I thought having a screened in porch would be more enjoyable than having a standard deck.
I loved the idea of sitting in a cozy lounge chair, drinking my coffee, and reading a good book. I never saw myself doing this with a deck because the bugs were horrible in the summer and I didn’t want to build something that I’d never use. When I was explaining my dream for the screened in porch to my brother, he told me that I’d never use the screened in porch if there was no proper source of AC. The summers in this region are hot and humid, so despite having a screen around the porch, I’d never enjoy it. Part of me wanted to resent what my brother said, but deep down, I knew he was right. He could tell how crushed I was, so he recommended that I install weather shades and a ductless mini split system. The weather shades were basically rolls of plastic that rolled up and down along the sides of the screen. You could see through them, so the natural light would continue to shine through. During the summertime, I could roll the weather shades down and turn on my ductless mini split system. The shades would insulate the screened in porch and trap the AC that was coming from the ductless mini split system. This would be the best way to enjoy my screened in porch while the temperature was high, without needing to build a sunroom that would cost more.