Tips for a warmer house

Yorky said:
I'd like some tips too as I don't know what more to do:

House three years old
Had cavity filled with bonded bead on top of existing insulation
250mm of insulation in loft
Covered up disused wall vents
Upgraded the radiators where single panel to double panel

When the heating is on there is still a draught at leg level so therefore discomforting. When the heating goes off the house goes cold rapidly.

The garage is integral and the builder 'forgot' to put insulation in the garage ceiling cavity. This was subsequently opened up and filled with 200mm of rockwool but it hasn't made much difference as the room above is barely warmer than the garage below .

The only options I can think of are:

Build porches in front of all external doors
Dry line the walls and clad the garage ceiling with a composite board.
Install secondary glazing.


Apart from the major disruption, I don't like the idea of using those well known high-density insulation boards as they are apparently toxic due to the chemicals they contain which are gradually emitted.

Has anyone any thoughts on the above and is there a natural version of the insulation boards?
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what do you mean disused???
wall vents are passive in nature and are never 'out of use'.....

This is a dangerous thing to do and they should be either reopened or remedial work done to allow a steady flow of fresh air into these rooms. The health risks associated with non-ventilation are many....

alos, these 'well known' foam boards have a gas called 'pethane' in them. this is an inert harmless gas... and only disipates extreemly slowly from these boards.. also these boards are usually used in situations where the air around them is ventilated or semi ventilated....
 
for example, fans in en-suites or bathrooms????

just make sure you always open the window after showers / baths!!
 
WaterSprite said:
Has anyone gotten their breeze blocks "filled"? My kitchen extension is only block and plasterboard and an insulation chap said that it would be next to impossible to dry-line the inside (or outside, as there's too small a gap between my wall and the neighbour's) but suggested (half-heartedly) getting the gaps in the existing blocks "injected" with some sort of insulating "stuff" (see how much I know about this?:)
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It seems that i am not the only one with the same problem. In my case the extension was never sealed and as a result there is a constant draught which causes the extension to be colder. Is it that the room does not retain the heat or a draught? Did your insulation chap suggest any way of insulating or sealing the gap between your extension and the neighbours?
 
WaterSprite said:
If I was to dryline the inside, I'd lose (already precious) space plus have to take off all the kitchen cabinets, worktops etc. For the price of that, it's not really worth it. Will look into the insulated bonded plasterboard though and see if I can keep the space I have by using it - then my only problem would be taking the kitchen apart!

Didn't really understand what you mean by the breeze blocks - you don't think there are still gaps in them?

Thanks v much
Sprite
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Yeah, what I found when I was making an existing window opening into a door was that when they were building the house the mortar had been falling into the hollow of the block and eventually blocked some of the holes so that you wouldn't be able to pump the insulation all the way up the wall.
 
brian mc said:
It seems that i am not the only one with the same problem. In my case the extension was never sealed and as a result there is a constant draught which causes the extension to be colder. Is it that the room does not retain the heat or a draught? Did your insulation chap suggest any way of insulating or sealing the gap between your extension and the neighbours?
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In my case, it's purely insulation related - there are no draughts, luckily enough. The extension was built with about a 1-inch gap between the outside of one of the walls and my neighbour's side of the house. So getting any sort of board in there will be impossible (unless there's external board that can withstand the elements). Thinking out loud, I may be able to put some "no more gaps" stuff in there, but probably won't get it all along the wall. I got a free insulation survey from some chap in Dublin - unfortunately I can't find their website right now but a number of the insulation places will do it. It was worth it at least because I could identify the problem, albeit there was little yer-man could do. If your problem is with a draught, I'd imagine it might be easier to fix than if it's a basic insulation problem.

Walsher - thanks for the clarification. I might still try to get someone out to see if it is possible to fill the cavity bricks. The room is totally unlivable without blow heaters in the winter.
 
I installed one of these and whilst it did make a very appreciable difference to the heat retention in the living room; when it was closed down the sooty/smoky smell from the chimney was unbearable and after a few days permeated the whole house.

I had had the chimney cleaned before the closure was fitted and had it done a second time afterwards but it made no difference.

Credit where credit is due however, the company removed the closure and gave me a full refund.
 
Our house was built in 1994, would this have cavity insulation? How would you find out, what sort of trades people do this and any reccommendations for Dublin please.
 
nearly40 said:
Our house was built in 1994, would this have cavity insulation? How would you find out, what sort of trades people do this and any reccommendations for Dublin please.
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have you any flexi vents in the house.... ie from a cooker hood etc..

if so follow them to the wall and se if you can disconnect it..
the shine a torch into the hole to see what the construction make up is...
 
I don't know if this has been mentioned already but anyone interested in making their house a bit warmer might want to take a look at this link:

http://www.cultivate.ie/learning/green_building/basic_domesite_energy_auditing_3.html

It's a one-day course run at the Cultivate Centre in Temple Bar by Sustainability Ireland called Basic Domestic Energy Auditing. I went on it before Xmas and found it incredibly useful, even as an Architect who has some knowledge and training in this area.

It is very practical and non-teckie, offering advice about how to tackle all the different ways that heat and energy could be escaping from your home - everything from improving insulation in the attic to stopping draughts around doors and windows. It even gives the home improvements a ranking based on which are easiest to do and will have a real impact on your home. And there were lots of opportunities to ask questions about how to solve problems that may be specific to your own home.

I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to get a better understanding of how their home uses and loses energy.

This is particularly relevant right now with the new legislation which kicked in on 1st January which means anyone selling or letting a second hand house must have a Building Energy Rating certificate to show the energy performance of the house to potential buyers or tenants.

One of the things discussed was the whole issue of chimneys and the use of proprietary chimney closers like the balloons that you inflate to block the air. It was recommended that these only be used it you are also putting a cap on the top of the chimney to prevent water coming in, otherwise it might build up on top of the balloon (or whatever you're blocking you're chimney with) and end up seeping into the brickwork and causing damp..

I'll be posting a bit more information about what was covered on the course in my blog on www.livingroom.ie, if you want to check it out in the next couple of days.
 
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