Richard Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 Hey guys; Was wondering what the best way of insulating my garage Its a double garage, layed with carpet, theres no fillings in the roof. Would the carpet help in anyway with insulating? The tanks are located right at the back of the garage, against the plaster wall so i was thinking of laying some of the insulating sheets (blue and sivler ones) which i have lying around onto the wall? Not sure if it will give an insulating effect but pretty sure it will protect the wall. Not really looking at spliting up the garage or anything just looking at some small and simple ways to insulate the garage. Any advice will be greatly appreciated! cheers; Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted January 8, 2007 Share Posted January 8, 2007 I am guessing when you say there are no fillings in the roof you mean theres no ceiling? If so this would probably be the best place to start. The majourity of you tempreture loss/gain will be here. I was told that the blue/silver insulation isnt really that effective when trying to insulate a roof or walls. It will work but isnt the best way to do it. The easiest way IMO would be to put a layer of foam over the plaster on the walls Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaZ Posted January 8, 2007 Share Posted January 8, 2007 In a double garage like yours Richard you'd be better off insulating the tanks I think. Putting insulation on the wall behind the tanks wont help much, since that wall has house on the other side of it which should be a stable temp anyway. All your heat or cold will be coming in through the roof, and also from the front of the garage where the doors are. If insulation is your priority, you're better off building a little room within the garage to house your tanks. Otherwise some foam on the backs and sides of the tanks will help a bit until you get your own place and fill the entire house up with tanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobaltcraig Posted January 8, 2007 Share Posted January 8, 2007 Hi All I have foam on the sides and backs of most of my tanks I have since put "Bates" in the side walls and roof which have had a big effect However word of warning Do not fit Bates in shorts and Tshirt as it itches like hell Three showers later and a couple of Panadole help me get over this Cheers craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted January 8, 2007 Author Share Posted January 8, 2007 Josh: Theres a ceiling in my garage if thats what you're trying to figure out. I think for now i'll do the foam on the sides and backs of my tanks. I'll have to have a look at the electricity bill once its run for the first three months, if it looks liek the tanks are wasting alot of electricity i will look further into proper insulation. Just wondering what i'd start with if i decide to make a room out of my garage. Gyprock, wood, nails and all that DIy stuff included? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
az1 Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 Hi All I have foam on the sides and backs of most of my tanks I have since put "Bates" in the side walls and roof which have had a big effect However word of warning Do not fit Bates in shorts and Tshirt as it itches like hell Three showers later and a couple of Panadole help me get over this Cheers craig The best thing to use is polyester bats. 3.5R rating to give heaps of insulation factor. You can install these without any protective clothing, but I would still recommend a dust mast as they can get dusty. I would suggest that you line the joists with Gyprock. You can get a panel lifter from bunnings for $35 per day so you don't kill yourslef lifting the sheets. Ones you have the sheets up you can insulate with the before mentioned polyester bats. If yu do all this you will find a marked difference in the ambient temp of the garage. Unfortunately, as mentioned by Baz, your biggest problem after the ceiling is the garage door and this is way harder a problem to address. Cheers Andreas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaZ Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 I have since put "Bates" in the side walls and roof which have had a big effect However word of warning Do not fit Bates in shorts and Tshirt as it itches like hell Three showers later and a couple of Panadole help me get over this Cheers craig I'm not sure what these dangerous-sounding 'bates' are but I used the polyester bats like Andreas did and they have done a great job in keeping the room warm during winter. Ready for a nice mental picture Craig? I did this job wearing just a pair of shorts and I didn't get any of the itching normally associated with fibreglass bats (or bates ) Richard why not post up a few pictures of the garage and we can see what you are dealing with. I've only been there once and it was a while ago so I've forgotten most of what it looked like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ged Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 Stotto divided his garage up last year with the help of Mezzacam. He posted a thread up on the subject and it had some good pictures that showed the process. I'll try and find the post. Found it. http://www.aceforums.com.au/index.php?show...mp;hl=fish+room Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted January 11, 2007 Author Share Posted January 11, 2007 Here are some pictures of what i am dealing with. Please excuse the mess in the garage, . hope this helps? Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaZ Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 Where are the tanks going? Can you draw a plan of it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted January 11, 2007 Author Share Posted January 11, 2007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaZ Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 Is it only going to be 4 tanks? (Sorry if you mentioned it earlier, I must have missed it). If so I'd just be insulating the tanks as best you can. Dividing the garage up is a lot of work and the resulting 'room' will be tiny. If you were putting 20 tanks in, building a fishroom within the garage would be an idea worth considering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
az1 Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 Hi Richard Looks like a standard garage to me with a gyprock ceiling installed. I would suggest that you insulate the ceiling with polyester bats as I previously mentioned. You can pick them up for $35 for 8sq meters(R3.5). You might just do the rest of the house while your at it, they make a big difference. It looks like you don't use the garage for cars so one option is to build a stud wall across the whole garage line with gyprock and insulate. Alternatively for a temporary solution maybe move those cupboards across the doors and filling any remaining gaps with styrofoam boxes. This will give you an indication of the results that can be achieved. Regarding the existing walls there is not a lot you can do. You could line the walls with styrafoam but this may look a bit ordinary. Insulating the walls is really out of the question as this would entail removal of the gyprock and would become very expensive. By the way one of the problems I have experienced with the insulating of tanks is cockroaches. They took up residence between the glass and the styrafoam. Not a good look. Cheers Andreas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted January 12, 2007 Author Share Posted January 12, 2007 Thanks for that guys. for now it will only be that rack, I might take up the suggested polyester bats idea just need some parental approval of it. I am now considering to place the rack along the side of the garage, just so its easier for water changes and what not. What would be the best side to place it on? The bricked side or the gyprocked side? The afternoon sun is blocked by the house next to mine so the brick side doesn't really get too hot. If i do place it on the brick side however would the silver and blue insulation wrap give any benefit if they are lined alnog the brick wall? cheers; Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaZ Posted January 12, 2007 Share Posted January 12, 2007 Bricks are fairly insulative anyway so there's not too much you could do on a small scale to improve them. Obviously running studs and gyprock, and insulating the void would improve it greatly but I dont see the point if you still have 3 other walls which are non-insulated and one of those contains the garage doors. What are you trying to achieve here? If you are trying to decrease the running costs during winter, spending a fortune on insulating one wall is not the way to do it. Also for a small rack of tanks like that in a big room, it wont be economical to run a central heater and heat the whole room to 24deg so you will still be running tank heaters. I reckon you really have 3 options... 1. Build a small room to accommodate your rack within the garage. This will take a lot of time and money 2. Use bubble wrap to make curtains which surround the rack, making a little tent-like room within the garage. This is not as efficient as the proper room but it will certainly help. 3. Insulate the tanks a bit, and remind yourself that hobbies cost money Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViS Posted January 12, 2007 Share Posted January 12, 2007 Don't insulate your garage...... Build your new fishroom OUT of insulation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Posted January 13, 2007 Share Posted January 13, 2007 The only trouble with good insulation is you don't get that much discount on the summer electricty bills when the room doesn't get much over 22 as is the case with my bunnker type shed . But I suppose it is better than fish soup. Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted April 12, 2007 Author Share Posted April 12, 2007 Just an update.. Finally got around to putting the tanks and that up, had to send my sump back to get one of the panels fixed. Should have it back in the next week or so, then begins the plumbing.. . Looks like this is becoming a rack journal now. Heres some pics. cheers, Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m0oks Posted April 12, 2007 Share Posted April 12, 2007 Good to see they're finnally up Richard.Been talking about this for ages now hehe. Going to put any backgrounds? Keep the pics rolling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted July 26, 2007 Author Share Posted July 26, 2007 Hey guys, Just an update. Finally got around to picking up my 4x18x18 matrix style sump. Just tried plugging in the pump and guess what, no power from it. Looks like one of the circuits are dead? Should i bring it in for repairs or can i fix this myself? Also i was wondering what do you guys put in your compartments in matrix style sumps. At the moment i was just thinking some Purigen, Japanese filter mat, and maybe some substrate of some sort? Any opinions are welcome! cheers, Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electricyellowz Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 Richard, Are you still insulating your tanks with foam? If so what type are you using as I need to do this aswell but dont know what to use. The rack looks really good keep us updated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted July 26, 2007 Author Share Posted July 26, 2007 Ok just had a longer look at it and tried figuring out how im going to plumb it. Still unsure whats the best way to do it but heres a drawing of what it looks from the back. There are holes drilled in the back of the tank panels rather than the bottom. What will be the best way to plumb this, will i need any taps of some sort? In the second picture is what ive kinda got pictured in my head of the way the plumbing should be, though im still not too sure on the return pipe, should this be PVC aswell? Should i just pop these over the back panel since there is no drilling for the return? I was thinking of maybe having a spray bar return in each tank, or will this be too costly and a waste of time? Please excuse my "noobness" guys, as this is the first DIY project i've set myself. cheers, Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted July 26, 2007 Author Share Posted July 26, 2007 Richard, Are you still insulating your tanks with foam? If so what type are you using as I need to do this aswell but dont know what to use. The rack looks really good keep us updated! Hey mate, At the moment i've paused the insulating project until i finish setting up the rack. After reading some replies in this thread i don't think its worth me insulating the tanks, but i will see how things turn out when the tanks are running. cheers, Richard P.S. Just another question. For those who have painted the backs of your tanks. What type of paint did you use and also was it easy to apply? I'm set on getting the backs of the tanks painted black so want to get this over with before i fill the tanks up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaZ Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 Hi Richard Glad you are getting there with the project For plumbing advice, I recommend visiting a few people who have a similar setup. You'll learn more in a couple of hours there than you will in a couple of weeks here, because plumbing is really something that is easier to understand if you can see it set up and running. As for the painted tank-backs, there was a thread in this forum about it within the last week or so Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted July 26, 2007 Author Share Posted July 26, 2007 Thanks for that Baz. Will have to pop by and check out your set-up oneday now that i have my license! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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