Reducing heating costs in a detached 1950's bungalow with a loft conversion

barnaclebill

Hi all, need some help deciding how to reduce my heating costs, I supect the main problem is the poorly insulated loft conversion done in the 1980's I think, it has a full staircase and landing.

It has two bedrooms with radiators and a toilet with hand basin. The larger bedroom has a hatch in the end wall and I can see the rest of the loft extending to the gable end is standard with rolls of insulation between joists, cant see what is behind the knee walls. The whole foor area is capeted wth underlay.

The bugalow is 1950's with cavity wall insulation and I understand the conversion was addded in the  1980's with 3 velux windows.

I was thinking if I closed the door to the downstairs lobby for the bottom of the stairs and closed off the two upstairs radiators and only lived in the original bungalow area would this save on heating costs.

The downstairs flooring is supended wood, mostly laminate in the hall, lounge and bathroom, tiled kitchen and carpeted main bedroom. The lounge is very big with a large bay window and French doors to the garden, it has two double radiators and a single radiator.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

FreeBear

Sis has a bungalow that had a chalet conversion done around the same time. Some insulation in the eaves, and a bit over the remaining bit of loft space. Nothing in the walls or flat roof sections. She missed an opportunity to get the flat roof section insulated when it was refelted a few years back. Now the only real option is to either rip out the plasterboard and insulate between the studs/ceiling joists, or fix insulated plasterboard up. In either case, the whole upstairs will need replastering.

For you, I doubt there will be any insulation between the ground floor ceiling and the loft conversion. Shutting the doors and turning the radiators down to a minimum will save a little bit of energy - You need some heating up there so as to avoid condensation. You'll also find quite a bit of heat disappearing up through the ceilings downstairs to upstairs. Thick insulated curtains in the bay and over the french doors will also help to keep some of the heat in. Unfortunately, to insulate the whole building to the point where it becomes worthwhile is going to cost a fair bit of money - Sure, you could use something like thermal wallpaper or a cork based paint (more of a plaster @ 3-5mm thick). Neither will do much, if anything, to improve the thermal performance, but it might be enough to cut down on condensation.

Soot2006

We have the same set-up.  First winter we were very cold and too hot in summer, although allegedly the flat roof was insulated when it was redone a few years ago, but the dormer walls are skin-thin.  As part of redecorating, we got new windows and radiators up there, and the difference was astonishing. Winter was really cosy and even on the coldest weeks we didn't heat as much as the previous years. And then I bought an Air Con unit for summer

markin

If the velux windows are original from the 80's that could be a big part of the heat loss, maybe thermal blinds or replacement? 
But it may be best to concentrate the budget on insulating from below with insulated plasterboard in the bedroom and main lounge.  Unless you fancy the challenge of ripping the floors up and hope you can reuse the boards/chipboard? Would they have glued chipboard in the 80's?

barnaclebill

Climbed through the hatch and took photos, there is thick insulation on the floor behind the knee walls, dont know if this was done same time as the flooring, tomorrow I will lift an area of carpet and see what the floor is like or I can drill a hole at the top of the stairs on the side of the upper floor and look in.

FreeBear

barnaclebill said: or I can drill a hole at the top of the stairs on the side of the upper floor and look in.

Just don't go drilling through a joist - You don't want to compromise the strength of one.

markin

You should be able to peel away a layer of insulation and feel around with your hand.

barnaclebill

Had a mad thought, if im not using upstairs I could just roll a layer of rockwool over the upstairs carpets as you would in a bare loft and still have the door into the bottom of the staircase closed, the small rad at the bottom of the stairs would remain on but the two rads upstairs would be off and the velux blinds shut, no need to take up carpets and try to lift the floor panels.

markin

I almost suggested doing that but thought a bit extreme, I also thought could you lay 2x4 wood across the stairs lay chipboard and put a hatch in, or wall off the doorway! 

barnaclebill

Great idea, I did have loft boards across to stand on when wallpapering up there, they were a perfect fit, thanks for that Markin.