Solution by @MaxU worked very well. I have just one suggestion:
If truncate_sheet=True is specified than "startrow" should NOT be retained from existing sheet. I suggest:
if startrow is None and sheet_name in writer.book.sheetnames:
if not truncate_sheet: # truncate_sheet would use startrow if provided (or zero below)
startrow = writer.book[sheet_name].max_row