Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Freezing Apartment

24

Comments

  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,007 ✭✭✭ Alaric Enough Potassium


    Spray foam never finishes off-gassing. So if you have an attic full of it then it is continuously emitting formaldehyde. formaldehyde is a little denser than air so it falls down into your house.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,409 ✭✭✭AlanG


    If the BER was advertised on the apartment when you rented then you cant really complain as long as it is genuine. If there was no BER or it was false thn you could probably break your lease with no penalty as it is a legal requirement to advertise a BER. if I were you I would buy a few rolls of rockwool and stick them in the attic.


  • Registered Users Posts: 221 ✭✭headtheball14


    It's 20 quid a roll in woodies atm. 3 rolls did my attic. You could see if ll will cover or just buy and do it. Or just burn heating all winter .


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,589 ✭✭✭DoozerT6


    I can't see how a tenant would be allowed, or insured!!, to go into the communal attic space and insulate the part of the ceiling over their own apartment. Should anything happen to you it could be a legal mess.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,007 ✭✭✭ Alaric Enough Potassium


    DoozerT6 wrote: »
    I can't see how a tenant would be allowed, or insured!!, to go into the communal attic space and insulate the part of the ceiling over their own apartment. Should anything happen to you it could be a legal mess.
    Don't fall through the ceiling so. Stupid society where nobody wants to do the most mundane tasks without worrying about insurance.

    If it's removable then I can't imagine any worse consequence than being told to remove it at some point.

    I guess don't do any stupid stuff like leaving big gaps especially over the kitchen or a bathroom, or blocking up all the ventilation.

    This is a pointless debate though as it doesn't sound like he's considering this as an option anyway.


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users Posts: 2,820 ✭✭✭MicktheMan



    This is a pointless debate though as it doesn't sound like he's considering this as an option anyway.

    That and the fact that lack of insulation might not be the problem.


  • Registered Users Posts: 15,853 ✭✭✭✭Spanish Eyes


    Buy a halogen heater for 25quid. You will be roasting, and they are relatively inexpensive to run. Add in an oil filled plug in radiator and you will be in your bikini/shorts.

    Am waiting for a big job to get the gas boiler moved and upgraded and these two items have saved my life with absolutely NO central heating at the moment! Heated electric blanket finishes it all off beautifully.

    They can be moved from room to room. Buy them, keep yourself warm as there is nothing worse than being cold and miserable.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,419 ✭✭✭antix80


    They can be moved from room to room. Buy them, keep yourself warm as there is nothing worse than being cold and miserable.

    +1 on this.
    I've a blow heater and a halogen heater. By the time i notice I've run out of oil the house has dropped to single digits and these items are a lifesaver. The blowheater on my locker, the halogen heater in the living room. add an electric blanket and you'd swear you were in the bahamas.


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,027 ✭✭✭Lantus


    Post up a pic of the attic and the insulation. Try to indicate joist depth.

    If it is this then as said a few rolls is cheap as chips and easy to put down. Other culprits are air leakage through doors and windows or external vents. Check all.


  • Registered Users Posts: 25,594 ✭✭✭✭Mrs OBumble


    OP, we're still waiting to hear what the BER was when you rented the place ....


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users Posts: 1,241 ✭✭✭meijin


    OP, we're still waiting to hear what the BER was when you rented the place ....

    and that's an excuse for a cold place?

    https://onestopshop.rtb.ie/beginning-a-tenancy/what-minimum-standards-must-a-property-meet/

    "Adequate heating and ventilation must be provided."


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,028 ✭✭✭Man Vs ManUre


    Long story short I switched provider to Airtricity few years ago, and due to some mixup on my part thinking they were taking electricity and gas, they only took over electricity, and the account closing with BG removed my gas meter from outside and took me off the grid.
    Tried to get back on it 2 winters ago, and first step is you have to get RGI certified and then you can get gas meter reinstalled, but RGII fella said he was detecting a leak at the outside meter pipe so couldn’t give the cert, and could be big job to locate the leak. So been using a Dyson heater for past 2 years. So far have avoided an electric meter actual bill and just been paying fixed, so will eventually have huge electricity bill on top of trying to get the heating properly fixed.
    Will try another RGII fella and see if he says same.


  • Registered Users Posts: 411 ✭✭Enter name here


    meijin wrote: »
    and that's an excuse for a cold place?

    https://onestopshop.rtb.ie/beginning-a-tenancy/what-minimum-standards-must-a-property-meet/

    "Adequate heating and ventilation must be provided."

    The OP stated the apartment has storage heating that is adequate under law.

    Maybe you could read the whole thread next time before passing an utterly useless statement.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,241 ✭✭✭meijin


    The OP stated the apartment has storage heating that is adequate under law.

    Maybe you could read the whole thread next time before passing an utterly useless statement.

    I've read the thread. It's not adequate if it's not working or it's still cold. Or he needs to learn how to use the storage heater correctly.


  • Registered Users Posts: 25,594 ✭✭✭✭Mrs OBumble


    meijin wrote: »
    I've read the thread. It's not adequate if it's not working or it's still cold. Or he needs to learn how to use the storage heater correctly.

    Nothing to say it's not working: the OP is complaining that it's expensive, but hasn't given us any detailed information, so we don't know if it's not being used due to perceived expense, or is being used incorrectly, or is actually expensive due to the overall energy rating of the building. I'm in a place with only storage heating, and I suspect little insulation. But it's top floor, so we get risking heat from other apartments. We turn on one small storage heater, and it's enough for the entire apartment for most of the year. Not expensive at all. IMHO.

    And as you note, the legal requirement is for adequate heating and ventilation - there's no legal requirement for insulation. The only legal requirement is for a BER so that prospective tenants know what they're getting before moving in.


  • Registered Users Posts: 610 ✭✭✭JustMe,K


    Storage heating in fairness is a nightmare. If you're out working during the day your place is nice and toasty until you get home in the evening and its cooled down.
    My old apartment was draughty and although it was first floor there were empty retail units beneath us, so we even had a layer of condensation on the floors at times if we didnt have the heating on.

    At minimum I would be investing in better heaters that can be taken with me when I leave. The LL and management company clearly have no interest in taking this seriously, and I would rather spend an extra few quid on my electricity bill to be cosy than beat my head against a brick wall.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 143 ✭✭Mezzotint


    Ireland's accomodation issues will eventually just undermine economic growth. I'm already aware of people opting to take jobs on the continent instead of both Dublin and Cork because of bad accommodation. It's not just the price, but the poor quality and lack of appropriate apartments.

    Our building regs were terrible when many of those units were constructed and storage heaters are often useless. An apartment shouldn't be cold or damp or ludicrously expensive to maintain a proper temperature in.

    I'd suggest actually getting the storage heating system checked out too. They can often have broken timers and be incorrectly configured.


  • Registered Users Posts: 7 Deanzoggggg


    There is something often said here that its untrue.I am hearing people claim well regs were weak back then and they are good now so that is why many aparts are cold. This is often not the case. If you dig up a book written in the 1990s about Irish construction often talk about how builders would ignore best practiise. Likewise many brand new homes in 2019 are still constructed with design faults that have left them freezing. Other countries have better quality control on workmanship (its own profession in Germany). So the lesson is dont assume a cold old building meets regulations of the day and don't assume a brand new apartment will be warm.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,419 ✭✭✭antix80


    If you dig up a book written in the 1990s about Irish construction often talk about how builders would ignore best practiise.

    There's best practice and there are building regulations.
    Assuming building regulations left the house just about liveable, ignoring best practice combined with flouting building regs can make a house unlivable.


  • Registered Users Posts: 377 ✭✭Saudades


    Is there an online register somewhere to check when an apartment building was built?


  • Advertisement
  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 38,162 Mod ✭✭✭✭Gumbo


    Saudades wrote: »
    Is there an online register somewhere to check when an apartment building was built?

    You can search the planning site to see when it got planning.
    Get the reference number and then check the commencement notice register which gives you the exact start date.


  • Registered Users Posts: 8,344 ✭✭✭Ray Palmer


    This is all very simple. The building regs determined the minimum standard of building at the time of construction. When renting you can see the BER to decide to rent or not that place. You cannot insist the landlord bring it to a higher standard.

    The reason storage heaters are so prevalent is the building regs insist each household has control of their heating. That means no shared heating facilities are allowed thus developers put in what satisfied the regulation. There is no way the regulations will be changed for existing buildings.

    That is it nothing else to discuss.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,007 ✭✭✭ Alaric Enough Potassium


    easy to change regulations for existing buildings. You cannot make changes to your own house that affect more than 25% of its area without also bringing it up to b2 ber rating. Easy to say landlords have to bring all rentals up to a base rating within a given timeframe and fine them if they don't. Rents are sky high at the moment so they have the means to do it.


  • Registered Users Posts: 19,545 ✭✭✭✭cnocbui


    CosmicFool wrote: »
    I'm renting the apt. I'll look into those infra red heaters though. Thanks.

    Hands down, the quickest and best way to heat a room in your situation are electric fan heaters. They are cheap to buy, efficient and very fast. Obviously their operating costs are more than some other options but those all require high capital investment.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 143 ✭✭Mezzotint


    The reason storage heaters are and were so popular with developers was they’re significantly cheaper to install and had no legal requirements for regular maintenance, unlike gas. It’s as simple as that.

    They’re often a very poor source of heat and you’d need to have a degree in thermodynamics to work out the controls on most of them, and that’s if they even work at all.

    I found a lot of them are misunderstood to be just regular electric on demand heaters (especially by people who’ve never encountered them before and they’re unheard of outside of Ireland and Britain). So people don’t realise they’re supposed to charge over night and screw up the timers and so on.

    A lot of people (most people) also have no idea what the input and output dials are or how you should set them. Often they’ll have the input and output set high, so the heater will charge over night and dump all its heat by lunch time. So you’ve a very hot house in the morning and no heat at all in the evenings.

    Others have complicated fan assistance boosts and even day rate supplementary heating built in.

    They’re insanely complicated to figure out. Maybe modern electronic controls might help, but you rarely see them.

    My experience of them is they’re never maintained - broken dampers, damaged thermostats, damaged timers, often the heaters are full of lint too and they’re often completely misunderstood and incorrectly configured.

    Also replacing the classic and ridiculous Irish or British immersion - An under sized, uninsulated cooper cylinder with a modern continental style super insulated larger unit (the ones that look about the size of a fridge freezer and are white exteriors) tends to mean you’ve adequate on demand hot water and massively reduces costs as they are like a thermos flask and don’t lose heat. How the hell anyone ever though the old fashioned immersion cylinder was an acceptable system is beyond me. You just lose all the heat to the “hot press”, which is why it’s so hot!

    There’s a reason you hardly ever encounter storage heating in a house - no home owner would put up with it!


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 38,162 Mod ✭✭✭✭Gumbo


    Day to change regulations for existing buildings. You cannot make changes to your own house that affect more than 25% of its area without also bringing it up to b2 ber rating. Easy to say landlords have to bring all rentals up to a base rating within a given timeframe and fine them if they don't. Rents are sky high at the moment so they have the means to do it.

    Are you even remotely aware of how much it would cost to bring a typical D rated dwelling up to a B rating?

    You cannot and should not retrospectively apply old regulations to home owners, private or landlords.


  • Registered Users Posts: 17,834 ✭✭✭✭Idbatterim


    Op lidl have convector heaters for e45 with timer, Digital thermostat and remote control ...


  • Registered Users Posts: 17,834 ✭✭✭✭Idbatterim


    kceire wrote: »
    Are you even remotely aware of how much it would cost to bring a typical D rated dwelling up to a B rating?

    You cannot and should not retrospectively apply old regulations to home owners, private or landlords.

    The previous house I was In and being gouged for , didn’t have any attic insulation. Like this place. It’s taking the absolute piss. At the very least , decent loft insulation should be law. Very quick , cheap , non invasive and effective ...


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 143 ✭✭Mezzotint


    Apart from being gouged, it should be required from an environmental point of view. It's a massive waste of energy otherwise.


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users Posts: 1,889 ✭✭✭SozBbz


    Mezzotint wrote: »
    Apart from being gouged, it should be required from an environmental point of view. It's a massive waste of energy otherwise.

    This is coming down the line for everyone - landlords and owner occupiers of older buildings alike.

    I think there will have to be some significant incentives to help pay as a lot of people wouldnt be able to afford it.


Advertisement