Home Office - Insulation Options

cornet

Hi All,

Looking for some advice on insulation options for a home office. I've an existing garden studio (detached) hollow block construction with tiled roof. There is power and there's a radiator connected to the gas central heating. Used as an office by previous owner. External dimensions are 4.2x2.4m.

For internal insulation l have pricing for 38mm (50mm begins to make the space quite narrow). I also have a price for 100mm external insulation which is 5 times the internal insulation cost.

For a home office would 38mm be sufficient (Mon-Fri 9-5)? Not looking for state of the art energy efficiency just something reasonably cosy.

All advice greatly appreciated

Calahonda52

Is the ceiling insulated?
Are the soffits ventilated?
ids the site exposed to driving rain?
how far is the hut from the house?
5 times indicates they didn't want the work

cornet

Calahonda52 wrote: »

Is the ceiling insulated?
Are the soffits ventilated?
ids the site exposed to driving rain?
how far is the hut from the house?
5 times indicates they didn't want the work

Ceiling is insulated and soffits are ventilated. It’s about 5m from back door. Fairly sheltered as situated in housing estate. External is €4800, internal €900.

MicktheMan

Don't forget about air tightness ... no amount of insulation is any good if air tightness is shot.

cornet

MicktheMan wrote: »

Don't forget about air tightness ... no amount of insulation is any good if air tightness is shot.

That’s a fair point - I hadn’t considered that.

Bawnmore

MicktheMan wrote: »

Don't forget about air tightness ... no amount of insulation is any good if air tightness is shot.

What's the best way to go about this? We had an airtightness test done on our house (70's bungalow) and have a report of the results, but I feel we'd need to couple it with something else (thermal imaging or similar) to get actionable use out of it.

MicktheMan

Bawnmore wrote: »

What's the best way to go about this? We had an airtightness test done on our house (70's bungalow) and have a report of the results, but I feel we'd need to couple it with something else (thermal imaging or similar) to get actionable use out of it.

Seems strange that thermal imaging was not done in conjunction with the air pressure testing. Both techniques go hand in hand to determine the primary sources of heatloss.
Why was the test done and what was the result?

Bawnmore

MicktheMan wrote: »

Seems strange that thermal imaging was not done in conjunction with the air pressure testing. Both techniques go hand in hand to determine the primary sources of heatloss.
Why was the test done and what was the result?

We requested it based on advice read here. Had a discussion with them beforehand to say why we were looking for it (to highlight problem areas to target for upgrades) but didn't properly research what was involved - thought that we'd come out of it with a recommendation list or something similar. My own fault for not researching more in fairness I guess. They walked us through common problem areas (windows/insulation/ventiliation/where pipes and wiring breach etc) during and after the blower test but moreso just general information backed up by feeling air being drawn in by the fan.

Here was our result:

MicktheMan

Bawnmore wrote: »

We requested it based on advice read here. Had a discussion with them beforehand to say why we were looking for it (to highlight problem areas to target for upgrades) but didn't properly research what was involved - thought that we'd come out of it with a recommendation list or something similar. My own fault for not researching more in fairness I guess. They walked us through common problem areas (windows/insulation/ventiliation/where pipes and wiring breach etc) during and after the blower test but moreso just general information backed up by feeling air being drawn in by the fan.

Here was our result:

Interesting result there but not that unusual for a 70's bungalow.. It shows your air tightness isn't that bad. What ventilation setup have you? Condensation an issue in the colder months?
I think, as you already realise, a heat loss survey would have served you better. Looks like you mightn't be too far off getting issues sorted relatively easily giving you a healthy & comfortable home.

Bawnmore

MicktheMan wrote: »

Interesting result there but not that unusual for a 70's bungalow.. It shows your air tightness isn't that bad. What ventilation setup have you? Condensation an issue in the colder months?
I think, as you already realise, a heat loss survey would have served you better. Looks like you mightn't be too far off getting issues sorted relatively easily giving you a healthy & comfortable home.

No ventilation setup at all currently - have attic and cavity insulation + wall and soffit vents going in next week. Replaced front and back doors before we moved in which were very likely big sources of heat loss. We've been through one winter and had some condensation/mould issues on some of the external facing walls in the rooms furthest from the heat source alright - pretty much exclusively on walls with furniture (wardrobes etc) against them - hoping the ventilation will sort that this year.

MicktheMan

You're in a bungalow so you have the opportunity to do a proper job on ventilation. If I were you I'd consider seriously a whole house ventilation system solution such as DCV or even MVHR. Far superior to "hole in wall" vents imo. Your dime though.

Bawnmore

MicktheMan wrote: »

You're in a bungalow so you have the opportunity to do a proper job on ventilation. If I were you I'd consider seriously a whole house ventilation system solution such as DCV or even MVHR. Far superior to "hole in wall" vents imo. Your dime though.

We may do in the future - appreciate the opinion.