proposed it my husband was not keen, and not until we actually had it (and loved it) was he able to articulate the issue. He didn't like sunrooms, and he was afraid the screened porch would be like a sunroom. To my mind, the main difference is that sunrooms have glass windows rather than screens, and the flooring and furniture are more like a house than a porch.

My husband grew up with a sunroom, and to his mind it was "the too-cold or too-hot room." It got sun, but in the winter it wasn't heated, yet it was closed in enough that it couldn't be used like a porch. It was just a not very useful not very temperature controlled room of the house with a lot of windows.

With the screened porch we have protection from the rain, but our kids can still play water games, paint, and throw messy things around. We can enjoy the outdoor temperatures bug-free (important here). It does have a ceiling fan so even hot days can be nice on it.

So we're big fans of the screened porch, but my husband still doesn't like sun rooms.

Your mileage my vary! I'm sure someone will explain the appeal of a sunroom!

[toot68]

Originally Posted by J_Lurk

We have a screened porch we added to the house. When we first proposed it my husband was not keen, and not until we actually had it (and loved it) was he able to articulate the issue. He didn't like sunrooms, and he was afraid the screened porch would be like a sunroom. To my mind, the main difference is that sunrooms have glass windows rather than screens, and the flooring and furniture are more like a house than a porch.

My husband grew up with a sunroom, and to his mind it was "the too-cold or too-hot room." It got sun, but in the winter it wasn't heated, yet it was closed in enough that it couldn't be used like a porch. It was just a not very useful not very temperature controlled room of the house with a lot of windows.

With the screened porch we have protection from the rain, but our kids can still play water games, paint, and throw messy things around. We can enjoy the outdoor temperatures bug-free (important here). It does have a ceiling fan so even hot days can be nice on it.

So we're big fans of the screened porch, but my husband still doesn't like sun rooms.

Your mileage my vary! I'm sure someone will explain the appeal of a sunroom!

I so agree with your husband. If you are going to build a sunroom, connect it into the HVAC system so you can use it as a normal room of the house year round (as described, a room with lots of windows). If you are not going to do this, do a screen porch instead.

[emme313]

. A sunroom with windows, you can use all year round you can recoup that expense if you ever sell, as it adds square footage and value to the home. Plus depending on your layout it adds quit a bit of light. if its added on where there would otherwise be a wall.

[Southside Shrek]

to me a nice sunroom is a big plus in a home.

[rubytue]

Originally Posted by J_Lurk

My husband grew up with a sunroom, and to his mind it was "the too-cold or too-hot room." It got sun, but in the winter it wasn't heated, yet it was closed in enough that it couldn't be used like a porch. It was just a not very useful not very temperature controlled room of the house with a lot of windows.

My in-laws have a nice sunroom with cork flooring. They have to run a supplemental window a/c in the summer b/c it overheats. But I have been reading a lot about green remodeling, and one thing mentioned a lot is that its important to have a heat sink in sunroom. You want to have tile or stone flooring to deal with the heat. In the winter, it absorbs heat and radiates it back at night, and in the summer, it keeps the room for overheating. Also, if you want the passive heating/cooling of a sunroom, your can't buy the "top of the line" low-E windows. You have to pay attention to the heat gain also. Most windows these days are so high efficiency, they don't work right for passive heating. Also, there is a proper ratio of windows to flooring you should follow to avoid over heating - but I don't have the book handy to figure it out.

The books also talk about passive heating getting a bad rap in the 70s & 80s b/c of the too hot/too cold thing, but that when you add stone flooring (or a stone fireplace), it helps the problem.

[EricD]

I'd say a sunroom is only as good as the view. If it's going to look right at the house behind you or something, I wouldn't bother... but if it overlooks the countryside or a lake/pond or something you're willing to sit and look at, or show your friends without being obvious... I'd build a sun room.

[Cornerguy1]

Our 150-year-old house has a long, (30ft), sun porch with a south eastern exposure.

It connects to both our living room and to our kitchen.

From a practical use standpoint, it is our home's second entrance. It contains a pantry, our freezer, a coat closet, and storage for boots and shoes. The slate tiles make for easy clean up if boots are snowy or muddy. It also has an area where we keep a couple of days worth of firewood for the wood stove. There's room left over for a table and a couple of chairs which make an excellent place to enjoy lunch in the sun during winter months.

The greatest benefit we derive from out sunporch is its ability to add passive solar heat to our house in October, November, December, February and March. On sunny days in those months, the temperature gets in to the 80's in the posrch by mid morning. Then it's just a matter of opening the doors to the living room and kitchen and letting all that free heat into the main living space. When evening comes, we just close the doors again. It's also nice that the overhang of our eaves actually keep the sun out of the porch in summer when the sun is higher in the sky.

Depending on what you envision using your sunroom for, they can be a valuable addition to your house.