Living in Spain I have one largish room with a plaster ceiling - ie boarded with sheets of thick white plaster about 1 inch thick which are suspended from the concrete roof (which provides an outside terrace above) on thick wads of hemp covered with plaster - looks medieval but is only a few years old. Anyway there is quite a gap up there and there are some very small vents to the outside for ventilation.
The ceiling has 10 ceilings spots which seem to cause a bit of draught in the room and also allow the heat to escape upwards into the rather large void above the ceiling boards which is about 20 inches or so high. When the ceiling was put in a layer of fibrglass was suposed to have been put in also but from what I can see through the light holes this has not been applied very evenly especially around the suspension points and is in any case seems only about an inch or perhaps two at the most thick
The light fitings are the swivel type and have quite a gap around the bulb so air can circulate upwards or downwards pretty freely whic I think is a major problem in the room - so two areas of to think about.
Would it be appropriate to box in the bulbs if I use LED bulbs instead of halogen - ie if I made a plastic boxes to cover the fittings completely so they were draft proof would that be safe with low energy bulbs? I know I could change all the fittings for bathroom types which would have the same effect but that would be very expensive think.
Also - is it possible to blow more insulaiton into the roof void - I see adverts in the UK for blowing insulation into roof voids but have not heard of it here in Spain - with 10 fittings in the room there are plenty of acceess points to ensure a good distribution of the filling if I know what to use and how to get it.
We had considered matting the terrace above the room with artifical grass to provide some more insulaiton but I think we need to firstly concentrate on what is happening inside.
Any further suggestions, ideas or comments most welcome....
The ceiling has 10 ceilings spots which seem to cause a bit of draught in the room and also allow the heat to escape upwards into the rather large void above the ceiling boards which is about 20 inches or so high. When the ceiling was put in a layer of fibrglass was suposed to have been put in also but from what I can see through the light holes this has not been applied very evenly especially around the suspension points and is in any case seems only about an inch or perhaps two at the most thick
The light fitings are the swivel type and have quite a gap around the bulb so air can circulate upwards or downwards pretty freely whic I think is a major problem in the room - so two areas of to think about.
Would it be appropriate to box in the bulbs if I use LED bulbs instead of halogen - ie if I made a plastic boxes to cover the fittings completely so they were draft proof would that be safe with low energy bulbs? I know I could change all the fittings for bathroom types which would have the same effect but that would be very expensive think.
Also - is it possible to blow more insulaiton into the roof void - I see adverts in the UK for blowing insulation into roof voids but have not heard of it here in Spain - with 10 fittings in the room there are plenty of acceess points to ensure a good distribution of the filling if I know what to use and how to get it.
We had considered matting the terrace above the room with artifical grass to provide some more insulaiton but I think we need to firstly concentrate on what is happening inside.
Any further suggestions, ideas or comments most welcome....
