Insulation in roof doesn't seem to help.

[70monte]

Its been about 98* here lately and I thought I would try insulating the underside of the metal roof in the coop with some 1" thick sheets of the dow corning styrofoam type insulation. I cut pieces to fit between the roof boards. After doing so, the temps in the upper part of the coop are the same temps as they were without the insulation and to me it almost feels hotter inside.

The temps inside the coop don't get any hotter than outside because it has good ventilation but it definately doesn't get any cooler. The open section in the middle of the back wall is the open door to the nest boxes

Has anyone insulated the underside of their metal roof and noticed a big difference?

Here is a pic of the inside and what the underside of the roof looks like.

Wayne

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Yes, now stop and think about that

The best you can ever hope to do, without an active source of COOLTH (airconditioner, swamp cooler, large cold heat-sink, etc) is to keep the indoor coop temp the same temp as it is outdoors in the shade.

If your coop is ALREADY no hotter than outdoor shade temperature, insulating the roof can't possibly do anything

If you get sub-freezing winter temperatures though you will be glad you have that insulation up there, as it will prevent a lot of condensation/humidity problems.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Thomas423]

We don't have a metal roof so I don't know if this applies but we imsulated the whole coop and it stays alot cooler on hot days. I'm glad we made is large since the girls love to hang out in there.

 

[95yj]

Quote:
Yes, now stop and think about that

The best you can ever hope to do, without an active source of COOLTH (airconditioner, swamp cooler, large cold heat-sink, etc) is to keep the indoor coop temp the same temp as it is outdoors in the shade.

If your coop is ALREADY no hotter than outdoor shade temperature, insulating the roof can't possibly do anything

If you get sub-freezing winter temperatures though you will be glad you have that insulation up there, as it will prevent a lot of condensation/humidity problems.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

I believe that his theory was that with insulation he could retain some of the coolness from the night and stave off the heat from penetrating the coop as quickly. However your still going to have all four side walls letting heat in, and the presumably open chicken door and windows, i personally think that insulating against heat is kinda ridiculous but whatever floats your boat. Plus on the downside if you don't get the ventilation right the insulation could just end up holding in moisture from the night and heat from the day.

 

[rrgrassi]

Paint the metal roof with that white rubbery stuff used on Mobile homes. I had a MH in the early 1990's and it had the typical silver metal roof. In the summer, the top of the roof could burn you. I painted it with the white rubbery stuff, and after it dried, you could tell an immediate difference in surface temperatures. IT even cut my A/C bill in the summer and the heating bill in the winter.

That metal can be a huge heatsink in the summer, resulting in a really hot coop.

 

[MoSo]

Our coop is built in SIPs (a sandwich made of plywood, 2" foam, interior plywood). This applies to walls, roof and base. It hasn't been terribly hot here (max 91 and very low humidity), but the coop is always a few degrees cooler during the hot part of the day. It cools off at night (down into the 40s and low 50s) so we open up all the windows as it cools to keep the coop from holding that heat into the night and then in the cool morning shut down all of the windows (leaving only the two roof vents open).

According to our wireless temp, the hottest it's ever gotten inside the coop is 83.

 

[JFW]

If you drop your insulation down a few inches so you have an air gap between the insulation and metal panels and move air through the gap, this will slow thermo transfer from the metal panels down into your coop. The dropped insulation will stop tranfer in the winter up and out through the roof panels. This is the same as in your house attic but on a smaller scale. You should always move air between the ceiling (insulation) and the roof. You can leave a 2 to 4 inch gap at the ridge to keep fresh air moving up and out of the coop, assuming you have a ridge vent. A small fan placed high in the coop (blowing out) will also help cool the roof and slow thermo transfer. You can wire the fan to an attic fan control switch (Lowe's for about $30.00) and set it to any temp you wish it to come on at. I hope this helps.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Surely not, since the thing is very well ventilated so obviously it is going to track outdoor air temps?

i personally think that insulating against heat is kinda ridiculous but whatever floats your boat.

Not ridiculous at all -- it works real well for our house. (Mind you we live somewhere with decently-cool summer nights).

BUT, it works only because we close off ventilation of the house during the day AND have large thermal mass in there. Both are required if you want it to work. In contrast, my coop has large thermal mass and excellent insulation, yet because it has four oversize popdoors plus two windows open during the day, it does not retain night coolth very well. (Not that it's intended to of course, just using it as an example)

Pat​

 

[CityChook]

Quote:
This is how my coop is built, minus the fan. I have insulation in all the walls as well. However, I do not have a metal roof - I have plywood/water barrier/asphalt shingles. I am very pleased with the performance of my coop, summer and winter.

 

[8ROYALS]

I have a question since we are talking insulation. I am taking vinyl siding off this old hous and ther is Mansanto board insulation underneath. So I can save, so is it okay to us on my coop I am building? And can it me next to the chickens or shoudl there be a bearer between. Thanks for all the help