We enclosed a lanai in our first house (a courtyard) villa and our second, large house. Here is what worked well for us, and why: (In our case, we have a birdcage covering our patio).
On nice sunny days, we close the house sliders and open the lanai sliders. This gives us most of the advantages of a lanai -- fresh air, breeze, shade, and rain protection.
On days when it is a little warm or cold, we can close the lanai sliders but open the house sliders - Our lanai becomes part of the indoor space. We walk right out onto the extended living room.
On very hot or cold days, we close both sets of sliders.
On Ideal days, or when we are having friends over, we open both sets of sliders. Our house is open to the birdcage.
This arrangement makes air conditioning the former lanai unnecessary. You simply open the inside doors and the inside air flows into the lanai.
The one thing I would do differently, if I were doing it again would be to raise the floor level of the lanai to the level of the house.
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