Over the last few days, I have seen a few posts on social media about people braving the cold in their garden rooms. This has me flummoxed, as a quality garden room should be as comfortable a space to use, as any room in your house.
As a garden room user for nearly 20 years, I can tell you I have never been truly cold when using my room, and that many of the garden rooms sold today are better insulated than the one I own.
If I had to guess, the authors of these posts probably work from a decorated shed, rather than a purpose built garden room/office. It is not uncommon for people on a limited budget to by a shed or summerhouse building and ‘pimp it up’ to create more of a room. The thing is, these buildings are not designed for extensive use in the colder months of the year. This is why their owners are finding them to be cold spaces that are probably expensive to heat.
Garden rooms like we feature on this site, are designed to be used every day of the year. Garden rooms are made-up from a series of material layers. Each one of these layers plays a part in creating a weathertight warm room.
Garden rooms & offices are definitely more expensive than buying a decorated shed type building. It doesn’t help that some of these decorated sheds are marketed as garden rooms and offices. The cheapest fully insulated garden rooms we have seen are small in size and cost around £5,000. Bigger buildings are going to cost you more – you may find this garden room price calculator useful.
A garden room or office that is warm in winter will include:
Insulation
Check that the floor, walls and roof of your garden room all incorporate insulation.
Several types of insulation are used in garden room construction. Because of this, you can’t compare by insulation thickness. You see, some thinner insulations are better performing than double the thickness of another type of insulation. The better comparison is the u-value of the walls, floor and roof. Garden room companies should be able to tell you this, and you are looking for the lowest figure when comparing.
Decorated shed buildings don’t come with insulation. People think that they will be able to retrofit insulation once they have the building in place. This is not as easy as you might think because the structure is not designed to incorporate insulation and there is no way to fit the specialist membranes that are also required.
Double glazing
Quality garden rooms and offices will feature double glazing in the doors and windows. Some companies offer triple glazing and or specialist coatings and gasses to increase the performance of the glazing.
The decorated shed type buildings on the market only feature single glazing. You’d be amazed how warm air can flow out of poorly glazed windows.
Heating
Even highly insulated garden rooms and offices require a heating source for the coldest days of the year. A panel heater is often included in the price of the building with options to upgrade to systems such as underfloor heating or air conditioning.
Because of the insulation and double glazing, it should be easy and cost effective to keep the room at an even temperature. The heating systems offered include thermostats and timers so you can control the temperature in the room and when the heating is turned on and off. Some higher spec designs, allow you to control the heat in your garden room remotely via your smartphone.
If you choose a garden room or office that features insulation, double glazing and heating, not just a decorated shed, you will be snug even on the coldest days of the year.
Explore the work of companies who offer insulated garden rooms and offices.
