Advice on Energy Improvements

S

Sybilla

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Hi - I would be grateful for recommendations for advice on the most cost effective energy improvements for a 1960s semi-detached house. For example, what type of ventilation would make sense, airtightness etc? I would rather not use a one-stop shop. Would like to pay for advice.
Thanks
 
Suggest you get an energy audit done. We had one completed recently. Was a good sense checker for us, we were delighted to find our house performed well.

Got a comprehensive report which steered us away from the need (as we thought) for big ticket expenditure (eg windows) and focused on much smaller less expensive minor fixes.

Cost us €850 to get the survey but for a roadmap on what we needed to do (and not do) is great peace of mind
 
FWIW AAM user Micks'r does assessments like this and as you'll see from his post history he is very knowledgeable and most importantly pragmatic.

A BER survey will also give you suggested improvements and is valuable to have for various reasons, but they are quite cookie-cutter and they have a serious blind-spot around airtightness.
 
Done this recently for a 70s semi.

Firstly, stay away from the one stop shops. We had a very negative experience with one of them, total lack of joined up thinking, one guy was obsessed with us replacing windows (totally not needed), another from them was hard selling heat pumps. We found if we project managed it ourselves (which didn't take much) and went with local suppliers it was much better and less expensive. We saved around €12k by doing that overall.

You need to understand where you are right now as the previous poster said and then it will all come down to budget and cash flow as the grants come after the event. In other words, it's a rebate from the state rather then a grant up front. Also dig out whatever paperwork you have on windows and doors from when they were installed, that will help the assessor on things like thermal efficiency of the glass.

Also consider areas where you have dampness, can you pump the walls or is an external wrap a better way to go, attic insulation makes a big difference upstairs
 
Sybilla said:
Hi - I would be grateful for recommendations for advice on the most cost effective energy improvements for a 1960s semi-detached house. For example, what type of ventilation would make sense, airtightness etc? I would rather not use a one-stop shop. Would like to pay for advice.
Thanks
Click to expand...
As @Zenith63 correctly pointed out I carryout the type of survey you appear to be looking for. They are loosely called heat loss surveys but also include all elements of building physics including options on suitable moisture control / ventilation methods. However, I will not do these surveys during the warmer months so you would need to wait until the outdoor conditions are suitable (generally from sometime in October onwards) before having the survey done.
 
Hello,

Interesting that the conversation has focused on heat retention, given the original poster mentioned "cost effective energy improvements"...

I'd suggest that solar power be put on the agenda. You'll get sales people to do initial surveys and quotes for free, to give you an indication of what benefits might be available.

Most houses are suitable for grant aid towards an investment in solar power (see the SEAI website for info and approved installers etc.and apply for the grant before you engage an installer).

Here's a link to help get you stated:

www.seai.ie

Solar electricity calculator

www.seai.ie www.seai.ie

Ultimately, we're talking about sourcing cheaper electricity, or "free" electricity, if you don't count the initial expenditure on equipment.

Installation of Solar Power will also result in an improved BER rating, and will likely add value to your home.

... That's before we mention that you'd be doing something good for the environment.

I've no conflict of interest here, other than having invested in a system for oir home, earlier this year... after doing plenty of research... but I can tell you that it's proven to be one of the best things I've ever done, and I'll likely see benefits for up to 25 years to come.
 
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Micks'r said:
As @Zenith63 correctly pointed out I carryout the type of survey you appear to be looking for. They are loosely called heat loss surveys but also include all elements of building physics including options on suitable moisture control / ventilation methods. However, I will not do these surveys during the warmer months so you would need to wait until the outdoor conditions are suitable (generally from sometime in October onwards) before having the survey done.
Click to expand...


I'm sure this is a service that would interest many of us on the site. Do you cover a certain geographic area?
 
As a starting point, look up your house type on the document posted here, while it's a little out of date and not tailored to your individual home, it should give you a sense of the works that are possible and an indication of payback period.
 
Micks'r said:
As @Zenith63 correctly pointed out I carryout the type of survey you appear to be looking for. They are loosely called heat loss surveys but also include all elements of building physics including options on suitable moisture control / ventilation methods. However, I will not do these surveys during the warmer months so you would need to wait until the outdoor conditions are suitable (generally from sometime in October onwards) before having the survey done.
Click to expand...
Thanks very much for the response - I would be very interested in getting the assessment done and could wait until October. Can you send me a message with your contact details? We had a BER done (discussed upgrades with a one stop shop) but very unimpressed. They completely ignored the fact the windows were drafty becasue they were double glazed. All the grant seemed to be used up through upfront fees etc.
 
Thanks very much all for the detailed replies, I will take a look, including the solar panel info. Not sure we have enough surface area due to velex windows on the converted attic and West/East orientation front & back.
 
1) Identify your electricity vampires (TV's/sky boxes on standby, etc) and put smart plugs on them to knock them off overnight/ when not in use
2) Replace rotary dials on your heating - family-members stick them on for an hour today, you find several days later they've been coming on for the same hour every day. Get a digital timer with boost button/option instead.
3) Roll out an additional layer of attic insulation, on stilts if you need to raise flooring for storage - can be done yourself if you're handy and, er, maybe a little flexible too, depending on the shape of your attic (a 2-day core workout for me!).
4) Look at appliances, particularly if coming up due for replacement - e.g. heat-pump dryer and/or dehumidifier to replace a regular condenser dryer, induction hob to replace gas hob, good airfryer to replace oven usage, slow cooker an option also.
5) Boiler flow temperature - we have an obsession in Ireland with blasting heat out only to let it cool down rapidly. If overall heating system allows, reducing a gas boiler flow temp can help improve efficiency. Trial and error though! See heatgeek consumer series on YouTube for more info.
6) solar and battery if your roof can take it - oversize battery installations have potential to arbitrage cheap EV/night rate electricity while exporting PV at a higher price, even if your solar install is limited in size.

Heat pump, external/internal insulation, etc all very expensive and disruptive - I'd work through the list above first before considering them. Even though our heat pump grant system is fabric first, I believe installing a properly sized heat-pump based heating system (i.e. including properly sized emitters!) is a far more efficient use of the available grant money. Pretty sure I can halve my heating CO2 emissions with a properly sized install and a couple of radiator upgrades, but Heat Loss Indicator of 2.35 is above the HLI 2.0 limit for an SEAI grant and needs €€€ insulation to get to that level, even though overall BER just moved from C2 to A3 due to recent sizeable solar+battery install.
 
conor_mc said:
1) Identify your electricity vampires (TV's/sky boxes on standby, etc) and put smart plugs on them to knock them off overnight/ when not in use
Click to expand...
Be sure to look into the consumption specs in detail before going down this route. Smart plugs themselves consume power, some on the market consume 4 times what my 3 year old TV does on standby. Make sure the calculation show you will save enough electricity to cover the cost of the smart plug.
 
PatMu said:
I'm sure this is a service that would interest many of us on the site. Do you cover a certain geographic area?
Click to expand...
Yep, pretty much all of the country. Based and survey predominantly in Munster but have surveyed in all provinces (I tend to, where possible, bunch survey geographically to keep costs / travel time to a minimum).
 
conor_mc said:
1) Identify your electricity vampires (TV's/sky boxes on standby, etc) and put smart plugs on them to knock them off overnight/ when not in use
2) Replace rotary dials on your heating - family-members stick them on for an hour today, you find several days later they've been coming on for the same hour every day. Get a digital timer with boost button/option instead.
3) Roll out an additional layer of attic insulation, on stilts if you need to raise flooring for storage - can be done yourself if you're handy and, er, maybe a little flexible too, depending on the shape of your attic (a 2-day core workout for me!).
4) Look at appliances, particularly if coming up due for replacement - e.g. heat-pump dryer and/or dehumidifier to replace a regular condenser dryer, induction hob to replace gas hob, good airfryer to replace oven usage, slow cooker an option also.
5) Boiler flow temperature - we have an obsession in Ireland with blasting heat out only to let it cool down rapidly. If overall heating system allows, reducing a gas boiler flow temp can help improve efficiency. Trial and error though! See heatgeek consumer series on YouTube for more info.
6) solar and battery if your roof can take it - oversize battery installations have potential to arbitrage cheap EV/night rate electricity while exporting PV at a higher price, even if your solar install is limited in size.

Heat pump, external/internal insulation, etc all very expensive and disruptive - I'd work through the list above first before considering them. Even though our heat pump grant system is fabric first, I believe installing a properly sized heat-pump based heating system (i.e. including properly sized emitters!) is a far more efficient use of the available grant money. Pretty sure I can halve my heating CO2 emissions with a properly sized install and a couple of radiator upgrades, but Heat Loss Indicator of 2.35 is above the HLI 2.0 limit for an SEAI grant and needs €€€ insulation to get to that level, even though overall BER just moved from C2 to A3 due to recent sizeable solar+battery install.
Click to expand...
Thanks very much for detailed response. I'll definitely have a look at the heatgeek - we definitely tend to heat the house & then let it cool quickly. Quick question - we do need to replace our clothers dryer - I have looked at some more efficient ones but they seem to take a long time to dry, is that right? Do they give a reasdonable saving. What is a dehumidifier?

That's interesting on TV/Sky box, I didn't think it used much electricity on stand-by.
 
Sorry - another query for the experts. We are considering replacing our boiler (it works fine but old), our heating system in general is fairly old, are smart radiator valves & HIve system worthwhile, seem to be quite expensive?

Thanks
 
Sybilla said:
are smart radiator valves & HIve system worthwhile, seem to be quite expensive?
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Do you regularly go around adjusting the valves today? Unless you see yourself setting different or complex schedules for rooms within a zone, you will likely never recoup an investment in smart thermostats over simple thermostatic valves.

Unless you've a large house, or only use some rooms at weekends, or the likes, you are unlikely to really make use of smart valves. Do you think you would use different schedules for different rooms?
 
Sybilla said:
Thanks very much for detailed response. I'll definitely have a look at the heatgeek - we definitely tend to heat the house & then let it cool quickly. Quick question - we do need to replace our clothers dryer - I have looked at some more efficient ones but they seem to take a long time to dry, is that right? Do they give a reasdonable saving. What is a dehumidifier?

That's interesting on TV/Sky box, I didn't think it used much electricity on stand-by.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't say replacing your tumble dryer is mandatory, but it is worth looking into. Our heat pump dryer doesn't take noticeably longer than our old condenser dryer tbh, but we don't really use it for emergency drying so say 1.5 hours vs 2.5 hrs isn't really noticed.

A dehumidifier is basically a compressor that squeezes the vapour out of moist air, so can really help dry clothes on clothes-horses at a fraction of the cost of tumble drying in a condensor dryer.

I wouldn't say Sky boxes/TV's use that much electricity on standby, maybe a few tens of € per year, but the cost of mitigation is pretty low and pretty easy too - €40 for 4x Tapo smart plugs on amazon at the minute.
 
conor_mc said:
I wouldn't say Sky boxes/TV's use that much electricity on standby, maybe a few tens of € per year, but the cost of mitigation is pretty low and pretty easy too - €40 for 4x Tapo smart plugs on amazon at the minute.
Click to expand...
On standby 24x7, my TV would use less than 5 units of electricity per year, EU regs mean modern sets will be broadly similar and so smart plugs made no sense for newish stuff as the plug itself will likely pull more power. A Tapo smart plug uses twice the power when off, or 3 times the power when on due to the relay being energised. TP Link and most other smart plug manufacturers seem to hide their own power consumption specifications.

For higher power consumers there are savings to be had though. The older Sky Q box uses around 0.5W in passive standby, however it does pull ~18W in active standby.
 
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