Is a top floor apartment warmer?

Cristianc

I can move into a top floor apartment built around 2005 but I don't know if it's going to be warmer from more exposure from the sun or colder because you have no neighbors above and heat could escape quicker. A BER rating around C. Has anyone had experience with living on a top floor?

Zenify

I don't know about a 2005 apartment but my mother has an apartment in Honeypark built around 2012. its A rated. Apparently people on the ground floor have heating on regularly during the winter. First floor sometimes, second floor (my mother's floor) a few times a year. And the top floor never. Apparently it's unbearably hot on the top floor on hot summer days even with all windows open. All the heat stops at theirs as the insulation is above them too.

o1s1n

Yeah all that heat from the apartments under you rises up. Ive lived in a few top floor apartments over the years and never have to put the heating on in any of them.

JayRoc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121356149#Comment_121356149

Ditto, I rented an apartment for 7 years that was only on the 2nd floor and I don't think we ever needed to turn on the rads at all.

deirdremf

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058322175/is-a-top-floor-apartment-warmer

I'd say it depends on the amount of insulation used. Apartment blocks were thrown up with little reference to standards during the Celtic Tiger years, so you could be very unlucky.

Clearly there will be nobody making noise above you, and some heat will rise from below, but the opportunities for heat escaping are much great greater than below.

Heat-wise you're probably better off one floor down, if the building isn't properly insulated.

Cristianc

Interesting. Somehow I see this discussion as "is drinking milk good for teeth because it has calcium or bad because it has sugars?".

Also, not joking, was it quieter because there were no neighbors above or noisier because the wind/rain is hitting the ceiling? Although, the heating I'm most concerned with.

Thargor

You cant compare listening to the weather with listening to noisy neighbours though.

apache

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121356149#Comment_121356149

I live in ground floor and didn't know that. It would save a fortune on the heating. You never turned them on? But I don't think I could stand the discomfort of a hot Summer's day.

listermint

It depends. In newer apartments yes most likely. In older ones it depends on the roof insulation and design.

I've experienced top floor in both types. One was crap (older). The other was a hot box. No heating needed but doors open for ventilation :)

MicktheMan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058322175/is-a-top-floor-apartment-warmer

Impossible to even generalise. There are so many variables at play that you may as well ask if odd numbered apartments are warmer

RichardAnd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121356132#Comment_121356132

The best thing about having an A rated home is that what you save in winter on heating can be used in the summer for AC!

Victor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121356375#Comment_121356375

There is a difference between noise and nuisance noise. Gentle rain on the windows generally won't bother anyone. A constant drip-drip all day from a drain could send people mad. Ground floors would generally be noisiest from people coming and going at the entrance, footways and car parks / local traffic noise. Top floors could suffer more from weather, aircraft, and distant traffic noise. Being next to lifts, stairs and water services will tend to be noisier again. The biggest nuisance noise in apartment blocks tends to be noise that carries from the floor above, which can be down to the construction of the building, floor surfaces and/or whether a herd of Heffalumps live there.

Ground floors have a higher burglary / vandalism risk and risk rising damp. And floor with a roof or terrace over it risks leaks.

Property prices and rents may be higher on higher floors.

Cristianc

I lived in a first floor apartment built in 2017 and had to turn on the heating even in summer. Then in a 2005 building on the 4th floor - heating (gas) on during winter several times a day (around 2 hours in total). Not cheap.

Padre_Pio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121360326#Comment_121360326

Open a window.

It's barely gets over 25C in Ireland anyways so not like your comment is remotely true.

To the OP, yep it would be warmer than the floors below, but a bigger benefit to top floor apartment is no noise from those above you walking around.

Victor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121360845#Comment_121360845

The problem is that some modern apartments have south-facing floor-to-ceiling windows with limited ventilation.

JCN12

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121360845#Comment_121360845

You must have spent last summer in the shade! 😄

RichardAnd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121360845#Comment_121360845

Joke (noun): Something not to be taken seriously : a trifling matter...

OP, I lived in an apartment for a few years in the middle floor. It was not a recent build, but there was rarely a need to turn on the heating. It did, however, get very warm in the summer, and I was living with someone who was neurotic about opening windows for any length of time. I live in a house now, but I honestly miss living in an apartment in winter.

Fiona

I lived in top floor apartment for a couple of years, defo didn't have to have the storage heaters up as high as the lower floors, no damp either. Concrete built had no issues with noise, only from outside from the walkway below.

Ben D Bus

I live on a top floor and neighbours from lower floors have commented on how much warmer my places is, even with the heat off.

I have the advantage that my block has a pitched roof which means I have an attic (amazing in itself for storage!) and plenty of attic insulation.

SharkMX

Ive been in lots of apartments on different floors. They are all different when it comes to heating. I wouldnt say i founf gorund floor apartment required any more heat than an upper floor apartment to be honest. It was more the weather and the area of the apartments that effected how much heating any of them needed than the location.

I did live in one ground floor apartment where a neighbor from upstairs was a friend and he always used to tell me that my apartment was much warmer than his. He used to turn his heating on for an hour in the morning and never in the evening. I boosted mine as i needed it. Of course mine was warmer than his. Two different lifestyles.

Yeah Right

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121359425#Comment_121359425

I lived on the 3rd floor in a 5 storey block for about 5 years. Around 2010 with the big freeze, heating bills went through the roof. The following year, we opted for the Bord Gáis thing where they spread the cost out over the year……..e.g. so instead of paying €60 euro a month during the summer and €140 a month during the winter, you paid €100 a month all year round. It was supposed to even out over the full year.

About half way through the 2nd year, our downstairs neighbours moved out and a lovely Indian couple moved in, replacing the eastern Europeans who were already there. The difference in temperature was noticeable from day one, before I’d even known the Lithuanians had left. I actually assumed they’d had a baby, not that they’d moved out.

We were so used to the regular monthly deduction from BG that we forgot about the way we were spreading the costs with them. The residual heat coming up through the floors meant we weren’t putting it on as early, as often or for as long as we had been. When we moved out and I rang up about cancelling the account, we were about €700 in credit.

I had murder with them trying to get it back, they were very reluctant to issue a refund, they wanted to transfer the credit to our new account.