Do you need to insulate 100% of external walls

RobAMerc

Hi folks,

We renovated a 1950's house. While doing so we internally insulated almost all external facing walls with 100mm warm boards.

I say almost as the bathroom had been recently renovated before we got there, but not having had any insulation done.

The one other thing we didnt do was change a side door from our utility which is off the entrance hall. The door doesnt fit very well and a fair auld draft can be felt under it.

Our issue is the hallway is cold - much colder than the sittingroom or bedrooms despite having a good size rad in it.


So my question is - Is this one room sucking all the warm air up the stairs and out of the hall or is it more likely the back door is the issue.

thanks in advance

Dardania

Could be the air movement indeed, or maybe some of the detailing around the front door contributing to it.

Presumably you have a stairs in the hall - did you remove the stairs to insulate between it and the wall? Could be a long cold bridge there...

With your bathroom, any issues with damp?

RobAMerc

Thanks for the reply.

We insulated under the floor in the whole house, under stairs included.

What we didn't do was insulate the hall itself as its joined to the garage.
I suppose this too could be a contributing factor !

There is no issue with damp in the toilet, it actually doesnt seem to be that cold.

Its a brand new composite door and surround, so I hope its not the case that its the cause.

BryanF

You don't have to insulate 100% of a 1950's house (or make air-tight).. if you want a cold house

RobAMerc

so you are saying that unless I do 100% of the house we are doomed to having a cold house?

aw crap !

dathi

RobAMerc wrote: »

so you are saying that unless I do 100% of the house we are doomed to having a cold house?

aw crap !

http://www.whiteglacier.com/cold-water-immersion-suit/arctic-25
like buying one of these and leaving the zip down

Hecklar

What did you insulate under the floor with, and are your internal walls brick/concrete too?

antiskeptic

RobAMerc wrote: »

Hi folks,

We renovated a 1950's house. While doing so we internally insulated almost all external facing walls with 100mm warm boards.

I say almost as the bathroom had been recently renovated before we got there, but not having had any insulation done.

The one other thing we didnt do was change a side door from our utility which is off the entrance hall. The door doesnt fit very well and a fair auld draft can be felt under it.

Our issue is the hallway is cold - much colder than the sittingroom or bedrooms despite having a good size rad in it.


So my question is - Is this one room sucking all the warm air up the stairs and out of the hall or is it more likely the back door is the issue.

thanks in advance

Cold areas in an otherwise warm area will set up increased air movement (cold air falling from cold surfaces and hot air rising from warm surfaces. You will feel a wind chill effect from this air movement. That is to say: a house at an average of 20 degrees C with little air movement will feel a lot warmer than a house at average 20C with a lot of air movement. Air at 20C moving across your body will provide a chilling effect vs. 20C air which is still. It's why folk head to the beach on a hot day.

If you put a door closer on your bathroom door, perhaps taking off the spring-close element of the lock clasp so as to allow the door to close fully when released, you'll reduce the amount of air movement due to the cold bathroom air falling down the stairs into the hall and accumulating there.

I'd certainly deal with draughts from the utility door. Exitex do a good alu/rubber set which can be screwed the the frame and provide a decent seal. You're aiming for setting the seal so that the door closes snugly against the seal but that your not having to drag out of the handle to close it. A seal across the bottom to finish.

If you didn't insulate the hall wall and there's an unheated space on the other side of it (which is presumably uninsulated) then that wall will be cold and contribute to the cold hall.

Certainly some insulation is better than none but you'll lose disproportionately more through the remaining uninsulated areas and so won't get full benefit of any insulation you do.

Dardania

antiskeptic wrote: »

RobAMerc wrote: »

Hi folks,

We renovated a 1950's house. While doing so we internally insulated almost all external facing walls with 100mm warm boards.

I say almost as the bathroom had been recently renovated before we got there, but not having had any insulation done.

The one other thing we didnt do was change a side door from our utility which is off the entrance hall. The door doesnt fit very well and a fair auld draft can be felt under it.

Our issue is the hallway is cold - much colder than the sittingroom or bedrooms despite having a good size rad in it.


So my question is - Is this one room sucking all the warm air up the stairs and out of the hall or is it more likely the back door is the issue.

thanks in advance

Cold areas in an otherwise warm area will set up increased air movement (cold air falling from cold surfaces and hot air rising from warm surfaces. You will feel a wind chill effect from this air movement. That is to say: a house at an average of 20 degrees C with little air movement will feel a lot warmer than a house at average 20C with a lot of air movement. Air at 20C moving across your body will provide a chilling effect vs. 20C air which is still. It's why folk head to the beach on a hot day.

If you put a door closer on your bathroom door, perhaps taking off the spring-close element of the lock clasp so as to allow the door to close fully when released, you'll reduce the amount of air movement due to the cold bathroom air falling down the stairs into the hall and accumulating there.

I'd certainly deal with draughts from the utility door. Exitex do a good alu/rubber set which can be screwed the the frame and provide a decent seal. You're aiming for setting the seal so that the door closes snugly against the seal but that your not having to drag out of the handle to close it. A seal across the bottom to finish.

If you didn't insulate the hall wall and there's an unheated space on the other side of it (which is presumably uninsulated) then that wall will be cold and contribute to the cold hall.

Certainly some insulation is better than none but you'll lose disproportionately more through the remaining uninsulated areas and so won't get full benefit of any insulation you do.

I agree with your points about the insultated vs. non-insulated areas, however with the sealing around the bathroom door, OP might run into issues with their extract fan in the bathroom if they follow this - make up air needs to come from somehwere when they run the extractor...

antiskeptic

Dardania wrote: »

I agree with your points about the insultated vs. non-insulated areas, however with the sealing around the bathroom door, OP might run into issues with their extract fan in the bathroom if they follow this - make up air needs to come from somehwere when they run the extractor...

I didn't propose sealing up the bathroom door. Although I didn't foresee your point. The gaps that exist would likely suffice for extract purposes however