Non-destructive way to find out if walls/ceiling are insulated?

[Flyover]

My new house has a gorgeous little sun room (big glass sliding door on one side, big windows on the other two sides), advertised in the listing as a "four seasons room". But it's a winter wonderland here in Oh-hah raht nah Ohio right now, and that room is bloody cold!

One clue that says the room might be insulated is they installed a baseboard heater. (It doesn't work of course.) But is that really evidence? What if they just stuck that heater in there to take the edge off?

I wheeled a radiator-style space heater in there this morning, cranked it all the way, and now it feels like about 60 or 65 in there -- enough to where I'm comfortable keeping my succulents in there for the winter. But how much is that gonna cost me in electricity I wonder...

I don't want to start punching holes in the wall. The ceiling is vaulted BTW. How can I tell if it's insulated? Does it even matter, given all those big windows and sliding door?

 

[user 4883]

Sounds like a package and/or kit to be a 4-seasons room.
To the best of my knowledge, these are aluminum clad foam panels from the factory.
Insulation alone is not enough to fend off Ohio cold.

 

[Snoonyb]

And the percent of the wall area is glazed, and single, dual or triple?

If you are unaware of the configurations offered by "kit" mfgs., they are available on line, or, post a photo.

 

[joecaption]

Also was this built on a slab, or is there a crawl space under it?
If it's a crawl space was the floor ever insulated?

 

[Flyover]

Things are a bit busy around here these days. I'll take some pics when I get a chance.

It's above a crawlspace, I believe. No idea if the floor's insulated.

 

[Flyover]

A contractor friend told me a trick of drilling a hole small enough to get a bent piece of coat hanger in, then twisting the coat hanger. If there's resistance, then it's probably insulated.

 

[vinny186]

You could rent a camera type device that will show through color differentiation the temperature behind the walls.

 

[Flyover]

@vinny186 Those things are cool, I've seen them used! But probably overkill for this question.

 

[billshack]

I like the wire idea, also open up electric outlet and switch and look sideways

 

[oldognewtrick]

I like the wire idea, also open up electric outlet and switch and look sideways

⬆ Yep easy thing to do.

 

[Spicoli43]

You could get an endoscope wall camera for $40 or so on Amazon and knock out a tab in an outlet box to find out, or take a piece of trim off and drill a hole there and use the camera because you're covering it back up. Then you can use the camera for engine work or DIY inspection of your ulcers or stomach acid!

You might know if there's insulation with either method and no camera, but then you can't inspect your stomach.

 

[MattinCA]

Check with your local utility company(ies) for tools like this (FLIR cameras, etc.). In CA, the big utilities have incredibly extensive tool "libraries" they will loan out to customers for free.