When a house has poor heat retention properties, it is generally "under-heated" by the occupants because it is perceived to be wasteful, i.e. the house on average is generally on the cool side of comfortable and also the outside weather conditions are readily noticeable inside. On the other-hand, after a proper deep retrofit job, the house is generally always comfortable for very little energy input and the outside weather conditions are not felt inside. This benefit is real but not easily measured in euros / cents as payback.
I believe this was one of the issues seen with the recent Deep Retrofit scheme - the monetary & CO2 savings weren't as high as expected as people who were previously walking around in jumpers and thermal socks, were now wearing t-shirts indoors and leaving the heating on for longer.
I really don't understand your comment about "smug".True, you can't put a value on smug, but it is important for people to understand that it is not always possible to achieve a payback, and the further you want to get towards an A1 on an old house, the more likely you are to be wasting money.
I think the key point is knowing what you will get. A lot of people have no problem in spending 30+k on a new car which will rapidly depreciate, the difference of course being that they can test drive a new car and know what they are buying. This isn't possible with a deep retrofit so is a lot more difficult to understand the quality of what you are buying.I currently live in a G rated house, I don't suffer in the cold because of some notion that heating is wasteful. If the OP brings the house up to a B standard, there should be no problems whatsoever in maintaining a comfortable environment.
The key point is knowing what you really want to achieve and when to stop. To go from a B to an A rating, the OP may have to spend another €20-30k, they may not get much return from that in terms of comfort, and the payback period could be 40 years or more depending on occupancy.
I'd advise anyone considering a deep retrofit to try seek advice from someone independent and who isn't more interested in making a sale.
I think the key point is knowing what you will get. A lot of people have no problem in spending 30+k on a new car which will rapidly depreciate, the difference of course being that they can test drive a new car and know what they are buying. This isn't possible with a deep retrofit so is a lot more difficult to understand the quality of what you are buying.
I can trump that. Ours is mid-60s vintage and still going strong. All things considered, should I bother changing it at all?We have the same oil burner dating back to 1989
Wondering if a heat pump will make the house much warmer?
and will not be up to the job during extreme bouts of weatherNo, it won't. Only more insulation and better air-tightness will help a home retain more heat. If you don't have those at a level where your existing gas or oil boiler rarely needs to be on, a heat pump will cost you way more to run.
Wow, thats quite expensive, imo. My surveys which include testing for airtightness take generally 6 hours from start to finish.I have sent e mails to a number of people looking for quotations for a full Technical Assessment and air tightness test to see if it is possible to bring the dwelling heat down to 2 Watts/Kelvi/m2. with a view if it is possible to install a heat pump. My house is a large 4 bed dormer bungalow with an adjacent granny flat and garage.I have only got 1 reply back so far from a person living 4 miles away. He quoted me €1000 +vat. Is this expensive? How long does the test take? I am awaiting other replies.Just wondering what an average quotation is?
Wow, thats quite expensive, imo. My surveys which include testing for airtightness take generally 6 hours from start to finish.