Building a Temporary Sunroom
I finally got around to buying the materials and constructing our temporary sunspace on our back porch. I had a rough idea in my head on how I would build it based on descriptions and articles from other people that have built their own temporary sunspaces. Here are the links that got me interested in the idea:
Converted Front Porch into Sunroom - simple, inexpensive sunroom built on an existing from porch. Good ideas on limiting the thermal mass to increase the ability of the sunroom to heat up quickly.
Porch Sunroom - Transformed a screened in porch into a simple sunroom.
Sunroom Lean-to - Another inexpensive sunroom attached to the side of the home. Uses a blower to take warmed air from the sunspace and blow it into the crawl space under a bedroom.
I took a slightly different approach from the ones depicted in the above articles. My design include a vertical wall and a sloped roof all covered in sheeting, to get the most direct gain from the sun. I used 2X3’s for the frame and 6 mil sheeting for the glazing. For added strength I used 1X2’s as battens over the sheeting. This should keep the sheeting from ripping around the staples.
Over the inside walls I attached black 4 mil sheeting, and I also covered the wood and the floor with the black sheeting to reduce the thermal mass of the structure. This should allow the room to heat up very quickly. Unfortunately, it has been overcast for the last several days, so I cannot tell how well the structure works.
NOTE: I am working on getting some pictures of the sunroom.