Heat loss assessment

83 Posts

in Energy
Hi all,
Having previously lived in flats it's been a bit if eye opener moving to a house but one thing is obvious is it's very cold and looses heat very quickly.
Is there any professional that can look into where heat is being lost? Thought about a heating engineer but they may not look into insulation etc.
Thanks
Having previously lived in flats it's been a bit if eye opener moving to a house but one thing is obvious is it's very cold and looses heat very quickly.
Is there any professional that can look into where heat is being lost? Thought about a heating engineer but they may not look into insulation etc.
Thanks
2
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Living in a flat you generally get the benefit of heat from other flats unless you are on the top floor where some gets out through the roof, or the ground floor where its gets conducted into the ground or even on a corner where you've got two outside walls. A house can have two, three or four outside walls, together with more windows and even a couple of doors (front & back)
A house (or even worse a bungalow because they are usually larger) loses a fair proportion of heat through the roof, so the first thing is to put something like 200+ mm of insulation up there. We've got 300mm. Insulating a loft is a relatively easy thing to do and will give you the most benefit for the cost. Everything else starts to cost more money
Depending on the construction of the house, most walls have a cavity which may or may not be insulated. Obviously insulation in the cavity will reduce the amount of heat loss so that's something to be considered however it need to be done properly to avoid damp problems.
Similarly you'll lose a lot more heat through single glazed windows than you will from double or even triple glazed. Even the type of frame can make a difference, UPVC is better than aluminium or even wood. Same with the front and back doors. But again the cost starts to ramp up
You can help mitigate heat loss by closing curtains and reducing or eliminating draughts, even hanging curtains over the front and back doors will help reduce it it.
https://find-energy-certificate.service.gov.uk/find-a-certificate/search-by-postcode?lang=en&property_type=domestic
I actually think a professional service could be helpful. A quick Google Search for 'home energy assessment' or 'home energy audit' shows there are people that do this.
I'm not sure if the government's Green Deal scheme is actually running. Sorry I can't be more helpful.
Thats a good place to start
Energy Used Electricity only. Hoping to get down to 6000 kWh a year. 2022 worked out at 6234 kWh a year in a 4/5 bedroom detached house EPC high B. Designed not retro-fitted ASHP Mitsubishi Ecodan, under floor heating ground floor, radiators 1st floor. Multi-fuel burner in lounge.
Dyslexia sufferer don't be too harsh if I get things a bit topsy turdy.
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