House energy improvements... where to get advice?

Sor

Hi all,
Our house is 30 years old. And is in need of being insulated properly. Is there a service where someone (approved) will come round and tell us what needs to be done? And being able to tell us at least which bits will be the most expensive and what order would be the best to do said fixing? Is there a free service or how much would this likely cost? We're in the Downpatrick area.

Its my parents house and both of them are over 70, with my dad being over 80 in the next couple of months.

I know about the energy saving trust but I don't believe they have any grants available at the moment. Supposedly we are on a waiting list in case some money magically appears.

And what things are easy enough to do by ourselves (ie me. And by brother when he comes home for a long weekend).

Things that we think do need done but.... we have no real idea about anything! (Any suggestions on companies/workers are welcome)
The loft insulation is 30 years old and is on the roof between the beams rather than on the loft floor. It's quite tatty and bare in places.

Cavity walls - don't know if there was ever anything between the walls.

Windows. Not all our windows are double-glazed. However, as the house was specifically designed and built, things are not necessarily a 'normal' size/shape. Our frames are wood, and the consensus is that new frames should be wood to, so they would need to be made. Is triple glazing a lot more expensive than double-glazing - cause maybe we should go for the most when putting new windows in.

Many many thanks for your advice.

blueberrypie

Good place to start would be http://www.eaga.com/government_contracts/warmerhomes.htm

warmhands.coldheart

Homebase are doing 1/2 price loft insulation e.g. Space Combi Loft Insulation - 170mm - £13.99
Area covered by each roll: 8.01m/sq.
Some examples of approximate quantity needed are shown below.
2 bed terrace (50m/sq) - approximately 7 rolls needed.
3 bed terrace (60m/sq) - approximately 8 rolls needed.
2 bed semi (50m/sq) - approximately 7 rolls needed.
3 bed semi (80m/sq) - approximately 10 rolls needed.
3 bed detached (100m/sq) - approximately 13 rolls needed.
4 bed detached (120m/sq) - approximately 15 rolls needed.

It cost £320 to get ours done under the Energy Saving Trust grant scheme and we got £150 cash back so still cost £170 so a grand saving of about £12(Minus the labour obviously but then if you're doing it yourself for your parents!!)
You need about 250mm of loft insulation so patch up the bare areas and lay new stuff over the roof beams (opposit direction to the beams) remember to build a little walkway to the water tank while your up there to save any potential little accidents in the future

Wooden Frame windows are (i believe) bloody expensive and you have to maintain them a lot more.. they would look nice though! Triple glazing is not necessarily better than a good quality double glazed unit from what I've heard..

Are the walls cavity walls? If it's red brick you'll know by the way the bricks are layed. sorry if the explanation is poor but if all the bricks on the wall are laid long ways then it's a cavity wall and you could get it inspected (usually for free) and topped up of necessary.. we had to do it on our house and it is only 10 years old (Cowboy Builders). You can't use the grant scheme for cavity wall top ups and I'd be supprised if any houses out there with cavity walls have No insulation at all..

Hope this helps a bit

Sor

Many thanks, thats a lot of help. Seems like we should rush on down to homebase for starters!

Ta :-)

wacko911

Or b&q are doing 200mm loft insulaton 5.4sq m for £5

£50 done or 3 bed bungalow took an hour to throw down.

Andrew_Sam

Following up on warmhands.coldheart's post this site explains how you assess whether you have cavity walls by checking the brickwork.



A friend of mine got a grant from Eaga who came out and assessed his pebble-dashed house for eligibility. The Surveyor said they were cavity walls but when the Installer called and drilled into the walls it turned out they were solid so it's not an exact science. Allegedly the only way to know for sure is to have a test drill hole done.

Belfastbelle

warmhands.coldheart wrote: »

Wooden Frame windows are (i believe) bloody expensive and you have to maintain them a lot more.. they would look nice though! Triple glazing is not necessarily better than a good quality double glazed unit from what I've heard..

Are the bigger firms (turkingtons etc) any better at fitting /pricing etc than the small firms?

warmhands.coldheart

Belfastbelle wrote: »

So a good double glazing unit is recommended? Ive read about a special glass that some firms use- sort of self-cleaning (whatever that means!), that would be good. Are the bigger firms (turkingtons etc) any better at fitting /pricing etc than the small firms?

Sorry didn't mean double glazing was the best.. Just a good quality double glazed unit can be better than a poor quality tripple glazed unit.. but like for like a triple glazed unit will be better

I believe tripple glazing is not as common in the UK as some parts of Europe and you could pay 20 - 40% more for the luxury... and in Sor's case if the windows are Odd shapes they may try to stick the arm in even more..

p24296

Sor wrote: »

Hi all,
Our house is 30 years old. And is in need of being insulated properly. Is there a service where someone (approved) will come round and tell us what needs to be done? And being able to tell us at least which bits will be the most expensive and what order would be the best to do said fixing? Is there a free service or how much would this likely cost? We're in the Downpatrick area.

Its my parents house and both of them are over 70, with my dad being over 80 in the next couple of months.

I know about the energy saving trust but I don't believe they have any grants available at the moment. Supposedly we are on a waiting list in case some money magically appears.

And what things are easy enough to do by ourselves (ie me. And by brother when he comes home for a long weekend).

Things that we think do need done but.... we have no real idea about anything! (Any suggestions on companies/workers are welcome)
The loft insulation is 30 years old and is on the roof between the beams rather than on the loft floor. It's quite tatty and bare in places.

Cavity walls - don't know if there was ever anything between the walls.

Windows. Not all our windows are double-glazed. However, as the house was specifically designed and built, things are not necessarily a 'normal' size/shape. Our frames are wood, and the consensus is that new frames should be wood to, so they would need to be made. Is triple glazing a lot more expensive than double-glazing - cause maybe we should go for the most when putting new windows in.

Many many thanks for your advice.

I got an energy performance certificate done on my house and this gives recommendations to improve the energy performance of the the property. The guy who did this seemed very knowledgable and was able to explain the various options. He charged me £60 for the certificate and we found this very useful and have acted on some of the recommendations. He is based in the Newry area so why not contact him. His email address is [EMAIL="damianshields@ymail.com"]damianshields@ymail.com[/EMAIL].