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.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
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.
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.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.
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.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
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).I'm sure this is a service that would interest many of us on the site. Do you cover a certain geographic area?
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?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.
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.are smart radiator valves & HIve system worthwhile, seem to be quite expensive?
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.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.
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.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.
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