I used my heating for an hour last night to get some clothes dry and take the edge off the nip. The inside was 18oC which is pretty fine. An hour was fine to heat up the down stairs and keep it at around 21oC for the evening.
It went on for just Wednesday when I was fed up and only gets used when its VERY cold as I keep all of my windows open all day and leave the top floor windows open all night.
I wear shorts all the year unless I am going to do some "on the knees " weeding as I have Hockey Knees.
Everyone is just trying to be Happy.....So lets help Them.
I now have a scarf and gloves on. No good putting heating on as OH, born on a farm and I’m sure in a barn with no doors, is in and out every 10 minutes. Back door opens here more times than the privvy when the plagues about.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
I've been making up curtains for the front porch door and the back door. It should make some difference and keep the heat in. If nothing else, it makes it feel cosy. ☺️ It will be interesting to see if they make an impact on winter room temps and/or drafts. I now have 'proper' insulation under the living room floors, in the foot deep space under the floorboards. (1907 house).
I made thick curtains for the windows and can tuck them down behind the radiators, some of which are under windows. But the double glazing is ancient and needs replacing. I might bite that particular, rather expensive, bullet next year. The loft is hopeless.
Last year I borrowed a thermal imaging camera from our env group. It was interesting, and gave some surprises, though I would need time to get to know the tech properly. I'd like to do a proper workshop with the tech makers so I can quiz them. I took a set of around 30 pics on a freezing night with the central heating on inside at 20oC. There are certain sections of wall, right under the roof, that are acting as a fridge and I hadn't clocked they were so exposed and detrimental. I've done a fair amount over nine years in the house to improve insulation - a bit every year. In spite of various fixes, the doors are still weak areas.
Below is a brand new, good quality, well fitting, double glazed back door. But it's still cold at the base. (Hence the new curtain).
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This is the front porch door into the living room. Neither the front door nor porch door is double glazed but I did fit draught excluding strips around the edges, eco letter box (draught free) and filled in plaster gaps around the doorframe. Hopefully the curtain here will help this situation. Filling in the holes and gaps in the house some five years ago made a huge difference; Old pipes holes, ill-fitting doors, defunct ventilation vents etc.
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They are small rooms so internal insulation blocks aren't really practical, but next year I will probably fit insulating plaster board before a repaint. It's a fairly big job I am faintly dreading.
As I have a smart meter and Octopus offer daily energy use data online, I should be able to track how the house fares through the winter. And then make a list of jobs for next year.
I just received an energy statement and it turns out I used £4 of gas a month through the summer for the house. It just goes to show how high a proportion of annual gas usage goes on winter heating.
I did the curtain thing in our last place. As we were renting I couldn’t do anything about the lack of insulation in the walls but the curtains, seals around doors and letterbox and around the windows made a difference.
I also made my own reflective panels to put behind the radiators which made a big difference.
I am with Bulb and can also track the energy use. It’s difficult to compare one winter with the next unless you also plot the outside temperatures but my bills were down slightly after the little things I tried.
We almost bought a 1910 house (pulled out a few hours before completion) as I didn’t want to face the battle with damp and lack of insulation (not for my first house purchase). It was suffering with it and needed a new DPC. It too had a “crawl space” under the ground floor.
The place we did buy has cavity wall insulation and the loft is also fully done.
I can tell the difference already with the few chilly nights we’ve had. I found a few pipe holes that hadn’t been properly sealed and we’ve replaced the double glazing and the patio door (metal with single glazing) with a double glazed french door which should also make a difference.
The outhouse is another story. It’s been converted into a utility room but with little to no insulation behind the fake walls so that’s gonna be my next project.
Need to see if it can be properly insulated without losing too much space. Otherwise it may be a knock down and rebuild but only if we decide to stay longer.
@TheGreenMan I have reflectors behind radiators too. I go dumpster diving and pull out loads of insulation foam, and have cut that down to fit behind some rads too. If I didn't sleep in the loft, I would have 60cm+ up there and seal it off. But that isn't really an option - a weak point for house efficiency. I think my long term plan is to move to somewhere much more efficient. But that doesn't address the very poor performance of these old houses.
In the nine years in my house, I have tried to make one intervention each year, though I haven't done much this year because of covid and health issues. I plan to do 'double' next year. Little and often makes retrofitting feel more do-able. I do enjoy living in an old-ish cottage.
In 2018 I got a company to overhaul a freezing back box room, that is a tacked on extension (one brick thick). The windows had not been fitted properly 20 years ago, so I replaced those double glazed units and that made a huge difference - no Arctic drafts. I put thick proper insulation under the flat roof and under the floor. And insulating plaster boards on three walls out of four. That room had been a weak place in the house, cooling the rest of the house. So sorting that out and making it livable, has helped the whole.
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Walls stripped back
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It turned out that there was a good amount amount of space under the flat roof to put in insulation, but it's hard to know what you will find when it's all taken down. I had originally been advised to add external insulation on top of the roof, but this was much easier. The room is transformed and cosy. About 12x10ft square. Warmer walls, so, drier.
If anyone is interesting in chatting about eco retrofitting old houses I'm happy to chat by private messaging. I'm no expert but have made concerted efforts to make in roads with this 1907 London property. Since 2012, I would say it's gone from "freezing my arse off" to "livable", rather than from from "livable" to "cosy throughout". There's a lot more to do.
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I wear shorts all the year unless I am going to do some "on the knees " weeding as I have Hockey Knees.
I’ve got the oven on now cooking a casserole. Nice and warm.
I did the curtain thing in our last place. As we were renting I couldn’t do anything about the lack of insulation in the walls but the curtains, seals around doors and letterbox and around the windows made a difference.