Freezing house | How to improve heat

onomatopoeia99

FreeBear said:

I've got a smart home automation system that records temperatures, humidity, and a whole bunch of information from the boiler (amongst other things), so can see fairly quickly if changes are an improvement or not.

Off the shelf (if so, what?) or put together yourself?

FreeBear

onomatopoeia99 said:

FreeBear said:

I've got a smart home automation system that records temperatures, humidity, and a whole bunch of information from the boiler (amongst other things), so can see fairly quickly if changes are an improvement or not.

Off the shelf (if so, what?) or put together yourself?

https://www.home-assistant.io/ (other systems available). The individual parts are "off the shelf", but I've had to assemble the bits myself. Quite a steep learning curve, and you could end up going down a very deep rabbit hole as I have done

Arsenal2019

I’ve just bought some weather strips and will try putting them around the hatch to the loft and any windows and doors too- however I’m not sure yet on how to apply them.

ive ordered a heat gun too,

ive also bought some THERMAWRAP foil sheets. I aim on putting this above the loft hatch so that when the hatch closes it lays on top of the door?

I’ve read that putting a sheet of it behind the radiators also help too so I shall try this?

Also bought some smoke matches today too

FreeBear

On the subject of loft hatches, I fitted one of these in place of the old wood plank affair that originally plugged the hole -> https://www.screwfix.com/p/manthorpe-gl260-push-up-loft-access-door-white-562mm-x-562mm/61794

Made a big difference in stopping cold draughts coming through, but not that well insulated. Tempted to glue some slabs of Celotex on the top when I get the enthusiasm up.

Arsenal2019

This is my loft hatch - (3 pictures below)

I don’t even know if there’s any room for the draught strips I’ve bought. There does appear to be insulation on there already. Albeit a bit crappy….

ThisIsWeird

Arsenal2019 said:

This is my loft hatch - (3 pictures below)

I don’t even know if there’s any room for the draught strips I’ve bought. There does appear to be insulation on there already. Albeit a bit crappy….

I doubt you'll gain much by modifying that hatch. It looks to be well enough insulated already, and provided the seal around the perimeter is ok and doing its job, there will be nothing noticeable to gain.

Can you confirm - the arrowed edge has a soft spongy seal on it?

If so, check that it has a groove in it from being compressed by the raised edge of the top hatch frame. If it has, you can conclude it's almost certainly well sealed.

By all means check on obvious stuff like excessively leaky windows, doors and floors, but it does look as tho' there's nothing really amiss in yer home. You just need to literally focus where you want - need - the heat.

See all you unnecessary partially-heated rooms? Shut them down to '1', and use that heat to warm yer wifie instead, for pity's sakes :-)

Albermarle

I’ve read that putting a sheet of it behind the radiators also help too so I shall try this?

They only help if the radiators are on, and yours seem to be off for most of the day.....

Arsenal2019

ThisIsWeird said:

Arsenal2019 said:

This is my loft hatch - (3 pictures below)

I don’t even know if there’s any room for the draught strips I’ve bought. There does appear to be insulation on there already. Albeit a bit crappy….

I doubt you'll gain much by modifying that hatch. It looks to be well enough insulated already, and provided the seal around the perimeter is ok and doing its job, there will be nothing noticeable to gain.

Can you confirm - the arrowed edge has a soft spongy seal on it?

If so, check that it has a groove in it from being compressed by the raised edge of the top hatch frame. If it has, you can conclude it's almost certainly well sealed.

By all means check on obvious stuff like excessively leaky windows, doors and floors, but it does look as tho' there's nothing really amiss in yer home. You just need to literally focus where you want - need - the heat.

See all you unnecessary partially-heated rooms? Shut them down to '1', and use that heat to warm yer wifie instead, for pity's sakes :-)

I’ve had a look at the loft hatch and it appears to be of soft spongy material and when the hatch is closed, it looked to be squished down. So I guess that it is sealed effectively. 

ThisIsWeird

Arsenal2019 said:

ThisIsWeird said:

Arsenal2019 said:

This is my loft hatch - (3 pictures below)

I don’t even know if there’s any room for the draught strips I’ve bought. There does appear to be insulation on there already. Albeit a bit crappy….

I doubt you'll gain much by modifying that hatch. It looks to be well enough insulated already, and provided the seal around the perimeter is ok and doing its job, there will be nothing noticeable to gain.

Can you confirm - the arrowed edge has a soft spongy seal on it?

If so, check that it has a groove in it from being compressed by the raised edge of the top hatch frame. If it has, you can conclude it's almost certainly well sealed.

By all means check on obvious stuff like excessively leaky windows, doors and floors, but it does look as tho' there's nothing really amiss in yer home. You just need to literally focus where you want - need - the heat.

See all you unnecessary partially-heated rooms? Shut them down to '1', and use that heat to warm yer wifie instead, for pity's sakes :-)

I’ve had a look at the loft hatch and it appears to be of soft spongy material and when the hatch is closed, it looked to be squished down. So I guess that it is sealed effectively. 

I'd say so.
Look elsewhere for cooold issues :-)

Green_hopeful

We cut a big bit of normal loft insulation and placed it over the hatch hole. When you shut the hatch it gives a bit more insulation and draught proofing. You should have about 30 cm depth of insulation in your loft if it’s the fluffy pink or yellow stuff.