Emergency insulation suggestions...

vidapura

Hello,
Can anyone just advise as to what I can do here please.
I have to work from home.
For my sanity I have to get away from the smallies and try to work up in an attic that isn't insulated.
It was set up as a room by previous owners.
Its actually plaster boarded and plastered..so has walls and a ceiling.. its about 3m x 3m.
I know there is no insulation on the other side of the plasterboard, especially on the ceiling.
I simply cant go pulling it all out right now.. I need to hold on to my job by getting down to work.

So I'm just looking at some quilted insulation like Superquilt or something.
I was thinking of just tacking it straight onto the plasterboard with a staplegun or something. Ok, so I'd be sitting in a tinfoil lined room but at least I'd be warm.

Would this work? Or would it cause something unhealthy to happen?
I'm confused about vapour barriers and all this stuff...

Thanks


PS: is superquilt the best or is there better?

listermint

genuinely, go get a jumper or 2.

And get a dimplex heater small one for the floor. Put it on time have it run 15 mins every hour.

done.

done be wasting your time stapling anything it will be of zero use.

GreeBo

Get some sheets of PIR insulation and built a little hut for yourself.
6-8 should give you something big enough to sit in with a desk and keep warm.

(it sounds mad but I did something similar in my small office room while I was renovating a house a few years ago.
The PIR sheets are light enough to be easy to handle on your own.

Note that you will need to run the cables out as your WIFI probbaly wont work inside the faraday cage you are building.

the_pen_turner

to do a decent and safe job you would want to put sheets of insulation in the walls. you could spend 200 on a space that you don't use. I would put on a jumper and use an electric heater. the weather is getting a lot milder so it should be fairy cosy up there .

MicktheMan

listermint wrote: »

genuinely, go get a jumper or 2.

And get a dimplex heater small one for the floor. Put it on time have it run 15 mins every hour.

done.

done be wasting your time stapling anything it will be of zero use.

^^^^^this

Calahonda52

WOOLY JUMPERS, WOOLY HAT, RUG.

vidapura

GreeBo wrote: »

Get some sheets of PIR insulation and built a little hut for yourself.
6-8 should give you something big enough to sit in with a desk and keep warm.

(it sounds mad but I did something similar in my small office room while I was renovating a house a few years ago.
The PIR sheets are light enough to be easy to handle on your own.

Note that you will need to run the cables out as your WIFI probbaly wont work inside the faraday cage you are building.

Thanks @GreeBo,
I hadn't thought of the faraday cage bit.. heh.. I'd have been sitting there blaming Imagine again.. LOL
I have the router outside the room anyway to serve the rest of the house so I'll just use that powerline kit I have in a box to bring it into the 'nest'...
Thanks

GreeBo

vidapura wrote: »

Thanks @GreeBo,
I hadn't thought of the faraday cage bit.. heh.. I'd have been sitting there blaming Imagine again.. LOL
I have the router outside the room anyway to serve the rest of the house so I'll just use that powerline kit I have in a box to bring it into the 'nest'...
Thanks

You will actually be crazy warm in there, just from computer and body heat
Don't forget to leave some ventilation!

Oh and it will be pretty psychadelic inside from reflections on the foil lining...

listermint

vidapura wrote: »

Thanks @GreeBo,
I hadn't thought of the faraday cage bit.. heh.. I'd have been sitting there blaming Imagine again.. LOL
I have the router outside the room anyway to serve the rest of the house so I'll just use that powerline kit I have in a box to bring it into the 'nest'...
Thanks

Classic boards, 1 poster gives the most sensible least work option which majority agrees with.

The the OP thanks the zaniest idea and off they go.



I could write this stuff

GreeBo

listermint wrote: »

Classic boards, 1 poster gives the most sensible least work option which majority agrees with.

The the OP thanks the zaniest idea and off they go.



I could write this stuff

I could wear 10 jumpers and have 3 rads going and my attic would still be an ice box and it wouldnt be possible for me to sit and work for 8 hours.

I suspect that, like most people, you are only ever in your attic when you are working up there. Sitting at a desk for hours on end is a very different prospect than lugging around storage for 30 mins.


Making a box out of lightweight PIR sheets is hardly "zany", if it is then you need to get out more (while of course maintaining a 2m gap)

listermint

GreeBo wrote: »

I could wear 10 jumpers and have 3 rads going and my attic would still be an ice box and it wouldnt be possible for me to sit and work for 8 hours.

I suspect that, like most people, you are only ever in your attic when you are working up there. Sitting at a desk for hours on end is a very different prospect than lugging around storage for 30 mins.


Making a box out of lightweight PIR sheets is hardly "zany", if it is then you need to get out more (while of course maintaining a 2m gap)

You must have missed the first post. His attic is already a room . It is zany making a wee box to sit in is as zany as it gets. Is spring now the sun is shining. Your advice was left field you have to admit. Sitting inside a little box in an already converted attic space. .....

Calahonda52

Wrap yourself in a single bed elec blanket and get an infrared heater

Idbatterim

yeah I have infrared on desk beside me, one 400w bar keeps me toasty. Its spring now, just dress warm and get infrared heater

GreeBo

listermint wrote: »

You must have missed the first post. His attic is already a room . It is zany making a wee box to sit in is as zany as it gets. Is spring now the sun is shining. Your advice was left field you have to admit. Sitting inside a little box in an already converted attic space. .....

Nope, you must have missed the bit where the OP said
"I know there is no insulation on the other side of the plasterboard, especially on the ceiling"

The plasterboard will do basically nothing to make the attic warmer than it was without it, unless whoever put it in paid super attention to air sealing, but just had a bad day on the insulation front.

Dont know about you, but we had a hard frost this morning that didnt clear until well after I had started work, I wouldnt have fancied sitting in my attic with the wind blowing through it.

Every room in your house is a little box in a bigger box.

Obviously the PIR igloo is temporary, but it has the added benefit that the OP can reuse the PIR to insulate the attic when things calm down.

Idbatterim

hang on? the plasterboard does nothing? so if the op were just sitting in the bear attic with a 2kw heater for instance, it would be the same as sitting in the smaller cocoon with the 2kw heater? :rolleyes:

GreeBo

Idbatterim wrote: »

hang on? the plasterboard does nothing? so if the op were just sitting in the bear attic with a 2kw heater for instance, it would be the same as sitting in the smaller cocoon with the 2kw heater? :rolleyes:

It does little to nothing for insulation, it *helps* with airtightness, depending on how well it was done. But based on there being no insulation, I would have my doubts as to how well it was done.

listermint

Idbatterim wrote: »

hang on? the plasterboard does nothing? so if the op were just sitting in the bear attic with a 2kw heater for instance, it would be the same as sitting in the smaller cocoon with the 2kw heater? :rolleyes:

Its not the same man,


He'd be sitting in a cool little house within the house.


Think about it!

Calahonda52

Idbatterim wrote: »

hang on? the plasterboard does nothing? so if the op were just sitting in the bear attic with a 2kw heater for instance, it would be the same as sitting in the smaller cocoon with the 2kw heater? :rolleyes:

By the time we got into Tulsa Town
We had eighty-five trucks in all
But they's a roadblock up on the cloverleaf
And them bears was wall-to-wall
Yeah, them smokies is thick as bugs on a bumper
They even had a bear in the air!
I says, "Callin' all trucks, this here's the Duck
"We about to go a-huntin' bear"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3VN54M1OXA

Markcheese

You'd probably need to cut any insulation sheets to get them up into the atic, ,and then a decent door ,and you'll need to be under a skylight to not crack up over time ...
Save yourself time and effort (and probably money) ,go with the fan or infra red heater on timer ...
All the best ...

the_pen_turner

Markcheese wrote: »

You'd probably need to cut any insulation sheets to get them up into the atic, ,and then a decent door ,and you'll need to be under a skylight to not crack up over time ...
Save yourself time and effort (and probably money) ,go with the fan or infra red heater on timer ...
All the best ...

if you were going down that route I would buy the bales of wall insulation. they are 4ft x 2ft an slot together. a lot easier to move around and work with

GreeBo

Markcheese wrote: »

You'd probably need to cut any insulation sheets to get them up into the atic, ,and then a decent door ,and you'll need to be under a skylight to not crack up over time ...
Save yourself time and effort (and probably money) ,go with the fan or infra red heater on timer ...
All the best ...

The OP says the attic has been setup as a room, so I'm assuming it has proper access.

Installing a skylight is probably excessive!

vidapura

GreeBo wrote: »

The OP says the attic has been setup as a room, so I'm assuming it has proper access.

Installing a skylight is probably excessive!

Hey @GreeBo,
Thanks for keeping the trolls at bay while I was working on the room.






Its a lot warmer now. Though I haven't finished all the taping...

The uninsulated rooms in the rest of the attic are at 13C
This room is at 18C with no heating ...other than the lightbulb ??

I'm waiting for the heating to come on now round 1pm and want to see how warm it gets and how long it holds it for.

Funny enough the wifi signal in here is grand.... might be cos I didn't do the door. And its one of those crap internal doors.. hollow not solid.

If the heat doesn't hold too well I'll use the last of the roll on doing the door.

listermint

vidapura wrote: »

Hey @GreeBo,
Thanks for keeping the trolls at bay while I was working on the room.






Its a lot warmer now. Though I haven't finished all the taping...

The uninsulated rooms in the rest of the attic are at 13C
This room is at 18C with no heating ...other than the lightbulb ??

I'm waiting for the heating to come on now round 1pm and want to see how warm it gets and how long it holds it for.

Funny enough the wifi signal in here is grand.... might be cos I didn't do the door. And its one of those crap internal doors.. hollow not solid.

If the heat doesn't hold too well I'll use the last of the roll on doing the door.

You shouldnt come in here asking for advice if you are going to scoff at it.

And as for the name calling. well... good luck

GreeBo

vidapura wrote: »

Hey @GreeBo,
Thanks for keeping the trolls at bay while I was working on the room.






You mad bastard!

Its a lot warmer now. Though I haven't finished all the taping...

The uninsulated rooms in the rest of the attic are at 13C
This room is at 18C with no heating ...other than the lightbulb ??

Welcome to the joys of draught free living!


What time are the shrinks coming around to pick you up? I'm expecting you to have a breakdown from that ceiling within the hour!

Markcheese

Fair dues , if it works it works ,
Those crappy hollow doors aren't that bad , a bit of draught proofing around the door would help ,( helps with noise too )

Was the foil expensive ??

Graham

That is genius, I am officially impressed with your improv DIY vidapura.

After the CV19 emergency is over, you should advertise your loft as a venue for the Conspiracy Theories forum meetup

vidapura

Thank you , thank you.

Yah, its been a journey.
I almost baulked in Chadwicks when the bill came to €317 euros (incl the staplegun) but I said f**k it I have to do Something.

The heat retention is impressive I have to say.
Heating was on for an hour at 8am.. and nothing since.

But the GroEgg is reading .. 21.7 C.. at 15:13 in the afternoon.

I think my laptop and my lightbulb are keeping it topped up. LOL.
The other rooms up here are all around the 13C at the same time.

When I didn't have the insulation my fan heater was kickin in every 3 mins and the temp got to maybe 18C and didn't stay there for any length of time...
If I'd left things that way I'd definitely have put 200 euro on my ESB bill in two months... So this way.. the money is spent but only spent once... AND I have great comfort with the temperature fairly constantly round 20C.

Yeh get used to the reflective walls after a while.. but I am considering a poster or two.. It gets wicked bright in here on the rare occasions that the sun shines.
Id say in the summer I might have to get on to velux and buy a blockout blind.

I wonder would posters or wall hangings adversely affect the heat retention... hmmm...