How Much of an Impact Will Insulation Have?

[Radam87]

Hi all

I've lived in my 1960s dorma (two floors) for two years and it is very poor at retaining heat.
Not a huge problem for me as I put a fleece on when cold but the other half has had enough of it.

It is poorly insulated and we're thinking of starting a family in a couple of years so I'm wondering if to insulate as part of a wider renovation or sell up and go for a newer house with better EPC ratings and heat retention? Other considerations include damp caused by inappropriate insulation.

My idea was to install loft and floor insulation (we have a suspended floor which reduces in height towards the back of the house as we're on a bit of a hill.

I doubt there is much I can do around the dorma windows?
There is apparently cavity insulation (15 years old).
There is double glazing but some of the seals are breaking down (at least 15 years old).

Here are a few pics of the loft etc.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/nHwZNkfjD1sV7wok6

 

[dontbelieveawordofit]

move.....she’s cold. no amount of insulation in suspended floors will uncold her.

 

[SpecialK]

You can get new seals for the windows from screwfix etc.
Loft insulation will really help, Do you know how thick it is under the flooring in the loft?

Do the walls in the loft back onto a habitable space? Insulating the dormas will be a plasterboard off messy job!

 

[JohnD]

floor insulation

do you have bare floorboards? Or carpet and underlay?

Do you keep the internal doors closed during the heating season? Or are you open-plan?

As you have a loft conversion, it is very likely that the insulation around it is very poor.

 

[Radam87]

You can get new seals for the windows from screwfix etc.
Loft insulation will really help, Do you know how thick it is under the flooring in the loft?

Do the walls in the loft back onto a habitable space? Insulating the dormas will be a plasterboard off messy job!

We have carpets with underlay.

Yes they back onto habitable space.

We keep the doors closed but the rooms are fairly long.

 

[Radam87]

You can get new seals for the windows from screwfix etc.
Loft insulation will really help, Do you know how thick it is under the flooring in the loft?

Do the walls in the loft back onto a habitable space? Insulating the dormas will be a plasterboard off messy job!

Is it worthwhile getting the plasterboard off for it?

Not too sure how thick but I'd guess around 170mm but it does look a little battered in places?

 

[Johnny Allround]

Hi Radam, there is a lot of help through eco3 if you qualify. I’ve helped a lot of people recently to get new heating and insulation to protect their homes.

 

[pilsbury]

It’s a woman thing. Always cold. The last few days when this previously nice weather disappeared, my house is 19 degrees. Came back to find the misses had put the thermostat on 24.

Thinking of installing a fake thermostat for her to mess about with and put the real one in a secret location set appropriately.

 

[cdbe]

My wife's always turning the stat up, fortunately she doesn't understand the role of the programmer so she turns it up to 25 when the heatings not even on. She doesn't even know we have TRV's and keeps telling me that individual radiators are broken.

 

[IT Minion]

Is it worthwhile getting the plasterboard off for it?

Not too sure how thick but I'd guess around 170mm but it does look a little battered in places?

170 isn't bad for loft insulation, but it's not up to current standards, even assuming it's in good condition. Any holes/gaps in it or thinner spots make it much less effective.

To keep things warm the first step is always to check for drafts. The windows sound like a prime candidate for checking on first.

For the walls, if it's going to be a messy job you'll have to decide if it's worth it, or if adding a larger radiator might be a cheaper and easier job.