Post by grow on Mar 2, 2012 10:36:59 GMT -5
Hi Folks,
Twenty years ago we moved into a detached house built in 1953.
We have:
a) insulated the cavity walls
b) gradually replaced all the rotten wooden window frames with double glazing.
c) insulated the loft with the usual stuff on top of the plasterboard right to the top of the beams
d) replaced the old oil-fired-boiler with a condensing boiler
e) put a solar water heating system on the roof (Thank you Cye!)
So the question is ... "What should I do next?" and maybe a supplementary question "How should I decide?"
Things I have been considering ...
a) adding secondary triple-glazing with sheets of transparent polycarbonate attached to the inside of the window frames.
b) insulating the inside of the roof with tin-foil-like quilt stuff
such as this www.ecohome-insulation.com/?i=38460&
c) dry lining the easily accessible walls ... there is one big interior expanse of wall in particular that could be dry lined with that same quilting material (mentioned above) and covered in thin plaster board and hence giving up an almost imperceptible 30mm or so of room space.
d) fixing up a draughty porch at the front of the house. (I will probably start with this as a trial space for the techniques to be used elsewhere in the house.)
I can cost each of the jobs ... In terms of effort they would probably be ranked a), b), c) But what I am having difficulty doing is getting my head around the benefits ... which if any of my three possible projects are worth the effort and how would they be ranked in terms of return?
If I could get guide-number for heat-loss per sq metre figures for double glazing, insulated loft and filled cavity walls I could probably do some sums and then compare the likely benefits to the efforts.
I have not had much luck finding guide-numbers for those heat-loss figures ... though I probably haven't looked hard enough in the right places.
So I suppose to equip me to answer my own questions I can reframe my problem as ...
"Can anyone point me at a source where I would get heat loss rates for those materials and
"Is it appropriate to simply compare (heat-loss-rate) x area for each surface?
Any other comments or questions would be welcome.
George
Twenty years ago we moved into a detached house built in 1953.
We have:
a) insulated the cavity walls
b) gradually replaced all the rotten wooden window frames with double glazing.
c) insulated the loft with the usual stuff on top of the plasterboard right to the top of the beams
d) replaced the old oil-fired-boiler with a condensing boiler
e) put a solar water heating system on the roof (Thank you Cye!)
So the question is ... "What should I do next?" and maybe a supplementary question "How should I decide?"
Things I have been considering ...
a) adding secondary triple-glazing with sheets of transparent polycarbonate attached to the inside of the window frames.
b) insulating the inside of the roof with tin-foil-like quilt stuff
such as this www.ecohome-insulation.com/?i=38460&
c) dry lining the easily accessible walls ... there is one big interior expanse of wall in particular that could be dry lined with that same quilting material (mentioned above) and covered in thin plaster board and hence giving up an almost imperceptible 30mm or so of room space.
d) fixing up a draughty porch at the front of the house. (I will probably start with this as a trial space for the techniques to be used elsewhere in the house.)
I can cost each of the jobs ... In terms of effort they would probably be ranked a), b), c) But what I am having difficulty doing is getting my head around the benefits ... which if any of my three possible projects are worth the effort and how would they be ranked in terms of return?
If I could get guide-number for heat-loss per sq metre figures for double glazing, insulated loft and filled cavity walls I could probably do some sums and then compare the likely benefits to the efforts.
I have not had much luck finding guide-numbers for those heat-loss figures ... though I probably haven't looked hard enough in the right places.
So I suppose to equip me to answer my own questions I can reframe my problem as ...
"Can anyone point me at a source where I would get heat loss rates for those materials and
"Is it appropriate to simply compare (heat-loss-rate) x area for each surface?
Any other comments or questions would be welcome.
George