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How to insulate outdoor room?

We bought our house with this outdoor room. My son uses it for his bedroom. It has aircon but the room still gets hot in summer and cold in winter. They said it was insulated but thinking not.
I want to fix it up to make it more comfortable for him. I’m thinking roof window vents to help with breezes. Also thinking painting it white or would cladding help with insulation?

looking for ideas to help with the internal temperature and make it look a bit more pretty rather than a cream tin shed.

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JacobZ

Hi @spike05,

A warm welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community and thank you for your question about how to make an outdoor room more comfortable for your son.

The first step would be confirming what level of insulation was installed. Unfortunately, this will likely require you to remove the internal lining to reveal the framing where the insulation should sit. If there is currently none in the walls or ceiling, installing insulation batts will greatly improve the warmth in Winter and keep the heat out in Summer.

Installing a roof vent such as this SolarXVENT Solar Powered Vent or your classic whirlybird will also help to vent any hot air that builds up.

Changing the cladding to a timber or fibre cement product would also help to improve the insulation, however, you would need to confirm with a suitably licenced professional that the structure's frame can support the increased weight of these materials.

Painting the shed white would also help reflect the UV rays, but as it is already a light colour, I imagine the effect would be marginal. From an aesthetic standpoint, it would be worthwhile even if its effect on the temperature is minor.

Allow me to tag @Dave-1, @Nailbag and @JoeAzza to see if they have any thoughts or ideas.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Jacob

Dave-1

Afternoon @spike05

Id like a room in the backyard as well 🙂 I have some ideas filed away in the "yet to be built" folder.

Two ideas to regulate teh temperture more so come to mind.

Idea 1 -

- A seperate roof about 30cm above the roof you have now. Its to keep the sun off the shed itself, It also allows breezes and heat to flow past and away.

Idea 2 -

- Eves, if you make the secondary roof then you could also extend it over the current edge by 600mm, this would then lessen the suns ability to hit the walls all day. Very much like what house eves do for us now.

If you dont want to do the seperate roof then a timber frame with a trellis installed about 30cm from the wall (even reo hung on the frame) to grow vines/peas something green will drop the temperture of the room.

I also like @JacobZ 's suggestion of cladding to regulate the temperture. A tin wall is really going to trabsfer seasons straight through to the interior.

Dave

JoeAzza

Hi @spike05 , I like the idea of planting vines as suggested by @Dave-1.

To check if there is insulation in walls and ceiling, you can remove a power point and light fitting (switch off circuit breakers prior to removal) to check if there is insulation installed, or lift some of the cladding to check.

I have an outside studio that was fully insulated, it stays cool for a short period in summer, however, eventually it does get hot, I also have a small airconditioner for summer use.

Nailbag

Hi @spike05

as well as both @JacobZ and @JoeAzza suggestions, mine is on the same track as @Dave-1 having a raised roofline above the outdoor room. Both the airflow and shade will have a significant difference in insulation and also keeping noise down from rain.

Nailbag

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