flooring and heating a bedsit

chewinggum

hello! We are converting a garage for my daughter. The walls and roof are now well insulated. We feel we do not have room to insulate the floor as if we go too high the kitchen sink and worktop we have for it will go up beyond the window sill. This has not been installed yet. (Kitchen units)We are thinking of putting good laminate on floor . My question is can people suggest a good method of insulation for floor for example a name of a good insulating underlay,do insulating paints work. I think we have maybe 2 cms or a little more to play with.

Also if I could ask another question here? The area is 21feet by 15ft and ceiling is 9foot there are no radiators pumped etc what is a good way to heat please. Have looked around at different heaters and become more confused.So,if people had names of heaters (and what watt and how many)etc they find good I’d be v grateful. Thanks in advance.

Lumen

I think we have maybe 2 cms or a little more to play with.

20mm PIR board will be significantly better than nothing.

chewinggum

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122779662#Comment_122779662

Thanks. After these are down what would be the next stage before putting down laminate . Thanks

chewinggum

I don’t know did I say there is already concrete floor which has moisture barrier under it but no insulation

Lumen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122779821#Comment_122779821

It depends on the laminate, some does allow installation directly on insulation as long as the compressive strength is high enough (e.g. >250 kPa). It looks like XPS is a better bet than PIR in terms of compressive strength, but check with the laminate manufacturer/supplier for guidance, and check the compressive strength listed for the insulation boards.

If you can find insulation boards with profiled edges so that there's not a joint running vertically all the way through that would be better.

DC999

You've 2 Qs there. I’d suggest rename the thread to ‘flooring and heating a bedsit’ to get more people reading it.

On the heating side, that's the same size as downstairs in our small house. You say 'The walls and roof are now well insulated'. Is this a self contained open-plan bedsit? Or a day room which would need less heat?

The least expensive and likely most comfortable will be to heat will be to connect to your existing heating system. That’s fine if it’s a family member but won’t work for a renter. As the heating is only on when the main house is on – get me?

Electric rads work but they are expensive to run. ‘Well insulated' can mean a range of things. Do you have a plugin rad now? If so you can try that and see how much heat it uses.

Connect that to a smart plug that measures the energy usage. Tapo WiFi App Control Smart Plug, Energy Monitoring & MATTER Compatible Alexa Plug, Works with Alexa, Google, Apple HomeKit, Smart things, Device Sharing, Smart Plugs That Work With Alexa (Tapo P110M) : Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories. Make sure it’s the energy monitoring model.

Simple to setup the app on your phone to see how much it costs. Then multiple the energy usage (in kWhs or units) by the cost on your bill. Let’s pretend you use 20kWh / units a day, it’s 20 x 0.30c = €6 per day. Figures are pulling from the sky to give a worked example. And that shows the history over a year so you can see the cost. Means you could start with electric and decide if you then replace with rads connected to your existing heating system.

chewinggum

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122780093#Comment_122780093

thank you for this information. It’s a garage connected to house.