“I am only going to use my cottage in the summer, so why should I insulate it – Right?”
I have heard this statement many times over the years. It sounds reasonable enough, but the savings of not insulating are minimal when considering the cost of a project overall. More importantly, insulating a structure well has many advantages beyond keeping in the heat, which we will dive into here.
Consider: cottage country in Ontario can be COLD. In the Parry Sound & Sudbury area, I have seen temperatures as low as -42°C (with wind chill) in the middle of a winter day. If you consider that a summer day can be +32°C, then we are talking about an annual temperature delta of 74°C! It is common to experience a temperature swing of 25°C or more during a 24 hour period. These kind of temperatures can wreak havoc on structures that are lightly constructed; windows can crack, wood can split, steel components will shrink and expand fatiguing connections with other materials, and so on. The addition of insulation or out-sulation has the advantage of isolating a structure from short duration temperature extremes (even when not heated). This is an advantage on both the coldest days and the hottest days – what will keep the cottage warm in winter will also moderate extreme heat during the summer. In short, even if you aren’t heating a structure, having it properly insulated will still make for a much more comfortable interior.
A smart design strategy is to couple a well-insulated building exterior with large amounts of mass within the building: this combination creates an inertia at the interior environment of the cottage. As the day heats up in summer, the thermal mass within the building is slow to heat up, and absorbs the ambient heat energy around it: the building stays cool longer. In the winter, the thermal mass holds heat, releases it slowly to the building interior and the well-insulated walls resist letting the interior cool: the building stays warm more easily. I once completed a year-round cottage using this principle that was heated entirely by the sun without a mechanical means of keeping the cottage warm. Even in the coldest days of winter, the cottage interior was a steady 55°C or better.
Another hurdle to not insulating: the Ontario Building Code mandates that occupied structures be heated and insulated unless they are ‘seasonal’ in use. This means summertime use exclusively where heating is not required. If a building is going to have any kind of mechanical heating, then the Code indicates how much insulation is required.
Of course, all of this discussion can go to another level. I recently developed a Passive House project – a design methodology that creates walls & floors using special assembly techniques and a lot of insulation. Moreover, windows and doors are limited and organized to control the entry of sun energy only when needed. This approach results in a dwelling that can be heated with waste heat from a toaster oven (literally) – hard to believe, but true. The appearance of a Passive House structure may not be for everyone, but you could spend a winter in Sudbury in comfort with ease.
To bring us back to where we started: constructing a well-insulated building has a lot of advantages that revolve around comfort. Additionally, if one decides to take advantage of cottage country in January, then you will be ready for it. Our opinion: it is worth the money & effort, and it extends the season.
Thinking of building a new 4-season cottage? Give us a call, and tell us about your vision; we’ll help you design that island retreat.
