Hi All
I bought a ~25 year old semi-detatched house in the summer. Some information about the house :
- Was rented for most of its lifespan from what I can tell with minimal improvements and cheapest way out taken for most aspects of it
- North/ South Facing. The kitchen and rear of the house is facing directly north
- Single glazed timber windows
- Very old "Warmflow" outside oil boiler. Possibly as old as the house itself.
- No heating controls, thermostat or TRVs on the (old) rads.
- During the winter the boiler has been set at the max (90 degrees)
- ~75 mm cavity with slab insulation on the inside of external walls (apparently popular construction in Cork at the time)
- I have already filled the cavity and insulated the attic with SEAI grant
The downstairs rear of the house never feels warm. Even with the heat going full blast. Obviously given the details above you might say that it is no wonder. There are any number of reasons why it wouldn't. However what worries me is I can't really pinpoint where the problem is. For example :
- Although the rads are old and I am aware newer ones convect off the hot air better, the rads are boiling hot to touch. Saying that you can stand a few feet away from them and not feel any warmth. Maybe they are undersized for the space.
- The single glazed windows do not appear to be massive source of heat loss (again this may not be tangible and maybe they are a huge factor but it doesn't exactly feel like there are huge tracts of warm air flowing through the windows or vice versa with cold air.
I suppose my concern is that when I spend a substantial amount of money on new windows, boiler and rads next year the house might still be cold. Are there companies who can do heat surveys at an affordable price to accurately pinpoint where heat is being lost/ why rooms are not warming up/ where to spend money first etc.
Also, is it possible that floor insulation or lack thereof could be a major problem here ?
Any feedback appreciated. thanks.
I bought a ~25 year old semi-detatched house in the summer. Some information about the house :
- Was rented for most of its lifespan from what I can tell with minimal improvements and cheapest way out taken for most aspects of it
- North/ South Facing. The kitchen and rear of the house is facing directly north
- Single glazed timber windows
- Very old "Warmflow" outside oil boiler. Possibly as old as the house itself.
- No heating controls, thermostat or TRVs on the (old) rads.
- During the winter the boiler has been set at the max (90 degrees)
- ~75 mm cavity with slab insulation on the inside of external walls (apparently popular construction in Cork at the time)
- I have already filled the cavity and insulated the attic with SEAI grant
The downstairs rear of the house never feels warm. Even with the heat going full blast. Obviously given the details above you might say that it is no wonder. There are any number of reasons why it wouldn't. However what worries me is I can't really pinpoint where the problem is. For example :
- Although the rads are old and I am aware newer ones convect off the hot air better, the rads are boiling hot to touch. Saying that you can stand a few feet away from them and not feel any warmth. Maybe they are undersized for the space.
- The single glazed windows do not appear to be massive source of heat loss (again this may not be tangible and maybe they are a huge factor but it doesn't exactly feel like there are huge tracts of warm air flowing through the windows or vice versa with cold air.
I suppose my concern is that when I spend a substantial amount of money on new windows, boiler and rads next year the house might still be cold. Are there companies who can do heat surveys at an affordable price to accurately pinpoint where heat is being lost/ why rooms are not warming up/ where to spend money first etc.
Also, is it possible that floor insulation or lack thereof could be a major problem here ?
Any feedback appreciated. thanks.