# Insulated VIV - thoughts?



## davidian (Jul 7, 2009)

so baby number two is on it's way and my reptile room is no more :-( so after a bit of a down size of the collection those that made the cut need to be relocated.

i'm thinking of moving my Iggy and Bosc into the conservatory where there is plenty of room to house the large vivs needed.

the problem is my current iggie viv has three glass sides and bosc viv is a standard MDF job which aren't going to hold their heat in the winter. 
i'm thinking of building a frame and sandwiching insulation (either polystyrene sheets, kingspan, or even loft insulation) between MDF boards as well as adding additional heating in the winter if required.

has anyone bulilt insulated vivs before and have any thoughts on the type/thickness of insulation needed?


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## davidian (Jul 7, 2009)

bump - no thoughts?


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## davidfitch (Nov 19, 2008)

I would go for kingspan if it was me but your main problem is going to be the glass fronts unless you go for double glazed doors the heat loss could cost you a fortune on electricity. On a side note think about ventilation as well it might be worth using a fan to get better air flow with less vents so less places for heat to escape.

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## cjd12345 (Nov 2, 2011)

Insulate with Kingspan and sacrifice the glass panels on the side - you can fix insulation over the top of the glass and if you do it right have the option to revert back to glass on 3 sides.

Does the conservatory get very hot in the summer? You might also need to think about cooling in the summer if the conservatory is like my dad's and turns into an oven.


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## fatlad69 (Oct 22, 2009)

Leave the glass in place and make a hinge door to go in front and use twin wall polycarbonate so you can still get some light in but have the extra insulation. I would also make everything removable as it may be to warm in the summer.


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## colinm (Sep 20, 2008)

Which aspect does your conservatory face? I have a south facing one and I wouldn`t keep anything in there,it simply gets too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter.I dont think that its as simple as insulating the vivariums.


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## mitsi (Feb 1, 2012)

could use the polystyrene insulating sheets between the boards or the rolls of stuff that go behind radiators as these reflect any escaping heat back in, just make sure you keep a heater on standby to keep air temps up in winter in the conservatory, and use a fan to regulate temps in summer and it will be fine.


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## davidian (Jul 7, 2009)

colinm said:


> Which aspect does your conservatory face? I have a south facing one and I wouldn`t keep anything in there,it simply gets too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter.I dont think that its as simple as insulating the vivariums.


 
i agree it's not ideal but it's the conservatory, loft (same problems with less access) or try and rehome them. At this stage i'm willing to spend some money and see if i can make it work. At the very least i know they'll have great vivs if i need to rehome!

i've kept the iggie in the conservatory over the summer before, i did need to vent on the hotest days but wasn't too big a problem and it was great for letting her roam about, but that was in her old non insulated viv . . gonna look for an electric bathroom vent i could fit and block up in the winter

looks like three sides of kingspan + top and bottom, then i'll try and get creative with the glass at the front. like the idea of hinge doors rather than panes of glass (that way i can double glaze) or i might even look for a PVC door (iggie) and window (monitor).


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