Garage conversion that's cold.

mr_lordi

Hi, does anyone have any tips on how I can warm our new garage conversion up without leaving the heating on all day. Our garage has been converted into a fourth bedroom with en suite, it is single skinned with stoothing walls filled with king span. It also has had a new roof.Although very happy with the job it is the coldest room in the house. Any tips anyone?

MX5huggy

How thick is the kingspan? I would want a minimum of 100mm (4inches).

I presume 3 walls and the roof are exposed to the outside?

mr_lordi

MX5huggy wrote: »

How thick is the kingspan? I would want a minimum of 100mm (4inches).

I presume 3 walls and the roof are exposed to the outside?

It was a good quality king span although not sure if it was 4inch thick, yes, it has three exposed walls. Cavity wall insulation has come to mind, would that help?

cyclonebri1

mr_lordi wrote: »

It was a good quality king span although not sure if it was 4inch thick, yes, it has three exposed walls. Cavity wall insulation has come to mind, would that help?

Does it not already have that fitted? if not yes, it would definitely help.

Starting at the top, the most heat is going to be lost through there, although in your case with 3 outside walls, that is possibly not true.
As much insulation as can possibly be used is needed, depends on what's above and the joist thickness of course, and also if it's even accessible, ie, flat roof?

The floor, there would have been no poly insulation under the concrete, they simply don't have to do it by building regs so it doesn't get any. The floor will always be cold.
In lots of homes the garage in set much lower than the rest of the house, cars don't run up steps. This is often useful as a suspended timber floor can be built over the concrete base greatly improving the warmth. Don't now how yours was done, but if there is a step down, I'd suggest the floor is raisied as above.

Finally if you can raise the room to temp, which your post suggests you can?, and it cools as soon as you turn the heating off?, then insulation is the only way you are going to improve it.

Without being a !!!!!!, your questions are better value before work is done not after, and I mean that as advice to others, not a pop at you;);)

System

cavity wall insulation in a "single" skin garage??
don't think so

phill99

^+1^..........

diywhynot

mr_lordi wrote: »

..Although very happy with the job it is the coldest room in the house. Any tips anyone?

Does this conversion meet Building Regs? If it does it shouldn't be the coldest room in the house. How are you heating it?

Meadows

I assume that as you have single skin walls, they have had small cavity created on the inside with batons and then filled with insulation and plasterboard across the front of these?

Mistral001

The insulation in the garages seems to be applied on the inside of the walls, which is fine, but if the rest of the house has cavity wall insulation the room will heat up and cool down differently to the rest of the house. The room will heat up quickly but it will cool down quickly. The rooms with the cavity wall insulation will tend to heat up slowly but cool down slowly. The inner skin of masonry because it is insulated by the cavity insulation will act like a giant storage heater and release the heat to the room slowly and keep heating the room after the heat is turned off in the room. Neither system is more efficient than the other if they have similar amounts of insulation, they just heat up and cool down differently.

cyclonebri1

Must admit I missed the single skinned bit, the op mentioning cavity ins made me assume it had 1;);).

Regardless of building regs, won't get drawn into that one, a single skin with 4 of celotex or similar is certainly better insulated than anyone's house with 9" solid brick walls. Ok not up to modern standards but lots of folks have to live with that.

Strength wise the walls will be ok, but I assume there are support pillars/piers built in at a couple of places along the longest side?, these will be bridging your insulation.

Extra stud walls need to give another 3" of celotex methinks.

I'd still put money on the fact that the roof doesn't have anywhere near the thickness of ins required.

mr_lordi

the_r_sole wrote: »

cavity wall insulation in a "single" skin garage??
don't think so

Why not? Single skin of brickwork with internal stoothing and king span on the inside creates a cavity.