Could snow on roof be insulating house?

MicheH

I might be sounding really stupid here but..

It's minus whatever outside and this normally very draughty, cold house is dothering but the past few days it's much warmer and seems to be holding it's heat. The only thing I can think of is the snow up on the roof. Could that really be insulating the house?

tomfun

I think the reason your house feels warmer is because the wind has dropped, as soon as the wind picks up , it will feel much colder.

I suppose the snow will be keeping out some of the draughts ,but i`ve found that the wind is the main reason for a house to feel cold.

Innocent_Man

Agree with that tomfun
The snow will fill any small draft gaps etc on the roof but unless your loft is insulated well the heat will go straight up and melt the snow quickly.
Watch the houses around you and you'll see the snow disappear at different rates.....
My neighbours snow melted 2 days before mine last year

bambibashercol

snow does act as an insulator. i suggest you watch ray Mears in Canada. -35 and he is camping outside.

diable

-35 damn the lowest I got to was -28 ;p

new_home_owner_3

igloo

When referring to a snowhouse, igloos are shelters constructed from blocks of snow , generally in the form of a dome. Although igloos are usually associated with all Inuit, they were predominantly constructed by people of Canada's Central Arctic and greenlands thule area. Other Inuit people tended to use snow to insulate their houses which consisted of whalebone and hides. Snow was used because the air pockets trapped in it make it an insulator

ixwood

Snow does insulate yes (as it holds air), but not sure about it stopping draughts. I assume the loft is air tight from the main house, so would it make any difference?

boo80

I have to go and look at all the roofs along my road now to see if we're well insulated compared to the neigbours lol. ta ben 10! x

vegasvisitor

Just a thought but regarding the snow on the roofs, the speed of the snow melting will depend on how much heat is in the roof space, but apart from the insulation levels, you also have to consider how well the house is heated! Some people hardly have their heating up at all, others will have it very high.

knowloads

Apart from the natural history lessons, the snow will block all the gaps is your roof felted (ie can you see back of the tiles/slates). By blocking the gaps, there is less of a up-draft effect same as the way a chimney works. Less cold is is drawn in thu' air bricks and gaps on the lower floors and the house is warmer. If u have no felt, then this will be more noticable. This the the pitch used to sell the foam spray insulation.