Garden office insulation – are you feeling the chill?

There’s been a rapid rise in garden rooms appearing over the neighbour’s fence as a consequence of the pandemic. With many businesses now moving to a hybrid working pattern, working from home for part of the week has become the norm for many. So that garden room you hastily had put up in the heady days of summer 2020 now needs to be your place of work in all weathers.

Will it be warm enough?

Insulation is a vital consideration of garden office design, particularly if you plan to use your room comfortably in all seasons.

Many log cabin style structures used as a low-cost garden room solution don’t allow for the inclusion of insulation in the walls. You could find yourself struggling in the heat in the summer, and shivering in the depths of winter. What is the solution?

Garden offices

A top-performing garden office would be constructed using the same materials and techniques as those used in modern housebuilding. This includes insulation materials. Therefore you can expect a garden office to meet similar performance targets to your modern home. Although your garden room may not need to comply with Building Regs (dependent on size and use), it makes good sense to use the insulation targets set out in Building Regs in the construction.

Insulation targets

We’d always recommend opting for the best-insulated building you can afford. We can guide and advise you on the “’u-value’ measures that tell you the rate at which heat passes through the various layers of your building, including the roof, walls and floor. It can be easy to presume that the thicker the insulation, the better it performs, but that’s not a reliable indicator. It’s all about the u-value!

Above & below

It’s not just the walls that need good insulation; don’t forget the floor and roof. In buildings with SIPs (structural insulated panels), insulation is an integral part of the panels in the floor, walls and roof. SIPs are our favourite choice not just for the all-round insulation but also for the energy-saving and environmental aspects. They’re also quicker to instal and offer excellent value for money.

Cost vs Value

Always buy the best insulated building your budget allows – your initial outlay may be higher, but you’ll be using less energy to heat the building in winter. This means lower daily running costs and a more comfortable environment. In choosing your garden room, it’s all about the u-values. Once your new building is ready for use, it’s all about the value for you.