How to Insulate a Balcony or Loggia: Expert Tips

To make the balcony comfortable year-round, it's essential to thoroughly insulate the interior of the balcony using modern insulating materials and seal all gaps and joints. Next, you need to take care of heating the space. How to do this, explains an expert from Metrium Group.

Natalia Kruglova
Expert
General Director of Metrium Group, a real estate agency and consulting company operating in the Moscow region.

1. Choosing the Type of Glazing

Since 2013, it has been permitted to glaze balconies and loggias if it was planned in the building's standard project, with subsequent notification to BTI about the performed works. Owners of old-panel apartments need to consult with a BTI technician first: it may be necessary to reinforce the balcony platform. For loggias, the allowable load range is wider because they can bear more weight.

Design: Concept 58.

Glazing can be either warm or cold. If you simply close a loggia with cold aluminum frames, it will only be 7–10 degrees warmer than outside in winter. Warm glazing allows the loggia to become part of a room.

Design: Concept 58.

2. Choosing Glass Units

When selecting quality glass units, you save on heating because 80% of heat loss occurs through the glass. Builders recommend choosing a double-chamber profile, preferably with low-emissivity energy-saving coating on the glass based on silver, which significantly reduces heat loss. If the profile is made of wood, you need to ensure hydro-isolation.

3. Choosing the Heating Method

The law unambiguously prohibits moving central heating radiators onto a balcony or loggia, as well as installing a water-based heated floor. This restriction is due to two reasons. First, heating the balcony with a radiator would be paid for using funds from all residents; secondly, it's dangerous: in severe cold, water in the radiator may freeze, rupture the radiator, and flood the apartment below. The owner of a flat has two legal ways to heat the balcony: installing electric heated floors or mounting a heater.

Design: Da-Design.

4. Pros and Cons of Heated Floors

A heated floor is laid under flooring materials like ceramic tiles, laminate, or parquet. This is a relatively energy-intensive form of heating, so specialists recommend checking whether the apartment’s wiring can handle the voltage specified by the manufacturer. Additionally, during cold weather, increased operation of a heated floor on a balcony can anger neighbors below who may notice condensation on their ceiling.

Design: Da-Design.

Cable heated floors require laying electric cables in the concrete screed, ensuring even room warming. Cable floors can save up to 50% on electricity, but they are inconvenient for repairs. If a cable breaks at some point, the screed must be removed.

Infrared floors work on the principle of solar heat radiation: they heat objects inside the room, which then transfer heat to the air. Infrared floor heating is done using special films or rod mats. This type of insulation is popular due to fire safety and ease of installation.

Design: 3L Decor Bureau.

5. Pros and Cons of Heaters

The most common, though not the most efficient, is the oil-filled heater. It consists of a metal casing containing an electric coil and oil. When heated to 70–80 degrees, the heater switches off.

A convector heater (thermal panel) operates similarly to a fan, forcing heated air to circulate. It has drawbacks: it dries out the air and consumes a lot of electricity.

An infrared heater has the highest efficiency and works similarly to infrared heated floors, but it also has a drawback: thermal shadow. If there is a lot of furniture on the balcony, unheated zones form under it. For example, the area under a large table remains cold.

Design: Marina Butusova.

On the cover: Design project by 3L Decor Bureau.

Read also:

• 3 Mistakes That Leave You With Nowhere to Breathe in Your Apartment
• How to Insulate a Country House: 4 Tips from Professionals
• 7 Rules That Will Save Your Home From Leaks