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Energy Efficiency Survey in house 50+ years old

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  • 06-10-2008 10:19am
    #1
    dools
    Closed Accounts Posts: 189 ✭✭


    Hi,

    we have been in our house for the past 2 years. It was built in the 50's. We got it re-wired and re-plumbed and new heating system put in.

    However, there is an attic conversion and we're not sure of how good a job it is. My daughter's bedroom (the box room) is at the bottom of the attic stairs and her room is FREEZING. No matter how long we have the rad on for.The other room at the front is fine (fron of house is North facing). We have new rads installed throughout (gas heating). My daughter is only 1 so i find I keep getting up during the night to make sure she has'nt kicked off her blankets and is not freezing. Not good when getting up for work.

    We suspect the heat is going straight up the attic stairs - but hey, we're no experts. The external wall is very cold as well so that might be causing the cold too??

    Is there anyone on here who could do an overall energy efficiency survey or could someone provide a recommendation? Would be much appreciated

    Thanks

    Dools


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    #2
    baldieman
    Closed Accounts Posts: 174 ✭✭baldieman


    Hi,
    If your heating is working ok then obviously your losing it somewhere.
    If your door is closed in the box room and you're still losing too much heat then its likely to be walls, windows, or ceiling, or a comb. of all three.
    How many outside walls and which direction are they facing? Are they sheltered nearby by trees, walls, other buildings etc...? Is there an outside wall without a window or rad. if so dry lining may be a relatively simple option?
    What about the window? How old? single or double glaze?
    Assuming there is an attic above the room, how well insulated?


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    #3
    Hotblack Desiato
    Registered Users Posts: 35,103 ✭✭✭✭Hotblack Desiato


    dools wrote: »
    My daughter is only 1 so i find I keep getting up during the night to make sure she has'nt kicked off her blankets and is not freezing.

    Put her in a grobag (sleeping bag for babies) very cosy and can't be kicked off! What is the actual temperature in the room? 16C is perfectly fine for a baby's room but feels cold to an adult.

    We had a very similar situation in the 40 year old house we moved into 2 years ago. First thing we had to do was replace the whole heating system as it was completely ***ked. Box room is north facing and walls are only cavity block with no insulation. We dry-lined the gable wall in the box room with 5cm insulated plasterboard, which helped. If we could do it all again we'd have dry-lined the whole house before moving in, and only then fitted the new rads etc.

    © 1982 Sinclair Research Ltd



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    #4
    dools
    Closed Accounts Posts: 189 ✭✭dools


    Hi Guys,

    Thanks for the replies.

    There is one external wall that is Northfacing. This wall has a window and a rad. The windows are double glazed installed 2 years ago. There are no trees or anything outside. We have no clue about the attic so would like someone to perhaps call out and have a look at it if anyone can recommend?

    Ninja, tried grobags, but she hates them. Thansk for suggestion. She is like the exorcist moving around the bed in her sleep and grobg gets tangles and wakes her . She has a cot duvet.

    I think the external wall may need to be drylined. We only got the room replastered and decorated last year. I assume the dry lining involves more plastering?

    Thanks, Dools


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    #5
    bigstar
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,037 ✭✭✭bigstar


    your attic ceiling ie your roof should insulated, i doubt its insulated enough to be honest, roofs need about 8 inches of fibreglass with cant fit between 4x2 raters. check your storage area in the attic to see if there is insulation over the bedroom celings. if you want you could punch a small hole in the attic ceiling to see if its insulated, if it isnt you should probably pull it all down and re-do it, the roof really needs to be insulated. all exterior walls should be insulated too but the roof is where most heat will be lost


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    #6
    baldieman
    Closed Accounts Posts: 174 ✭✭baldieman


    dools wrote: »
    Hi Guys,

    Thanks for the replies.

    There is one external wall that is Northfacing. This wall has a window and a rad. The windows are double glazed installed 2 years ago. There are no trees or anything outside. We have no clue about the attic so would like someone to perhaps call out and have a look at it if anyone can recommend?

    Ninja, tried grobags, but she hates them. Thansk for suggestion. She is like the exorcist moving around the bed in her sleep and grobg gets tangles and wakes her . She has a cot duvet.

    I think the external wall may need to be drylined. We only got the room replastered and decorated last year. I assume the dry lining involves more plastering?

    Thanks, Dools
    Hi,
    its one of those unfortunate situations where you have already decorated the room and then perhaps it would have been better to dry line the walls.
    Its a box room, so the wall is not that big and you have a new d-glaze window. Unless you specified K glass argon filled, it may not be. Yet its a new window and probably not very big?
    If the attic insulation is old then thats where your loseing most of your heat and thats the easy one to fix. But you will need someone to look.


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