Insulating cold water tank

SuzieSue

macman wrote: »

If you lag the pipes properly and remove any sources of draughts from outside, a

But if you remove sources of draughts, won't that increase the risk of condensation?

Also, the other reason why I prefer to leave the loft insulation as it is is that most of my house is kept at 15 degrees during the day except for the room we are using and I am concerned that if I increased the amount of insulation, the roof wouldn't get enought heat.

macman

Not necessarily. It is possible to ventilate a roof space adequately without having direct draughts onto pipework.
Why do you want to heat your roof?!

SuzieSue

macman wrote: »

Not necessarily. It is possible to ventilate a roof space adequately without having direct draughts onto pipework.
Why do you want to heat your roof?!

So how do you do that?

I don't want to heat my roof as such, I just don't want it to get too cold so the pipes freeze and I don't trust myself to remember to open the loft hatch if it gets too cold.

macman

Why do you think you would necessarily have a condensation problem? Insulate your roof adequately, then deal with any condensation issues if they arise. Vents can be inserted into the eaves, there are doubtless other methods.

SuzieSue

macman wrote: »

Why do you think you would necessarily have a condensation problem?

Because of all the threads there have been here recently from people who have had their roof insulated and now have bad condensation.

macman

But the ones who don't (probably 9 out of every 10) are not going to post, are they?
Having your loft at a higher temperature does not make it less damp, it just means that the damp air holds more water as vapour. Cool it down and it can carry less vapour, and so deposits some of it as condensation.

Inforapennyinforapound

A cool loft is not necessarily a damp loft.As macman says,if you have a warm loft then it can hold moisture(warm air holds moisture moreso than cold air) and then if the loft cools down the moisture will form condensation.

I realise it is a fine balance but its the same as in the house,even though its very cold outside and you have heating on you should still have ventilation.

In fact ventilation is the key here.My loft is thickly insulated as are the pipes.The loft is cold but this roof space is still ventilated at the eaves,As has been said why heat the roof space? Insulate well and keep heat in the house(saving money-prices going up!)

SuzieSue

Inforapennyinforapound wrote: »

I realise it is a fine balance but its the same as in the house,even though its very cold outside and you have heating on you should still have ventilation.

Exactly, it is a fine balance and if you add more insulation to your loft, you should be told to monitor the temperature and ventilation but as far as I know, no-one is told this hence all the problems.

And some of the 9 out of 10 people who haven't posted don't even know that they have a condensation problem.