How to warm my house up naturally

louisaL

I would say I live in a naturally cold house. Theres always a chill where as when i go to friends houses their's are at a steady 21oc and they have admitted they don't have the heating on or had it on all summer (naturally).

We have double glazing and underlay under the carpet. i'm starting to think about loft insulation but do not know much about it.
Would this improve the heat of the whole house i.e downstairs too?

What else can I check?

I don't want to have another winter like last year where I had to have the heating on 30oc most of the time.

macman

Are you saying you have no loft insulation at all? If so you don't have to think about it-just do it? Put in the full 270mm that is recommended, and do it before the heating goes on in the autumn.
Carpet underlay will not keep heat in-hot air rises...
You are probably wasting 30% of your energy straight through the roof. Insane.
If you are really setting your stat on 30C then something is seriously wrong with your insulation standards, or you like a tropical climate!

louisaL

thank you for your reply.

oh yes theres definately insulation up there as i've seen it but I wouldnt know if it is the right amount etc. I will look into this further as I def think it will help.

The heating does go on at 30 most of the time but if we turn it down we feel the difference.

WestonDave

Have a quick nose in the loft and if the insulation is either at or below the level of the joists (the wooden bits running over the loft "floor" holding the plasterboard ceiling up) then almost certainly could benefit from having more.

You may at the same time want to consider having cavity wall insulation done if it hasn't already been done. If your house is new then you'll already have it but if not then check for filled in holes in the outside of the wall. There are a lot of deals around to get this done with subsidies from the energy companies etc. Ask around the neighbours to see if they can recommend a company to do it, and then ask the company to come out and quote - most of the companies can source grants etc so its easier to go that way than start with a grant funder and hope they use a decent installer.

loracan1

Do you have curtains, do your doors shut and seal against their frame? Catflap? (if you put your hand near our catflap it's noticeably colder)

macman

WestonDave wrote: »

Have a quick nose in the loft and if the insulation is either at or below the level of the joists (the wooden bits running over the loft "floor" holding the plasterboard ceiling up) then almost certainly could benefit from having more.

You may at the same time want to consider having cavity wall insulation done if it hasn't already been done. If your house is new then you'll already have it but if not then check for filled in holes in the outside of the wall. There are a lot of deals around to get this done with subsidies from the energy companies etc. Ask around the neighbours to see if they can recommend a company to do it, and then ask the company to come out and quote - most of the companies can source grants etc so its easier to go that way than start with a grant funder and hope they use a decent installer.

Always assuming that the house has cavity walls...
OP, approx year of construction?

keystone

Warming the house naturally?



Sorry - couldn't resist. I'll get me coat then.

Cheers

ormus

the recommended loft insulation is now 270mm thick.
anything below this amount is costing you dearly.

ps
the payback on loft insulation is very quick. far quicker than any other form of energy saving method/s.

aboard_epsilon

he probably live in a solid stone house ..with small windows ...ive been in them ..they are all mostly cold like he says .

all the best.mnarkj

Gloomendoom

aboard_epsilon wrote: »

he probably live in a solid stone house ..with small windows ...ive been in them ..they are all mostly cold like he says .

all the best.mnarkj

I live in a stone house with small windows. It stays cool in summer and warm in winter. If we want it warmer we light a fire or turn the heating on.

MX5huggy

Try http://www.npower.com/web/diyloftinsulation/index.htm