Garden Room - Insulation Question

[Cedric Daniels]

I know there are numerous threads but they seem to be from a few years ago, so looking to see if anyone has any recent experience/guidance they'd be willing to share.

I am looking at a 4x3 Nova garden room from Loghouse. I priced it up online and it was coming in around 8.5k which included -

44mm interlocking timber
50mm floor bearers, 19mm tongue and groove flooring
100mm roof insulation
UPVC double glazed doors and windows

Now when going through the quote with the salesman, he had added on 100mm wall insulation and 19mm shiplap cladding. This is where I am at a crossroads. Everyone I've spoken to who has a garden room/log cabin hasn't bothered with wall insulation, stating that the floor and roof insulation plus a small oil heater for the size of the room is sufficient to heat it up in winter.

I would most likely only be using it for a few hours in the evening a few nights a week when the kids are asleep, so I was thinking that an oil heater on a smart timer would be sufficient to heat it up for the few hours it will be used.

My question is, is the 100mm wall insulation and being told "I definately need it" just a salesman upselling me? It comes at an additional £1500 which compared to chucking a hoody on and using a small heater for a few years I am not sure would be justifiable.

I have next to no DIY experience but only going off the advice given from folk I know with one. I would be interested in the forums opinion/thoughts?

Cheers!

[Jeremy-75qq8]

Personally I would insulate the life out of it. Also go for double glazing as a minimum.

If you are going to actually use it then you need it to be the same as your house.

[OutInTheShed]

search the forum for the thread about a SIPS home office built from a kit.

If you use the room much, insulation will pay for itself.

Spending that kind of money on the room, personally I would want it to be as usable as possible, consider aircon for heating and summer cooling?

[ukwill]

OutInTheShed said:

search the forum for the thread about a SIPS home office built from a kit.

If you use the room much, insulation will pay for itself.

Spending that kind of money on the room, personally I would want it to be as usable as possible, consider aircon for heating and summer cooling?

Agreed. We went the sips route and I installed a DIY wall-mounted aircon unit. There is no way I'd contemplate no insulation in a garden room.

[paulwirral]

Insulation works both ways , as mentioned .
I put loads in my old garden house renovation , it’s one of the coolest places at our property regardless of the fact it’s sat directly in the sun all day , if the summers keep on as they have been recently a few hundred quid now will pay dividends in the future .

[groomi]

In my experience of two garden offices, I'd use 50mm roof and floor and 100mm in the walls. A small oil filled radiator for winter and a fan to keep air circulating in the summer. If the windows get direct sunlight in the summer then you will have issues with heat gain, which can be managed with blinds and/or air circulation.

Don't skimp on the insulation.