external insulation

holdfast

I am interested increasing the insulation in my house using exteranl insulation. has anyone done this and if so what is the cost per meter square?is there a lot of prep work required?

smashey

Take a look at the first four or five pages of this forum. There are numerous threads on insulation.

ircoha

holdfast wrote: »

I am interested increasing the insulation in my house using exteranl insulation. has anyone done this and if so what is the cost per meter square?is there a lot of prep work required?

Holdfast: I have just read a book on this: the pricing will be a fn of the amt of insulation used.
the practical issue as I see it is getting the new external render/finish to stick and stay stuck and be waterproof.

Not much prep work but lots of detailing around windows doors wall vents etc.

u also need to consider how far down, below ground, u would go and up, inside existing soffit,fascia. etc

holdfast

Yea i was thinking about four inches or so. its a pet project of mine trying to get my house as energy efficient. would go dow to the footings as heat is lost via the contact with the ground. how is the assignment going.

interesting i have Deap software, one of those idoits that did the BER course, even i was to at that amount my rating would not improve???? i think the BER and DEAP are a joke

ircoha wrote: »

Holdfast: I have just read a book on this: the pricing will be a fn of the amt of insulation used.
the practical issue as I see it is getting the new external render/finish to stick and stay stuck and be waterproof.

Not much prep work but lots of detailing around windows doors wall vents etc.

u also need to consider how far down, below ground, u would go and up, inside existing soffit,fascia. etc

sinnerboy

Holdfast I find your skepticism about BER interesting . I think it's scandalous that the DEAP software is not commonly and freely available to all . The Excell spreadsheet version of it has been after all . Was the course not good ?

Mellor

holdfast wrote: »

interesting i have Deap software, one of those idoits that did the BER course, even i was to at that amount my rating would not improve???? i think the BER and DEAP are a joke

Are you sure your rating would not improve? What is it currently?

tak

I am interested increasing the insulation in my house using exteranl insulation.

Why ?
Because somebody like Duncan Stewart says it's a jolly nice idea?
Because you dont like the idea of losing 8"-12" off the length and depth of the rooms?

If it's because you want to save money on your heating bill then do not do it unless your house is walled in something like wood.

holdfast

My house is currently a B1 I would have a rating of A3 if i put oil instead of a heap pump. the Deap gives you a worst rating for a heat pump because it use electricity.

I have done the figure both for Deap and my own calcs the cost of the payback would be in the region of 150 years to imporve the hose from 0.25 W/m k to 0.17 W/m K. not going to bother might try to improve air tightness, the house is timeber frame

Mellor

Well heat pumps are a bad use of energy considering the way electricity is produced.

As for the payback of 150 years, your calculation is flawed as it assumes that energy is going to remain at the same price for the next 150 years.
But in fairness, you don't take a house from a B1 to an A1 to save money, you do it to save energy. Embodied energy becomes huge here over the life of the building.

holdfast

you dead right on all counts mellor, but i belive in getting some pay back on such a expensive investment. I could at looking putting the money into a wind turbine maybe cutting down my electricity usage therefore emmissions and saying me money.

Mellor wrote: »

Well heat pumps are a bad use of energy considering the way electricity is produced.

As for the payback of 150 years, your calculation is flawed as it assumes that energy is going to remain at the same price for the next 150 years.
But in fairness, you don't take a house from a B1 to an A1 to save money, you do it to save energy. Embodied energy becomes huge here over the life of the building.

ardara1

holdfast wrote: »

My house is currently a B1 I would have a rating of A3 if i put oil instead of a heap pump. the Deap gives you a worst rating for a heat pump because it use electricity.

I have done the figure both for Deap and my own calcs the cost of the payback would be in the region of 150 years to imporve the hose from 0.25 W/m k to 0.17 W/m K. not going to bother might try to improve air tightness, the house is timeber frame

Interesting comment Holdfast - I can assure you the software is accurate at what it intends - the input may be flawed tho' How can you claim a B1 when you don't know/haven't measured the air permeability to input accuratley into a BER calculation - did you guess? (BTW your rating is worse for GSHP yes because of electricity input - but also it's feeding an under floor heating system? - DEAP deems UFH inefficient - non responsive)

ardara1

ardara1 wrote: »

DEAP deems UFH inefficient - non responsive)

I find that conclusion hard to understand, if the house is well insulated enough and has thermal mass it doesn't need to have rapid response.

For example I use an UFH system and have been monitoring internal & external temperatures for a while now.

The mass of the building "rides" the temperature variations quite well, only possible issue is when there is a single rapid change from cold to mild (and then staying mild) there can be an overshoot in internal temperature for a day or so.

ardara1

Hi Dolan -

All software used for energy assesment in Ireland and UK are based on 'typical' patterns of use (Based somewhere around Derby in England) - they assume the heating pattern throughout the year, and throughout the day - ie. 2 hours use in morning and 5 hours in the evening - it's apon these 'assumptions' that the response time is measured and found less efficient than more responsive systems such as radiators (Rads 1 - UFH 3)

There may be a case for UFH manufacturers or installers to tackle the DOE on the calc method (There's an appendix in UK Part L for MVHR systems) but it'll be an uphill battel - it hasn't happened in the UK

ardara1

sinnerboy wrote: »

Holdfast I find your skepticism about BER interesting . I think it's scandalous that the DEAP software is not commonly and freely available to all . The Excell spreadsheet version of it has been after all . Was the course not good ?

Hi Sinner - Might this be worth starting on a new thread - there's a lot of discussion on the effectiveness/accuracy of DEAP/Energy labelling/ and how it's being implemented??

How'd the credit union talk go?

sinnerboy

ardara1 wrote: »

Hi Sinner - Might this be worth starting on a new thread - there's a lot of discussion on the effectiveness/accuracy of DEAP/Energy labelling/ and how it's being implemented??

How'd the credit union talk go?

New thread good idea . Leave it to me

CU seminar was really good

Get you that beer soon !:D