Insulating a hutch

GwylimT

So now the cold weather is approaching I need to really insulate the cats hutch/shed.

She has a shed with multiple levels and she also has a hutch inside, she has free access to this twenty four hours a day via a catflap, or a covered tunnel from our flat.

I have been looking at the silver foil type insulation, is this actually any good? I have looked at a few insulated rabbit hutches and they seem to put it on the outside, would it not be better on the inside? Especially where the hutch is concerned.

The floor is around 6 inches off the ground and is lined with insulating plasterboard, if I used this on the walls her hutch will no longer fit in the shed.

oystercatcher

I can't quite imagine the set up you have but we have insulated various hutches and hen coops with bubble wrap, it can be bought in huge rolls and layered up . Always on the outside so the plastic can't be nibbled by the occupants.

The current hen coop has bubble wrap secured under a wire netting frame.

Previous guinea pigs have had layers of bubble wrap under a wooden cover of some sort (husband is the handyman.)

calicocat

I can't visualise it either, a picture of it and the area you are talking about would help.

In the past, I have actually put a thatched roofing on the my guinea hutches for warmth, and also did the same down the corners (except it obviously got eaten )



Does foil insulation do much if not put next to some kind of heating?

Is the hutch open to all elements...i'm kind of imagining a run of some sort, if so, is the hutch out of the rain?.

Bubble wrap also sounds like a good idea to me to be honest.

Fosterdog

For the outside of our hutch we use some bubble wrap, then some old carpet and then a hutch cover (more for wind and rain protection than cold). Inside we have the downstairs sleeping area with just hay and straw but the upstairs one has a cardboard box inside, a bit smaller that the space itself but big enough for the buns, this is filled with hay and the outside cavity between the box and hutch is filled with straw.

We've done this for the last five years in winter and it has always served the buns well. They can choose to sleep in the insulated or uninsulated part depending on how cold they are.

Our biggest problem is stopping their water from freezing on the coldest nights, they have two 1.5l insulated water bottles and two bowls of water all checked a few times a day but they still freeze on the coldest nights and need defrosting every morning. The bowl inside the hutch fares better than the one out in the run and the bottles and rarely has a full covering of ice but it's still worse than I'd like.

Mrs_Z

Sorry but why do you want to insulate the shed/hutch if your cat has access to your flat? You say that the cat has a tunnel access from your flat to the shed - presumably the cat can also come in if he/she feels cold?

BuzzBeez

We have used carpet off cuts during winter months from local carpet shop who are normally happy for you to take them for nothing....few over top and pinned to side does the job then remove when it gets warmer....obviously not so good tho if you hutch is outside but works if you move them into a shed for example like we do

meritaten

when we kept rabbits and guinea pigs we insulated their 'hutches' on the outside. the rabbits had offcuts of carpet covered with 'lino', and I believe the guinea pigs were housed in a shed so just had 'lino' to decorate their hutch more than 'insulate it'.
Next doors dog had an outside kennel (I thought that was awful as he was allowed indoors all day but kept outside at night) and they didn't insulate it at all, yet it didn't seem to harm or bother him. he was dry and out of the wind.

tiggy90

If you want to use a board material use something along the lines of celotex it is a PIR material and has very low thermal conductivity!