Insulation to cavity wall query.

[Franko]

Hi all, I'm having a conservatory built on the side of my house and the lads have been and built the base & dwarf walls, we are now awaiting delivery of the conservatory which should be in a couple of weeks. The walls are brick outside and Celcon/Thermalite inside and are 600mm high with one side wall full height and a 50mm cavity. It looks like a tidy job they have done but I have noticed that there is no insulation in the cavity, is this not really needed or will it make a difference to the comfort levels in winter if it is insulated. I realise that it would be a little tricky to add batts now due to fiddling around the wall ties but I'd rather do it now than regret it later. Any input greatly appreciated, Thanks, Franko.

[Palindrome]

All the ones I have seen built have insulation in the cavity..

[TonyB]

From the amount of heat that ours loses through the windows and roof, insulating the dwarf walls won't make a blind bit of difference. However, it is probably good practice that they should do so. My tip would be to ensure that it is actually a conservatory/orangery which must have a door between the house and the conservatory. Otherwise it's an extension. (If it has a dwarf wall I believe you can call it an orangery which sounds quite posh when you come to sell.)

Ours doesn't have the door but does have a double radiator and I suspect I could halve my winter heating bill if a door was fitted and the rad turned off.

TonyB

[Franko]

Cheers for the answers - yes it will have a door between it and the house . . .but as it won't be getting that much sun, I'm not optomistic enough to think I'll be growing any oranges in it. Thanks, Franko.

[Paul Edwards]

Franko was thinking very hard :

Hi

I have just had a conservatory built almost the same as yours.

They did put in insulation but did it after the walls were built by just slitting the insulation down where the wall ties are.

Maybe they are planning on doing yours but may not do it until the frame is fitted in case it rains alot in the next two weeks and the insualtion holds in alot of water.

Why not ask them?

Paul

[Franko]

Good thought Paul - on both counts. I was going to phone them tomorrow anyway but I thought I'd run it past the extensive knowledgebase (you lot) on here first. Thanks, Franko.

[Hugo Nebula]

On Thu, 28 Feb 2008 21:45:18 GMT, a particular chimpanzee, Paul Edwards randomly hit the keyboard and produced:

Which is not the way to do it. The insulation should be clipped to the inner leaf if it's not fully filling the cavity. If it is full-fill, it shouldn't be rucked or folded (as would happen if one tried to shove it down a masonry cavity no more than 10mm wider than the thickness of the batts). The wall ties should be every block course vertically around reveals, so either: a) there weren't, b) they managed to find a way to slip the insulation in horizontally as well as vertically, or c) they did a half-arsed job of it.