Insulation

I'm currently doing up the rabbit shed (new lick of exterior paint etc) and it's crossed my mind a few times about insulation. As it is a bike shed that can get a little drafty, I would want to protect my babies a little more through the winter, but like all of us, I'm on a tight budget. I was hoping to use those large EVA foam panels to do the inside but I wanted white ... can't find any And other ideas?

Thanks guys! xx

Large sheets of Polystyrene are fairly cheap but you'd have to put some hardboard or plywood over the top to stop them chewing it.

Thats a good idea. I'll have to see if anywhere does those cheap enough

Hi,

Are you trying to insulate the shed for warmth or to stop drafts coming in? If you have any sort of draft this will need to be fixed first as this is what can make the bun sick and I am in the opinion (as an engineer) that there is little point in insulating sheds as more heat will always be lost than can be generated by rabbits, unless if you have a shed full.

Rabbits have very good insulating properties themselves, they are not like us who are warm to touch as their fur keeps most of the heat in so little escapes to the outside. The only reason to insulate a shed is if you were to install heating in the shed to keep it warm. What is more concerning is in the summer when you will have a net flow if heat in, I assume the roof is made of dark felt, a very good conductor of heat, then if you have the walls insulated where is the heat going to go.

As long as you have a draft proof shed with a nice little snuggle box full of straw the buns will be fine. They can then decide themselves where they want to go. We have a shed 3m x 3m that has all sorts of boxes for them to sleep in but they choose to stay on the floor, even when it got to -12C. That's rabbits for you.

ReeceT your comments are really helpful. We've now got a playhouse for the buns and we didn't insulate it, but we put up a wooden second skin around the inside on the walls. We didn't do anything with the roof, so i fixed the thin insulation to the inside on the roof
http://www.wickes.co.uk/thermal-insulation-foil-roll-600mmx8m/invt/210022/

In the summer i wonder if it will get too hot. The playhouse is going to get a lot of direct sunlight. However, the buns will be able to go out in the run where they will have shelter too I guess we'll just have to modify it as we go along

To stop it getting too hot you can put a false roof on, where air can blow underneath the roof so it doesn't transfer heat to the hutch

They will not get too hot if they have the run to escape into and some shade in there. Although I do question our two T&B sometimes as they will stay in the summer house regardless of the temp in there, this has led to us buying a air con unit for them... Bunnies are so expensive...

Stator said:

To stop it getting too hot you can put a false roof on, where air can blow underneath the roof so it doesn't transfer heat to the hutch

Click to expand...

Excellent, thanks :thumb:

And yes ReeceT, bunnies are expensive :shock:

Interesting point guys It's actually a plastic roof, I guess it's cheaper for B&Q to make bike shed that way. It's more to draft proof then anything I guess, it's not bad but it wouldn't hurt to stop extra possible draft. But like you say, my bunnies always choose the floor anyway, they do have a great house I made for them which all 4 climb into every other night