house insulation advice

dexty

Hi all, need some insulation advice with my existing home.

It's a 2500 sg/f dormer bungalow that is hard to heat, loses the heat rapidly when the heat is turned off, and suffers from really bad draughts. We bought it 3 years ago when it was 2 years old so it is a fairly modern house.

I have a few problems

1. I have a draft going through my house that's unreal. The air is being sucked into the house from some where and going straight up the chimney. So much so that the double doors into the sitting room are pulled open by the draft. I basically need to get something done with the chimney, either some kind of shutter so that I can close it whenever not in use or I had heard a suggestion about getting it lined with metal coil pipe stuff.

2. I have a Waterford Stanley that's practically useless. It produces very little heat even with a roaring great fire. Not even enough to heat the oven. Have had it clean, checked out etc but cant seem to get anywhere with it. Any ideas? Anyone know an expert with these?

3. I think the house could do with some extra insulation in the attic spaces as the hall and rooms upstairs are always cold. So I was looking at getting some kind of expert in who would be able to solve all three problems if anyone knows of such a company/person.

My parents got cavity wall insulation recently and saved a packet by getting a Northern Ireland company to come down and do it. Anyone know of any good insulation experts up north?

It seems difficult to find someone and this cold weather is driving me up the walls!

Cheers

Guvnor

http://www.chimneycowlproducts.co.uk/ something along these lines would make sense mate.

I have just replaced some old gas cylinders for a gas fire and will look to fit something to the chimney to minimise down draughts but not affect ventilation.

RKQ

The draught is probably from a wall vent as air is sucked by the chimney. (If there was a wall vent near the chimney this would not be as bad)

Dormers are hard to heat, as the rooms are in the roof. High density foil insulation works better in the sloping ceiling ( maintain 50mm air ventilation gap) and 300mm firbe glass in horizontal ceiling.

A chimney balloon, can be pumped up and fitted into chimney - stops all draughts and ventilation but can easily be deflated to remove.

Not too use on using blow in insulation in a cavity that already has insulation board. What is the cavity insulation at the moment? (manufacturer and thickness - look in esb meter box for an indication)

Reyman

You need to be systematic about your problem. I'm in a bungalow too and it's tricky heating them because you usually have a very big exposed wall area.

Do the following:

1. Find out what type of walls you have - twin block cavity wall, cavity bock 9", solid block 9" (older house). ?

2. What kind of insulation have you in the walls - aeroboard between cavity walls, internal insulation backed plasterboard, etc.

3. Find out what insulation you have in the attic including the walls and roof the dormer rooms. i.e. how many inches of glass fibre?

4. What kind of windows have you?

5. Are you using the fireplace with the drafts?

Get back to us with the answers and we'll go from there

Brainz

I bought a 20 year old house over a year ago and was experiencing really bad draft - got a lad out to have a look at the weather glaze as i felt it was the main cause and i was right -

He told me that the company who had put in the windows (they where already there when bought) never measured the hinges on thbe windows causing bad draft and also never resealed the window sills when theytook them off -

Hoping to have them fixed shortly so you should find out if that could be one of the problems !!

El Camino

I too am having problems with a draft(s). wind is coming straight under front door. Visible gap when i get down on my knees. WE raised the door up slightly when the wooden floor was fitted and this only made the problem worse. I''ve tried lowering the door since but it scrapes the floor in the middle. I've fitted a draft excludor to the bottom of the door which has made things a bit better but you can still feel the breeze on your feet.

All air vents in each room seem to have a draft coming through. Is this normal? Should there be anything in there to prevent a full-on draft coming into each room. I'm seriously considering blocking some of these up. Is there a risk in doing this? When i look into it i can clearly see straight outside.

I've also got a slight leak in attic which is coming from a pipe that is going straight up to the tiles on the roof. THere is a small vent up there. But i have no idea what this is for. THe pipe goes down through en-suite and down to ground floor. It's about 6inch diameter.

Any ideas?

Any ideas?

RKQ

El Camino wrote: »

I too am having problems with a draft(s). wind is coming straight under front door. Visible gap when i get down on my knees.

Try a draught excluder. Or fit brush excluder to bottom of door.

El Camino wrote: »

I'm seriously considering blocking some of these up. Is there a risk in doing this? When i look into it i can clearly see straight outside.

Never block up a wall vent. Blocking is unhealthy and can dramatically increase condensation leading to mould growth on walls.

El Camino wrote: »

THe pipe goes down through en-suite and down to ground floor. It's about 6inch diameter.

Are you referring to a 6 inch pvc pipe from en-suite throught attic to outside air? It sounds like a soil vent pipe to me.