Refinishing Bedroom at Cottage

[gbeichho]

I'm about to refinish one of my cottage bedrooms at my cottage. It is a 3 season cottage in Ontario, Canada, so it can get pretty cold overnight. (this summer it often got to 10 C overnight).

My daughter will be staying in the room and I was planning to replace the 3/16 panel with drywall. The room is heated with a baseboard heater under an old leaky window. I want to improve the fire rating of the room and also the insulation quality as it has two outside walls.

I plan to replace the window with a new one that will have much better insulation since the current one is just 2 loose panes of glass. (40x 32 inches)

I have a few questions though:

1) I'm assuming the outer walls have pink fiberglass in the 2x4 outer walls (with vapour backing). Is there a better insulation that would make it worth replacing? The outer wall has plywood with aluminum siding on the outside.
2) Will 5/8 drywall (vs 1/2) significantly increase the R-Value of the wall? (it will increase fire rating I assume)
3) Are new baseboard electric heaters more efficient today than my current 20 year old versions?

Thanks,

George

[suemarkp]

1) I'm assuming the outer walls have pink fiberglass in the 2x4 outer walls (with vapour backing). Is there a better insulation that would make it worth replacing? The outer wall has plywood with aluminum siding on the outside.
Probably not. There are some insulations with higher R values, and you can buy new fiberglass either R-13 for 2x4 walls or normal R-19 and stuff it into your wall to give you R-13. However, the heat savings from R-11 to R-13 is insignificant. Fixing your window with something R-3 or better should solve most of your issues. The only other thing would be if that outside wall is leaky for air (which your existing window isn't helping with either). If it is, something like Tyvek on the outside of the wall would help that. But you'll need to take the siding off... You could also spray foam or caulk in the wall stud cavity gaps if you remove the insulation first.

Also, how much insulation is in the ceiling above that room? I think you'll want at least R-19 there.


2) Will 5/8 drywall (vs 1/2) significantly increase the R-Value of the wall? (it will increase fire rating I assume)
No. I don't believe that sheetrock is all that good of an insulator. But even if it was (like styrofoam), an eigth of an inch is insignificant. True, the fire rating goes up, but again I don't believe it is too significant. If all you have is paneling over bare studs, then any sheetrock is a major fire rating improvement.

3) Are new baseboard electric heaters more efficient today than my current 20 year old versions?
Nope. They are 100% efficient and always have been. Fix your heat loss problems and this heater will feel fine.