Inside Of House Feels Colder Than Outside

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Hi,

My house feels colder on the inside than it does outside, the survey said when I bought the place I could do with increasing the thickness of the loft insulation, would that really make much of a difference ? The house is double glazed throughout and is was built 1920's.

Cheers
 
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Good loft insulation makes a tremendous difference.

How thick have you got already, and is it comprehensive or gappy?
 
Yes I have central heating :LOL: The survey when I bought the place did say it could do with some thicker loft insulation not sure how thick it is now and it is comprehensive. I was planning to upgrade the loft insulation, what is the best loft insulation to get ?

Not sure if I have caverty wall insulation either, house is 1920's anyway I can check ?

Cheers
 
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Rolo said:
... not sure how thick it is now and it is comprehensive...
You'd best find a torch and a ladder then.


A 1920's house is likely to have walls 9" thick, with no cavity.
 
Insulation wont make a house warmer.

What insulation does is prevent heat from escaping quickly, and therefore keep any warmth in the room for longer.

If the rooms are not heated to start with then insualtion will not in itself help make the rooms warmer. An unisulated house can be just as warm as an insulated house, although it will cost more to heat. A functional central heating system will heat an uninsulated house comfortably

Check the heating system is performing adequately and get some room thermometers to check the temperature - it may be just your perception.

Badly placed rads can also lead to draughts and the feeling of coolness too
 
I disagree with woody. I live in a 1930's bungalow that we have been demolishing / rebuilding over the last few years. Central heating was done at a fairly early stage, and despite flogging the heating, had come to the conclusion this house was expensive to heat and could never be really warm in the very extreme's of winter. Last winter, we had to insulate the loft of an extension to current building regs and decided, whilst we where at it, to do the rest of the house.
I have never been so amazed at the difference in our home. We cooked for weeks having to re-learn what temperature to set on the thermostat.
Loft insulation does make your house much warmer.
 
paulandlaura said:
Loft insulation does make your house much warmer.

...provided you are putting some heat into it.

there is also a possibility that your house is damp which can make is feel cold. This is not unusual with an older house if the windows and chimneys have all been sealed up.

The worse sources of internal dampness are:

1) Hanging wet washing about the house or over radiators

2) Not using extractors in bathrooms (especially) and kitchens.
 
We doubled up the minimal insulation in our loft and almost halved our gas bills. Made the house a lot nicer too, a silky warmth everywhere.
 
Cool :LOL: will upgrade my roof insulation its my only real option now as Ive found out my walls dont have the gaps in needed for cavity insulation, there solid walls meaning I can only use board insulation, and Ive just redecorated the rooms I would use it in :mad:

Whats the best roof insulation I can buy ?
 
Rolo said:
Whats the best roof insulation I can buy ?

current regulations ask for 250mm of fibreglass quilt insulation. 100mm between joists and 150mm lapped over.
 
Did the roof insulations defo helped keep warmth in.

But have since found a could feel a lot of cold drafts comming up through the floor boards (all rooms downstairs). I could feel a big stream of cold air comming in from a gap in the door side of the cupboard under the stairs (where gas and elec meter are). The air bricks are large black metal 1920 jobbies, and one comes in to the under stair cupboard, can feel alot of drafts comming up the stairs.

I read I can fill the caps in floorboard with silicon sealant would that work well or anything else worth using ?. What about the big air bricks, I know I need them but can they be made smaller or made less drafty ?
 
You have old bare square-edged floorboards? No carpet? Not even lino?
It is possible, but quite difficult, to insulate under floors, and I believe restricts ventilation of the timbers.

How old is your house? How big a space under the floor? Is it concrete underneath or earth?

If your under-stairs cupbaord is adjacent to the kitchen, it may have been built with the airbrick to give a ventilated food staorage cupbaord. I believe that used to be requied by building regs before the days of fridges. If it is not ventilating the floor I think you could put a hit-and-miss vent over it on the inside to stop the draught.
 

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