Short answer: yes, you can use an uninsulated winter garden very well in winter. The common belief that „a cold winter garden isn’t suited to winter“ confuses two different things — year-round living and winter use. As a living room where you’d sit in light clothes in January, a cold winter garden isn’t meant to be used. But as a pleasant winter outdoor space — free of snow, wind and rain, with local heat if needed — it works beautifully. We’ve seen this ourselves at our clients’ homes over the years.
Nobody buys a winter garden to live in year-round — and almost nobody wants to
The most important thing to understand about a winter garden: the vast majority of people don’t want one in order to live there all year round. In our experience, the share of such clients is close to 99%.
What people actually want is a place to be surrounded by nature without snow, wind and rain — morning coffee in the light, an evening after work, children playing, a pet in the sun, plants protected. That need is year-round, but it is NOT the same as a heated living room.
This is exactly where our principle comes from: paying twice as much for an insulated winter garden to cover roughly one percent of extra need makes no sense for most people. A cold winter garden delivers about 99% of the real use at about half the price.
How a cold winter garden is actually used in winter
- Cooling down after the sauna. One of the winter garden’s best moments — see below.
- Infrared heater. Warms the person and the surfaces, not the whole volume of air. A warm body + a heater = a comfortable spot to sit even in frost.
- Fireplace or Bullerjan stove. We have built fireplace corners into winter gardens, and Bullerjan-type stoves have been installed as well. (We handle the flue and fire safety as part of the build — this is not a DIY job.)
- Morning coffee and winding down in the evening in warm clothes, with a hot drink.
- Overwintering plants and, in spring–autumn, full-value extra space.
After the sauna — the winter garden’s best winter moment
When it’s -10 to -20 °C outside, you don’t want to step into the harsh frost or back into the hot kitchen. You want to cool down calmly, out of the wind, without seeing snow. In our experience and our clients’, a warm body can sit comfortably in a glazed winter garden for up to about an hour even in hard frost — with no extra heating at all, purely thanks to the wind and rain shelter. Add an infrared heater or a fireplace and that time stretches even further.
Why it works — simple physics
- It stops the wind. Much of the feeling of cold comes from wind. A glass wall cuts it off.
- It keeps precipitation out. No snow, no rain, no damp on your clothes.
- It’s a few degrees warmer than the outside air and the house-side wall radiates a little warmth.
- It captures the sun. On a sunny winter day the glass space warms noticeably above the outside air thanks to the greenhouse effect — even in frost it can be pleasantly warm in the sun and out of the wind, the thermometer on the plus side, often with no extra heating at all.
This is how a cold winter garden works as a pleasant buffer zone between the frost outside and the warmth of the house — an in-between space that is always warmer than outdoors and sheltered, without having to heat the whole room all year round. A person isn’t warmed by air temperature but by radiation and clothing. That’s why a point heat source and warm clothes are enough, even when the thermometer shows only a few degrees above zero. The same principle as why it’s warm by a campfire even on a cold evening.
Bonus: because a cold winter garden has natural ventilation (openable glass), it doesn’t develop the condensation and mould problems typical of a heated space.
Cool in summer, warm in winter — how the glass choice plays with the seasons
The sun is low in winter and high in summer — and a well-planned winter garden uses this to its advantage. Our typical solution plays along with the seasons:
- Roof — tinted glass. In summer the sun is high and sharp, passing over the roof. Tinted (solar-control) roof glass stops a large share of that heat — under the glass it’s shaded and can be even cooler than out under the open sky in direct sun. This way the winter garden doesn’t turn into a hot greenhouse in summer.
- Sides — clear glass. In winter the sun is low and shines in from the sides. Untinted (clear) side glass lets that low winter sun in and warms the space. That’s why we usually leave the sides clear.
- Sides open in summer. In summer the side panels slide fully open — cross-ventilation carries the heat out, and the greenhouse effect simply doesn’t build up. The winter garden becomes a shaded, airy outdoor terrace.
The same structure, the opposite behaviour: a sun-warmed buffer zone in winter, a shaded and openable cool corner in summer. Which glass goes where depends on the winter garden’s orientation and surroundings — we settle that during the on-site survey.
Insulated vs uninsulated — is it worth paying double?
| Uninsulated (cold) | Insulated | |
|---|---|---|
| Winter use | Yes — as an outdoor space, with local heat if needed | Yes — as a living room |
| Year-round living | No | Yes |
| Natural ventilation | Yes | No (needs a device) |
| Price | Base level | ~2× higher |
| Who it’s for | The vast majority | The ~1% who need permanent living space |
If you don’t actually plan to live in the winter garden, the extra money for insulation largely goes to covering a need you don’t have. That’s why we don’t build insulated winter gardens — we focus on the uninsulated winter garden that creates real value for most people. Read more about what a winter garden costs.
Our principle — we don’t sell what won’t be used
ATKA Klaaskoda builds only uninsulated winter gardens. This isn’t a limitation but a choice: we recommend solutions that are reasonably priced and actually used. If someone genuinely needs a year-round heated glass room, we say honestly that it’s a different product and point them to a specialised builder.
For everyone else — meaning almost everyone — we build a winter garden that serves all year round: as full-value extra space from spring to autumn, and in winter as a pleasant outdoor space free of wind and snow, which can be topped up with local heat if needed.
FAQ: Winter garden in winter
Can you use an uninsulated winter garden in winter?
Yes. An uninsulated winter garden really is used in winter — for cooling down after the sauna, for morning coffee, for overwintering plants. The glass wall stops the wind and precipitation and keeps the space a few degrees warmer than the outside air. An infrared heater, fireplace or Bullerjan stove make it a comfortable place to sit even in frost.
How warm is a winter garden in winter?
Without extra heating, a cold winter garden is a few degrees warmer than the outside air, and the main benefit comes from the wind and rain shelter. On a sunny day the greenhouse effect adds to this — even in frost the glass space can warm noticeably above outside, comfortably onto the plus side. In our experience a warm body (e.g. coming from the sauna) can sit there comfortably for up to about an hour even at -10 to -20 °C. With an infrared heater or fireplace it stays cosy for longer.
Does a winter garden get too hot in summer?
A properly planned winter garden does not. Tinted (solar-control) roof glass stops a large share of the high summer sun’s heat, and the openable side panels let the warm air out. In summer the sides slide fully open, so the winter garden becomes a shaded, airy outdoor terrace rather than a hot greenhouse. The clear side glass, in turn, lets the low winter sun warm the space.
Can you live in a winter garden year-round?
An uninsulated winter garden isn’t meant for year-round living as a heated room. For that there’s an insulated winter garden, which costs about twice as much. In our experience about 99% of clients don’t want it — the need is a pleasant seasonal and winter outdoor space, which a cold winter garden covers at about half the price.
Can a winter garden be heated?
Yes. Common solutions are an infrared heater (which warms the person and surfaces, not the whole air) and a fireplace or Bullerjan-type stove. We have built fireplace corners into winter gardens — we handle the flue and fire safety as part of the build. A point heat source suits a cold winter garden better than trying to keep the whole air volume warm.
Why doesn’t Klaaskoda build insulated winter gardens?
Because the vast majority of people don’t need a year-round heated glass room, and insulation doubles the price to cover a need most don’t have. We recommend solutions that are actually used at a reasonable price. If someone genuinely needs permanent living space, we honestly point them to a specialised builder.
Does a cold winter garden get condensation or mould?
An uninsulated winter garden has natural ventilation (openable glass) that ensures airflow, so the condensation and mould problems typical of heated rooms usually don’t arise. This is one of the practical advantages of the cold solution.
ATKA Klaaskoda builds uninsulated winter gardens from foundation to roof — one contractor, one warranty. We recommend what actually gets used. We serve Pärnu County, Saaremaa and Hiiumaa.
