Cavity wall insulation

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I have moved to an old property, it is freezing and not holding heat well. Loft insulation is good, nearly at 300mm. There are some gaps around the windows which I'll seal up, also some of the upvc seals are not making contact so another cause of heat loss I need to sort.

The floors are solid concrete and I believe uninsulated, would vinyl or carpet and underlay be better at retaining heat? Or is there a form of floor insulation I should put down first?

I believe the cavitys are uninsulated, I am wondering whether its worth getting these filled with the polystyrene beads? Or whether the cavity should be there for a reason and filling might cause damp issues and subsequently increased heat loss through damp walls?

Any info on retaining heat while keeping the house and occupants healthy is appreciated, thanks!!
 
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make sure you pick off the low hanging fruit first.

first sort out gaps.
have you got TRVs?
Is your thermostat working well?
does your loft hatch have insulation on it and does it seal well
do your curtains cover radiators? -often they cover the top of the radiator and the heat goes straight into the window reveal -it still heats up the room but the convection will be slower.

unfortunately the only real way to insulate concrete floors is to dig them up, dig out more soil and put back with min 70mm insulation.
no doubt underlay etc might make a tiny difference.

Consider internal wall insulation - look at the coldest external walls and insulate them with min 50mm celetex.
 
look for draughts first, get one of those joss sticks and go around on a windy day. Doesn't matter what insulation you put in if you have draughts it's like going out with your coat wide open.
You might have draughts in your airing cupboard, behind the toilet, behind fitted furnitre in the kitchen or bathroom, round the edges of the floor into the cavity, etc. You can even have horrible issues with it blowing up behind the plasterboard in newer houses and loft conversions.
Then once that's resolved start looking for lack of insulation.
You might find insulating the cavity helps reduce the draughts though, but it would be a secondary effect.
 
Thank you guys, both incredibly helpful, will go on a draught hunt tomorrow... :D

Cheers
 
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I believe the cavitys are uninsulated, I am wondering whether its worth getting these filled with the polystyrene beads? Or whether the cavity should be there for a reason and filling might cause damp issues and subsequently increased heat loss through damp walls?
The cavity is there to stop damp reaching the inner leaf but the beads injected with adhesive (not mineral wool )by an approved installer are supposed to prevent moisture travelling across the cavity. I hope so because I had my house done ! I am not getting into the argument about cavity wall insulation but reducing heat loss through external walls is the next best thing to a good level of roof insulation.
 
First of all make sure you have a good amount of NEW insulation in the attic because heat is rising up/gets cooled from top and the room gets colder. Old insulation might not be laid down properly it might be compressed too much or just forced in... What people tend to do is just cover up old with new but leaving bad things underneath. I took out everything and started from scratch! My house was built in 1929.

Like others said check all air leaks or just have a feel with bare hand are the walls cold like really cold? Where is the ventilation located? Might be that there is just too much of it but don't cover it all up! I know for a fact that my walls were in a bad shape and cold air was seeping through all the gaps behind the plasterboard. It made a huge difference just by fixing the brick walls and putting insulation from inside!

Cavity wall insulation....
I am trying to get the insulation out as much as possible because it gets compressed and moisture creeps on the inner leaf wall and it gets even colder... Moisture travels through anyway for example with wall ties. I have insulated my floors in second floor with chicken wire mesh and loft insulation it made a massive noise and heat loss reduction. Why wire mesh? Well in case of a fire you have to keep the insulation from falling on the ground floor at least the regs ask that... Insulate all the heating pipes will help to deliver max heat to rads but the floors will still be warm because of the insulation! Radiators need to be replaced for new ones if they are not really hot! Heating system needs to work at its best! Don't block every single hole in the house either and no problems with condensation or moisture build up for years!
Windows - rip everything off around it and look at the gaps around the upvc .... Use a expanding foam. Under inside window sills there will be the same problem!

polystyrene beads - not a natural material in any way i would stay as far as possible from it i don't see it as a good insulation material either i took of my old plasterboard with polystyrene backing it was pretty much useless in my opinion!
 
Moisture travels through anyway for example with wall ties.
No it doesn't if they are proper wall ties installed correctly,
they are made with a drip so water doesn't travel across to the inner leaf. Correct construction details, like cavity trays over openings for example, prevent moisture reaching the inner leaf.
polystyrene beads - not a natural material in any way i would stay as far as possible from it i don't see it as a good insulation material either i took of my old plasterboard with polystyrene backing it was pretty much useless in my opinion!
:?: have you any evidence for this, do you know the actual type of insulation material , are these insulation companies making false claims about the thermal insulating properties of their materials :?:
 
:?: have you any evidence for this, do you know the actual type of insulation material , are these insulation companies making false claims about the thermal insulating properties of their materials :?:

Have you actually been and worked on an very old house and taken brick out on most corners and under windows? I don't think those old wall ties are bad but defo not the best because they have rusted away from moisture.. I have learned a thing or two about these old uk houses... No need for such attention i don't come here to seek one nor do i claim to be a know it all like some do. We can't be experts at everything. All i see is a plastic non breathing material, dumped in between two bricks in damp conditions. Like i said that is the way i see it after long nights of forum searches around the world. But if you think that everything is just black and white, good or bad you are very wrong! No offence
 
Have you actually been and worked on an very old house and taken brick out on most corners and under windows? I don't think those old wall ties are bad but defo not the best because they have rusted away from moisture.. I have learned a thing or two about these old uk houses... No need for such attention i don't come here to seek one nor do i claim to be a know it all like some do. We can't be experts at everything. All i see is a plastic non breathing material, dumped in between two bricks in damp conditions. Like i said that is the way i see it after long nights of forum searches around the world. But if you think that everything is just black and white, good or bad you are very wrong! No offence
If you are talking about very old houses before wall ties were stainless steel then they could rust. As for the rest
sorry ,I don't really understand what you are saying.
But if you think that everything is just black and white, good or bad you are very wrong!
:confused:
ps I have worked on some very old buildings - for example a listed medieval oak framed tithebarn and a listed Tudor cottage but they didn't have cavity walls :D(y)
 

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