Heat loss on new build

Ralphy101

Hi everyone


I am after some advice from people who are in the building trade or know a thing or two about my problems!



We bought a new house 6 months ago, in the midst of summer.



Recently since the weather has dropped we have noticed that the heating is all but efficient.


To cut a long story short - we have had people come and inspect the boiler and the raditators all of which are working as they should.


However... our thermostat seldom gets above 21 degrees. I put the thermostat up to around 29 degress to test it and it was stuck on 20.5 whilst running for a few hours with the door being closed.


The room in question is the living room with two radiators in it.... both of which have been placed on walls away from the windows . In fact they are placed on a) a wall that backs on to the integral garage and b) the internal wall from living room to stairwell.


I have wondered why they havent put the raditors below the windows - but having read a bit about it it seems to be the done thing to have raditors on internal walls.


Last night i borrowed a thermal imaging camera of a friend who works for a equipment hire company.


I took images from both the inside and out - and it clearly shows air leakage from from the french doors in living room, the garage door ( which should be a sealed fired door) and the front door.


I then went outside and noticed that there is a large amount of heat escaping around the outside of our living room external wall.



The floor is a a suspended floor ( as there are 2 air bricks) but why would there be such a significant temp change running all along below the floor and under the french windows?


I have attached some pictures - again in the hope that someone can pass on their experience / skills.




https://pasteboard.co/HXWGcBJ.jpg



https://pasteboard.co/HXWFLSdr.jpg

Many thanks

Ralphy101

Farway

Have you checked to see if the radiators are of sufficient size to heat your rooms?

Worth checking and doing some sums, I guess any corners that could be cut may have been and radiators would be one option

Here's a link but a search will find loads more

ajbell

Don't close your doors, open them as it's central heating not room heating.
I did this with mine and the heating worked much better.
Is your problem that the house is too cold or that you are using too much gas?.

Ralphy101

Thanks for the replies.


The heating does seem to work pretty quickly - however again the thermostat never goes above 20.5 /21 even if i set it higher.


I think the problem being is that the house doesnt hold the heat - which is pointing me towards an insulation issue.



What is considered a normal temp during the night when heating is off? Our house is 6 months old and last night went down to 14 degrees celsuis.


Is this is normal temp? or should i be expecting a higher one considering its a new build?

ajbell

What is the EPC rating?

Jet_Lagg

You say that the thermostat never goes above 21° even if you set it higher! You should try setting the thermostat at 25° and check the room temperature with a thermometer��

Farway

Ralphy101 wrote: »

Is this is normal temp? or should i be expecting a higher one considering its a new build?

Depends where you live & outside conditions, at the South Pole probably quite good, in a Devon valley maybe not

C_Mababejive

I have seen similar issues on new builds featured on a recent tv program,, i.e house not getting warm despite heating being on and radiators hot. Main point was poor contruction/insulation.

billy2shots

Do you have a a combi or not? If not have you increased the stat on your boiler to make sure it's heating the water up enough?

In the summer I turn my boiler down as the water from the taps is plenty. In the winter I need to raise it as the radiators do not get hot enough on the 'summer setting'

macman

21C is an adequate downstairs room temp for most people. Mine is set at 19C, many people use 20C. What temp are you trying to achieve? 25C for most people would seem unpleasantly hot.