Extreme house insulation

[anobium]

This maybe should be on the building forum but here goes.
Not far from were I live is a council estate, where the housing authority are replacing the existing windows which are double glazed, they were only replaced about 10 years ago, with new double they may be tripled glazed windows!!
That is bad enough but, and I have never seen this before, they are also fixing some type of cladding, about 75 mm thick on the external rendering and then rendering on top of this..
Has any body else seen this and if so how effective is it and what does it cost?
One of the residents on the estate who I know, told me that even though he had bought his council house he was given the option of having this rendering done if he wanted, for the nominal sum of £1
Finally were the hell is the money coming from.!!!

 

[calorific]

Suspect it's coming from our "green" taxes.

 

[ajstoneservices]

It's very effective. The money is coming from the energy suppliers who in turn get it from their customers. So you are paying towards it.

 

[calorific]

It's very effective. The money is coming from the energy suppliers who in turn get it from their customers. So you are paying towards it.

Anything that helps get houses warm and toasty and keeps people off the dole is a good thing. Just hope that not too much is skimmed by the fat cat boys upstairs

 

[Whitespirit66]

Anything that helps get houses warm and toasty and keeps people off the dole is a good thing.

Yes, but isn't that a bit of government smoke and mirrors? Taking people's spending power by ever rising energy bills, then using this money to create 'green' jobs.

If the money had stayed with the people paying these increasing bills, it would have been spent anyway. Maybe on some real jobs.

Just another form of good, old-fashioned wealth re-distribution. Cleverly disguised under the cloak of environmental concern.

 

[calorific]

Since we've foolishly signed up to stuff and tried to look "right on" and "globally responsible" we'd better try to recoup some of the potentially stupid losses.

It would have been far wiser not to play around with this game and developed cleaner and properly working and reliable means of energy production.

As we haven't, we'd best try to make the best of a bad job and at least try to keep some people in work.

 

[joinerjohn]

We didn't foolishly sign up for "Climate change" stuff. It was the likes of Blair and Brown who signed this country up to "stuff" It was Blair and Brown, who signed away ££millions , of this countries wealth, to combat the "menace " they think is "Climate change" Ask yourself this,, Do Blair and Brown, have more money in the bank than you or I ?
If the answer is YES, then they have trussed the electorate up , like a Christmas turkey.. Silly thing is,,, some of the electorate still believe these clowns (even though they've subsequently earned more money than they can spend)

 

[Mikefromlondon]

That stuff is real good, it is as you said 75mm thick, dense something ( not sure if it is polystyrene) but I have seen a sample, my next door Romanian's are a contractor for this stuff, they use this German stuff, I had a quote from them to do my back addition of my house, they wanted 2 grand, I am sure in the long run it will be worth every penny!

they had been doing it for the local council's schools and estates,

the stuff is glued on with a plaster like substance to existing bricks, or blocks, when stuck, the outer surface is then coated with thick substance that is supplied by the supplier and comes in various colours, this is applied with a trowel to a textured finish, no need for painting. this seals the joints and gaps, and resists weather, and the stuff is quite strong against dents and digs unlike normal polystyreen.

I could however do it with readily available materials, like wooden battons screwed to brick walls and filled with glass wool 75mm thick, battons every say 24". and finally cover the entire surface with light weight plywood and weather shield it. or use light weight water proof cladding boards, don't need to be thick, like what they use in USA.

Further more, I might make special window covers, during night, you are not going bto see much outside, so a thick insulated cover across the window will keep all my heat inside! and remove it during the day time.
True, it has got to be practical, and be able to open in an emergency to escape any fire etc. So will be well designed not just stashed across with nails or staples!

When I do it, I am not getting in touch with my local council, to hell with them, they don't pay my energy bills, I have to, so I need to save every ounce of that sweat that heats my house.

 

[chapeau]

......... like what they use in USA.

The majority of the US housing stock is jerry built. You want to look to continental Europe to see how to build properly insulated houses, not the USA.

 

[ladylola]

It would have been far wiser not to play around with this game and developed cleaner and properly working and reliable means of energy production. As we haven't, we'd best try to make the best of a bad job and at least try to keep some people in work.

Of course you're not wrong to say that development would be a good thing but would it be the private energy firms funding the research or would we the taxpayer be footing the bill?
There are "problems" with just simply developing new technologies and thinking it's solved the problem, google "the energy efficiency paradox" for instance.

 

[AronSearle]

Not far from were I live is a council estate, where the housing authority are replacing the existing windows which are double glazed, they were only replaced about 10 years ago, with new double they may be tripled glazed windows!!
That is bad enough but, and I have never seen this before, they are also fixing some type of cladding, about 75 mm thick on the external rendering and then rendering on top of this..

I have mixed feelings about this.

The fact is, the vast majority of our housing stock is a joke compared to modern standards, and even our new housing is lagging behind in quality compared to some European countries.

To seriously upgrade existing stock, you need to do more than whack in 50mm of cavity insulation, and then many houses may not have a cavity. That means wrapping the building in insulation and then rendering, and this is very effective and avoids any condensation issues or concerns over the building fabric getting damaged as it becomes colder (as happens if you insulate on the inside).

Problem is, that it's something that needs to be developed in this country, our general level of workmanship needs improving, and we need a set of ready detailed solutions for buildings with small eaves, bay windows etc.


Generally our construction industry just wants to slap any old **** together and sell it, so this is one area where the government can play a useful role, developing the methods skill and technology on it's own housing stock.

The bit that seems unfair is council house occupants (not all are feckless scroungers but I know enough of them) getting "the best" tech given to free.

Seems unfair to those of us that work and save, though at the same time I don't think they should be given deliberately **** housing as some form of "punishment".

 

[calorific]

Trying to persuade people to wear warmer clothing indoors seems an obvious solution. I suspect that many of us on here are wearing a light shirt and relying on the ambient heat from the heating systems to keep us warm, possibly with the house doors open and maybe a window or two open to allow fresh air.

Obviously a complete overhaul of the quick and cheap houses thrown up over the last century is of importance, but equipping families with decent clothes is a lot cheaper.

Perhaps we could throw in some animal fur which are a by product of those fox hunts that some on here love so much.

 

[enyam]

Perhaps we could throw in some animal fur which are a by product of those fox hunts that some on here love so much.

By the time the hounds have finished there is s o d all left.

 

[enyam]

Trying to persuade people to wear warmer clothing indoors seems an obvious solution. I suspect that many of us on here are wearing a light shirt and relying on the ambient heat from the heating systems to keep us warm, possibly with the house doors open and maybe a window or two open to allow fresh air.

I suspect like a lot of people if the government were to try and persuade me to do any thing I'd do the opposite,turn the heating up,the gas is not rationed yet.

 

[calorific]

Perhaps we could throw in some animal fur which are a by product of those fox hunts that some on here love so much.

By the time the hounds have finished there is s o d all left.

In which case maybe we should start to breed foxes en masse so that more hunts can take place and we'll have some more snippets of fur left over to make coats.

We could even open up factories for poor people to sew these shreds together.