Cold around window frames

pigtail33

I'm hoping someone might be able to help me with some advice on how to help reduce the heat loss from my house. I bought a new build 8 years ago, with supposedly a BER rating of A2. Some rooms are quick to heat up, but in general, the house seems to lose heat quite quickly, especially on a very windy day. I had some quotes for a full energy audit, which are about 1k and that's before I get any of the issues fixed.

I've gone around some of the window frames with an infra red thermometer and where the window frame meets the window board can be as low as 10°, which I don't think should be the case. Last year, I put silicon all around the bottom of the external window frames, but it doesn't seem to have made much difference.

Is it worth getting the energy audit done to identify all the potential issues, or try to fix around the windows and see if there's any improvement? Is there an easy fix for sealing up around the windows? My DIY skill are quite limited, but I'd have no problem paying for someone to come in and fix it if it would make any difference.

10-10-20

That's a common location for a "cold bridge" where the two leafs of the building are closed, either using a "return" brick or a thermal closer. It's probably not worth chasing that cold source too much, unless you're doing a refit as it's a small gain and a significant enough modification.

I'd probably recommend that you get a thermal camera survey and see if that highlights other areas such as topping-up or increasing the insulation in the attic as these would probably give a better return.

MicktheMan

Full disclosure: I do heat loss surveys professionally.

You ask: "Is it worth getting the energy audit done to identify all the potential issues, or try to fix around the windows and see if there's any improvement?"

I would have to answer that from my experience it is worth it to get an independent heat loss survey done because you could either spend years and '000's (including wasted oil/gas) trying to address the issues at play (and no guarantee of success) or pay typically less than a years fuel savings and, if diy handy, likely 100's to do a decent job to address.

Pm sent

pigtail33

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119935718#Comment_119935718

Thanks. I wasn't sure if thermal imaging, or an air tightness test would be more beneficial. The home energy audit I got quotes for does both, but €1,000 is just a bit too much for me at this time of year.