Sealing an Older House

[NADEISE]

Hi,
My parents house is old, sections of it are probably 100 years, but it's the newer bits that are the problem! It's very cold. Turn off the heating and all the warm air disappears very, very quickly. It's quite a large house, and I'm wondering is it possible to make it airtight, without it costing the earth. The heating bills are insane, obviously, so I imagine that there would be an element of payback involved anyway. Are there companies that survey properties with a view to providing an energy efficiency schedule, and from that making recommendations as to how to improve it? An independent company would obviously be ideal, but I imagine that anyone that does it has affiliations with insulation companies or such like.
Thanks,
A.

 

[Abbica]

You probably can't make it airtight as you would need to seal the walls and fireplaces etc., so no drafts get in but if I was going to do it I would pump the walls with insulation instead, just a lack of it in the house and put more up in the roof etc

 

[bleary]

I remember hearing about problems doing this for older houses from what I remember newer houses have vents to allow air to circulate older houses dont
sealing up old houses with pvc windows closing fireplaces etc can cause health issues.
I think we were talking specificallu about radon at the time .

 

[Rose]

Where about is your parents house. I do know that in some rural areas especially gaeltacht areas there are very good grants available to the elderly for insulating their homes, it might be worth your while contacting your local council to see if any such grants are available in your area also the citizen advice or comhairle may be able to give you some information .

 

[Paul Boland]

I know if your parents are retired the may get a grant for doing up the house its a once off payment of about 10k. The roof is where most heat is lost form a house. You could also pump insulation into the cavity walls of the newer part of the house. the older stone part would have to be drylined. I think there is a insulation product on the market that you could fix to the outside of the house and plaster over it. It is all going to cost you money.