Ideas to insulate an old house properly

[mosaic 10]

Hi,

 

What can you do with a 1906 house in terms of insulation? I heard you can't really have cavity wall insulation, is this true? Any tips for getting rid of drafts and making the place as warm as possible? For example:

 

- there is an open fire, is it worth using it?

- Is it worth replacing a boiler in good working order, but which is 10-years-old?

 

Any ideas will be much appreciated!

[jl-heating 10]

open fires can be as low as 30/40 % efficient,

as for insulation see about the oft because thats were most is lost, walls if there is a cavity if stone there is no cavity.

windows if not double glazed try secondary glazing,

10 year old boiler should be fine depending on the controls, lag cylinder if req.

fit a room stat if there is not 1 oand timer again if there is not 1.

trv`s in bedrooms to save a little there.

heating off when ur not in as it cant be any cheaper than off .

timer on immersion if used.

check temp is not higher than 60 degrees on immersion.

lagg pipes in cellar if needed.

lagging under floors can help if there is a cellar to makes a big difference.

 

errr thats it i am sure there is lots more to do to .

 

most insulation companies will come out for free and advise .

[Fogey 10]

A house from 1906 simply wont have a cavity, it will probably be solid brick or stone so there are 2 ways of insulating the walls, - clad the outside or a complete internal strip and insulate inside. The internal strip is such a pain that its probably not worth doing and it will leave you with smaller rooms. The external cladding will probably require some careful alteration of the roof where they meet the walls. With external cladding it will probaly look pretty odd regardless of what it atually is, especially if its in a terrace block and you might even need statutory permissions from the council.

 

Insulating the roof is a quick win but it needs doing properly or it can create its own problems such as condensation build ups in the building fabric.

 

Windows can be double glazed or if you don't want to damage the property character you can get secondary glazing that is like metal sliding sashes, they have little visual impact and are really quite effective.

 

Make sure you draught proof all your doors.

 

A modern condensing boiler can increase your heating efficiency by using water returned from the radiators to heat the next batch of water but that doesn't necesarily mean the house will be any warmer.

 

beware the open fire if you mean an actual coal fire or log fire, it may have been decomissioned and the chimney blocked. If you want to use it you might have to ask the council about having it checked out for safety and you will need to have somebody in to sweep the chimney periodically. If it is operational then you might want to get an RICS building surveyor to look at having it stopped up as the chimney is essentially a tunnel leading outside so it will probably cause a draft.

 

If the chimney is stopped up you might be able to look at a gasfire in its place as this should be very efficient, the heat will be transferred directly into the room making it very cosy but it wont help the rest of the house.

 

Think carefully about eliminating draughts, modern houses are theoretically built with such good high air tightness that it is a requirement to provide passive ventilation, you will usually see this as little trickle vents in modern window units.

Edited April 26, 2009 by Fogey

[stackmonkey 10]

What the 2 above have said...

My house is a detached pre WW1 and i have done all the above, with the exception of the open fire.

My open fire has a lined chimney (which i get swept) that has a good 'draw', which is good for the fire, but is also a heat sapping draught at other times....

so when the fire is not in use, and is cold I use a specially made wood panel and an old sheet to cover it up and stop virtually all the draught.

If you have no cellar, improve the insulation in your floors, without preventing ventilation.

It's still an expensive place to heat though compared to a similar sized new house.

In winter, I found this year that keeping the heating on 24/7 at 18.5C used no more gas than on timer at 20C and the house was comfortably warm all the time rather than just when the gas was on.

[mosaic 10]

Thanks so much for your ideas! Stackmonkey, is a chimney sweep quite expensive, and how often do you need to do it? It was very interesting to hear that having your heating on 24/7 is not necessarily more expensive than on a timer, I thought that would only work in a modern house.

 

What about windows? This house has many large windows, all of them single glazed. Is it worth spending a fortune double-glazing them (want to keep the frames)?

[stackmonkey 10]

Depending on how often you use an open fire, and the cleanliness of the fuels, you will need to have your chimney swept at least every 2 years, and possibly up to every 6 months. I've yet to pay over £25.

Having heating on 24/7 is no more expensive because the walls stay warm, and this is where you tend to lose most heat in an old detached house, new houses with good cavity wall insulation retain the heat for much longer, so are more efficient on a timer.

Installing double glazing can have a long pay back period (up to 30 years) so get some quotes and do the maths for your house. It may be better to have secondary glazing put in (a second 'frame' within the opening) for a fraction of the cost and most of the benefit, especially as you want to retain your original frames.

[jl-heating 10]

a chimney should be swept every 12 months. depending on the fuel burnt possibly twice a year is advisable.

no way should a chimmney be left for 2 years with out an inspection.

 

the cheapest way to run a boiler is when its off, you dont leave ur heating on to warm ur walls up.

[stackmonkey 10]

Mine barely gets used an average of once a month, with clean fuel - I'll take the risk. :-)

[jl-heating 10]

people do get used to the appliances in there properties and how they burn, as a heating engineer i can only give advise as to recomended to me by the governing bodies i come under.

 

ie: corgi/hetas etc.

 

You must have your solid fuel or wood burning appliance

safety-checked annually by a registered competent person

for solid fuel and wood appliances i.e. a HETAS Registered

Engineer.

You increase the risk of your appliance producing Carbon

Monoxide if it is badly installed or poorly maintained.

If you have a solid fuel appliance you should empty the ash can

daily, clean the flue ways at the back of the boiler weekly and

clean the throat plates at the top of the room heater monthly.

Have your chimney swept at least once a year if burning

smokeless fuel or at least twice a year if using wood or bituminous

coal.

If you live in rented accommodation with gas appliances your

landlord must provide you with proof that a CORGI registered

installer has safety-checked the appliances within the last 12

months. A responsible landlord will provide the same for solid

fuel and oil.

 

all info is from here

 

again sorry boring stuff i know.

[stackmonkey 10]

Good advice JL, esp for the OP.

[jl-heating 10]

i would be the same if i lived in a property and the flue was clean and drew well and burnt only quality fuel, so really we are both right but have different answers lol.. there is always a grey area. thats what makes us human i guess.

[stackmonkey 10]

If i was using my fire more, or had a solid fuel appliance as such, I would have the chimney swept more often, as you suggested, but it's not worth it for my usage at the moment.