Log Cabin in Garden

[user1475069626]

We’re considering replacing our shed with a log cabin to use as a hobby room. If we go ahead, it will be a 2.5 x 3.5 m cabin made of 45 mm thick spruce. I will add the option for roof and floor insulation. It will be installed on concrete platform.

The problem is I have no prior experience of being inside one. Will it be ok temperature in summer/winter? How can I economically heat it? Would I need to cool it in summer? Is there much noise coming in from the outside compared to one’s home?

if you could please share your experience I will be truly grateful

We have one about the same size, with the same thickness log walls and roof/floor insulation added. Ours is on s timber subframe supported on recycled plastic posts concreted into the ground. This is a great option if the site isn't quite level, and much lower environmental impact than a massive concrete slab (to be honest though the main reason I went this way was to reduce the requirement for materials which needed to be carried through, as it was a 100% DIY project during lockdown.

Ours is sufficiently insulated to use through the winter with a 2kW electric heater. It's used four days a week, and the monthly heating cost was about £25 in the worst month of this winter - so not negligible, but cheaper than commuting!

I have one , exactly the same spec.. yes it needs heating in winter, I use an oil filled radiator which has a thermostat so it’s not on all the time as it heats up quicker and holds it’s heat……I do wear a thick coat in the winter.

currently it’s horrendously hot in the afternoon even with the blinds down and door open. I’ve got a fan which helps. Dh is talking about fitting an extraction fan but I’ve told him I’m worried that will make it colder/less weather proof in the winter.

Back again as I forgot to answer a couple of the points in the OP.

Yes, if the cabin is closed up it gets really warm in the summer. However, on days when I work from home in there with the doors and windows open from first thing in the morning, it stays cool enough for me - no warmer than outside, certainly.

I think the summer temperatures are helped by the insulated roof and by a fairly deep roof overhang which keeps the sun off the walls. There's also a tree which shades the cabin for most of the afternoon.

When I keep the windows and doors open in summer, I do hear sounds from outside. It's like sitting in the garden in terms of noise level. This isn't an issue where I am - there's more birdsong than traffic noise. In winter with the doors and windows closed it's quieter, to the point where music played at moderate volume inside is barely noticeable outside. You do hear rain on the roof, but it's nothing like as loud as it would be in a tent, for example.

If I wanted to use the cabin in summer with the doors closed, I'd need air con. I was looking at an all in one unit which could also be used as a heat pump in winter, but the heating costs turned out to be low enough that I haven't bothered. Something like this: Unico Air fixed air conditioner without outdoor unit | Olimpia Splendid

Thank you, appreciated

Thank you, appreciated