Tips for a warmer house

W

WGT

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Hi,
Our house which we purchase about 3 years ago is about 30 years old.
In winter it gets very cold but otherwise it's fine. We've been meaning to do something about it and the fact that there's a baby on the way has helped focus our minds on doing something.
The main issue as we see it is that we have wooden stairs going up to the attic which is completely open (well the width of the stairs). At the moment we have a makeshift piece of plywood (cut to the size of the gap) covering the gap. But there are still gaps in the bannisters where the air can get out. As air rises I guess most of the heat from the rads is just going up to the attic.
I'm thinking there's no point in insulating the attic until we sort out the gap, or do you guys have any other ideas?
 
Sounds so silly but keeping all room doors shut makes a big difference. Pulling curtains as it gets dark helps.
wearing an extra layer or two helps. make sure all your rads have been bled as well.
HTH
 
I've been told that this situation is somewhat like a leak in a bucket - doesn't matter how impermeable the bucket material is, if you have a big hole in it then the water will all leak out.

Yes, hot air rises and will go straight up into your attic, being constantly replaced by an unlimited supply of cold air falling in through the gap or from airvents or other airgaps elsewhere in the house.
 
Are you sure that the main issue is the stairs? Sounds to me like you need to look at the overall house insulation top to bottom. Our stairs runs directly off the living room due to the layout of the house but because the house is pretty well insulated (1995 Goldshield build) the whole house still retains heat fairly well and generally keeps warm most of the day from just the two storage heaters downstairs (effectively open plan downstairs with stairs off front room).
 
Sorry, I was assuming you meant an attic at the top of those stairs, ie uninsulated and with lots of ventilation (cold air) via the eaves. If so, I stand by what I said. If you mean a converted loft then that is a different story, but hot air will still tend to rise and go up there if its open.

If its just an attic, best thing is to close off the gap and put about 300mm insulation over the joists in the attic.
 
Would agree with clubman. Bought a house two years ago which was constructed in 1972 (and last decorated then too). It was freezing last winter, not helped by the single glazing and hollow block wall construction. So battened of the inside face of the external walls and insulated with 35mm kingspan then plasterboard drylined. Replaced the windows and put 250mm in the attic. Also insulated between the joists on the ground floor. made a huge difference but had to move out while doing it
 
Sully1 said:
Sounds so silly but keeping all room doors shut makes a big difference. Pulling curtains as it gets dark helps.
wearing an extra layer or two helps. make sure all your rads have been bled as well.
HTH
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Agree with all the above and just to add to it. If you have long curtains, make sure they don't cover top of rad as you are heating the space between the window and the closed curtain. tuck ends of curtains on sill to keep top of rad free.
 
walsher said:
Would agree with clubman. Bought a house two years ago which was constructed in 1972 (and last decorated then too). It was freezing last winter, not helped by the single glazing and hollow block wall construction. So battened of the inside face of the external walls and insulated with 35mm kingspan then plasterboard drylined. Replaced the windows and put 250mm in the attic. Also insulated between the joists on the ground floor. made a huge difference but had to move out while doing it
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Walsher, what the cost to get the dryliningand insulation done to the walls? I'm in a 1972 house too, and the surveyor said we would have to get it done at some stage.
I reckon I will need to do something with the attic too but am hoping to convert it at some stage.
 
DavyJones said:
Agree with all the above and just to add to it. If you have long curtains, make sure they don't cover top of rad as you are heating the space between the window and the closed curtain. tuck ends of curtains on sill to keep top of rad free.
Click to expand...
Totally agree makes a bit difference.
 
I'd most of the work myself (Battening insulating and plasterboarding) to keep the costs down then got someone in to do the taping and jointing for me. From memory the battens, insulation and plasterboard was roughly about € 800 and the dryliner €1,000. I would probably still insulate your roof space now if your not planning to convert for a few years as the mineral wool insulation is relatively cheap and keeps the place warm
 
My house is freezing too..how muh would it cost to insulate the attic?
 
Homebase have a special on insulation at the moment, think its €7 per roll 100mm thick, one side of which is foil.... only insulated our attic this week.
 
My house is a standard 1200 sq ft 3 bed semi built circa 2001, But I still felt I could benefit from insulating the attic further, It cost aprox €130 to lay 170mm insulation myself. I purchased the rolls from a well know DIY store which were having an offer (plus brought my dad alond to buy it as he is over 60 and said store offers further 10% discount on certain days) :)

We also did my parents house aprox same size but built in 1985. They had minimal existing insulation from when the house was built. They also had their cavity walls insulated last year with a beaded type insulation pumped into small holes in the exterior walls. Their house used to be an ice box and their heating used to be constantly turned on, this has now changed and is now nice and snug. The also replaced their single glazed windows a few years back.

Of these measures, the most cost-effective are loft insulation, then cavity wall insulation. The proportion of heat loss through different elements of the building envelope is generally stated as being as follows.

Walls 35%
Roof 25%
Floors 15%
Draughts 15%
Windows 10%

So generally is best to try reduce all these areas of losses, but the main culprits are walls & roofs.

The lower the U-Value the better the heat loss, so the 170mm or 200mm maybe slightly dearer than the 100mm but has a much lower U-Value. But this depends on the pruduct, a 170mm thick layer may be better than a 200mm layer
 
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?:)
 
Vinnie_cork said:
(plus brought my dad alond to buy it as he is over 60 and said store offers further 10% discount on certain days) :)

We also did my parents house aprox same size but built in 1985.
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Your parents could probably have gotten the attic done for free.
 
Who do you contact to get this done outside of Dublin. It states on the Energy Action web site that it's for Dublin only!!!!

In terms of a warmer house you could insulate the attic (and any other place cold air is coming in) with expandable foam. I'm not sure of how good it is but seems easy to apply and also gets into all the nukes and crannys.
 
Watersprite,

Don't understand why you could'nt dryline the inside of the house. I battened the interior walls of mine and insulated but kingspan also have a insulated bonded plasterboard. If your house was built the same as mine some of the hollow sections of the breeze block where filled with mortar which would not have allowed the blown material to get all sections of the wall, and also you would still have what they call cold bridgeing where the concrete block bridges from outside to inside.
 
Aidomoss said:
Who do you contact to get this done outside of Dublin. It states on the Energy Action web site that it's for Dublin only!!!!
Click to expand...
Just call them and see if they can help. It's possible that the website is out of date or that there are similar schemes in operation outside Dublin.
In terms of a warmer house you could insulate the attic (and any other place cold air is coming in) with expandable foam. I'm not sure of how good it is but seems easy to apply and also gets into all the nukes and crannys.
Click to expand...
Bear in mind that a certain level of ventilation around the eaves is recommended in attic spaces!
 
walsher said:
Watersprite,

Don't understand why you could'nt dryline the inside of the house. I battened the interior walls of mine and insulated but kingspan also have a insulated bonded plasterboard. If your house was built the same as mine some of the hollow sections of the breeze block where filled with mortar which would not have allowed the blown material to get all sections of the wall, and also you would still have what they call cold bridgeing where the concrete block bridges from outside to inside.
Click to expand...

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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