Evening all
I live in an end of terrace 1930s house with solid (pebbledash) walls. Without exaggeration this place is like the artic- cold all the time including the summer when people assume I have aircon .
Each winter we wrap up warm and try to heat only the rooms we are in. This year is different as we have a newborn and I’ve got to try and make the place warmer or leave the heating on full blast over winter.
Has anyone done similar before and/ or any advice on where to start looking. Internal insulation could also be possible but have to work around skirting boards, windows, shelves etc.
Thanks for any advice. I realise I’m doomed either way- astronomical bills or a whopping big bill for insulation.
In a similar position. We also have solid aggregate/concrete walls. You might have a cavity wall since yours was built after the 1920s - you might want to double check. If you have cavity walls, then blow in insulation will be a quick and efficient fix and not as costly as external insulation.
Anyway, for us, the first thing that happened was the combi boiler died. Thought it was a curse, but turned out to be a blessing. The newer boilers are more efficient and provide decent data on how much gas you are using.
We realised the hot water was using as much gas as the heating. So we would run taps at 30c and then set to 40c for showers and back down to 30 once done,
The next thing we did was to use water saving aerators for the taps. Old taps were pumping out 9 litres a minute, installed new ones that are about 3 litres, and 7L for shower. The less water you use, the less gas required to heat it.
Our uPVC doors were very leaky, so we replace any gasket seals for the windows/doors, Make sure you adjust them so they are tight against the frame when closed. The ceiling light holes were also leaking a lot of air so I used some fire proof foam to seal them up. Be careful, expanding foam is very flammable, so you might want to turn off the lighting circuit and leave it off for 20 minutes to let it set before turning back on. Although you could use weather strips, or get some gaskets, depends on the type of light really.
We have a nuaire PIV system + heater, and the property has a number of open vents that allow for uncontrolled air flow, which I hate. They are necessary for air circulation/prevent condensation, but they also bring the overall temp down, so I filled them up and increased the speed of the PIV to compensate.
Our gas bill this time was 45% lower compared to this time last year based on these changes alone.
Although the walls still need external insulation, I think we did pretty well so far. The next plan is to up size some of our radiators, since bigger rads are more efficient at radiating heat and can therefore be run at a lower temp and save more money. We currently don't need to run our heating higher than 40c. It's better to run the radiators at a lower temp for longer, and not focus on how hot the radiators are, but how comfortable you feel. A radiator that is slightly warm is still emitting heat. Check out
With that said, some of these changes depend on the type of boiler you have. We have a combi, some of these changes are not applicable to system boilers.
Some of our double glazing windows don't have a Low-E coating so we are going to buy some film to redress that.
Also, if you don't have double glazing that's another good thing to get sorted. I would probably opt for triple if I were you, its up to 50% more efficient than double. If you're stuck with single glazed windows, I'd get some Low-E film, that can reflect about 25-35% of the heat back into the house.
Pick the low hanging fruit first.
All the best.
