Insulating your sunroom is the only way to make it usable all year round. Many sunrooms are designed with the assumption that they will not be heated during the winter months. If you intend to heat yours, it needs to be well insulated and sealed for maximum energy efficiency.

Glass Insulation

Windows enclose much of the area in a sunroom. You need additional strategies to increase the R-value of glass. If you can afford to do so, always use at least double pane glass. The gap between the layers is filled with an inert gas that increases the insulating capacity of the entire windowpane. Ensure that all windows are properly glazed and sealed to prevent leakage around the edges.

Low-e rated windows have multiple layers of metal coating that is invisible to the naked eye but blocks harmful rays. This can protect any furniture in the sunroom and also acts as a thermal regulator. Triple pane glass combined with this feature gives sunroom windows an R-value of about 4.35. This should be enough to keep out the hot air in the summer and maintain warm air inside during the winter.

Wall Insulation

Wherever possible, you should install high quality batt insulation with increased R-value. It should be at least R-13 instead of the normal R-11 for walls, and R-38 for ceilings instead of the normal R-30. Make sure there are no gaps in the construction. Fiberglass batt insulation must be cut to fit properly. You may need to purchase special types of insulation for unusually shaped spaces.

Install a vapor retardant layer over insulation before the wall board or plywood is fixed in place. The wall board you use for the interior top layer should have an additional R-4 to R-8 rating per inch on top of everything else. If your sunroom floor is raised above the ground, you will also need to insert insulating materials such as closed cell boards in that space.

Related posts:

1. Sunroom addition considerations
2. Insulation
3. Sunroom Painting Tips
4. Sunroom Shades – Control Your Light Levels
5. Standalone Sunroom Considerations

Tags: Sunrooms

This entry was posted on Friday, January 1st, 2010 at 6:29 pm and is filed under Sunrooms. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.