Improving Insulation

FirstIn

Enrate wrote: »

FirstIn wrote: »

I understand the bulb measures temperature of the tank, this feeds back to a valve which then stops the water in the tank heating any more than has been preset by the setting on the valve.

Right. If your water is so hot it is scalding people, that costs you more in fuel bills. So you need to cut out a vertical slot @ 1/4 to 1/3 of the height of the cylinder to recess the bulb. have it touching the copper of the cylinder, then tape over the slot. Be careful not to kink the "wire", its actually a gas filled pipe. At the moment, your stat is only sensing the air temp in the hot press; no good.

Second pic is of the valve that the bulb is attached to, in my case the valve is very loose.

It looks OK, you can can tighten that serrated metal ring below the valve, visible in the photo. Have a look at one on a TRV valve on a radiator, where there is more elbow room to see what you are doing; its the same kind of mechanism.

Firstly Thank You Enrate.
I tightened the serrated ring under the valve. It was loose. So it seems ok now.

I also cut the slot for the bulb. However just reading again you say vertical slot. I cut a horizontal one (due to the pipe to the bulb it's natural orientation is horizontal and i didn't want to bend anything). Should this matter?

caesarthechimp

FirstIn wrote: »

I cut a horizontal one (due to the pipe to the bulb it's natural orientation is horizontal and i didn't want to bend anything). Should this matter?

No, its just that you end up fitting the bulb against a curved surface instead of a flat one.

FirstIn

Ok. Simple as that. It's better to have it vertical as more of the surface area of the bulb will be in contact with the tank. I see.

tp25

Hi, Could we perhaps make some sort of statistic about our Charlesland heating bills?

Mullie

Not a bad idea but tough to measure like with like.

We've compared the times we have to run our heating with friends who live in another 2 bed in Charlesland and there are big differences. We run our heating 3-4 hours max a day during the Winter. They have theirs on for around 7-9 hours a day!

Its just down to making the effort in sealing up as many drafts as possible. Heres a summary of what has made a difference for us:
- Check your window seals
- Check for gaps under the window sills
- Get a letter box that keeps the drafts out
- Check along the top and base of the skirting boards (This was a massive cause of heat loss for us)
- Seal up the hall door and the inner hall door as much as possible
- Don't put in spot lights
- Check for drafts coming out through the gas fire (Found another gale here - I've blocked it up and obviously don't use the fire anymore)
- Block your vents
- Basically check for any 'hole' in the inner walls and block them. Since the air is flowing freely through the walls it will come in anywhere it can


Thats all fairly easy to do and I've found it to make a big difference.

tp25

Mullie wrote: »

With the Winter setting back in I'm looking at ways to improve the insulation in the house.
Has anyone taken a peek into the roof cavity above the hall in the 2 beds? I'm wondering if this is open along the 'porch' overhang.
Also wondering how the mgmt company would react to an application to install a glass porch across the front? Is this a big no no?

Thanks!

I haven't look at the roof cavity there.

Instead I have been looking for causes of draft.

The main cause I found are extremely poor rubber seals around the timber windows. In fact mine were over painted with lacquer (perhaps when made) and now crushed!.

I rang munster joinery to get the quote for replacement and it cost €1.44 per meter of seal (plus €70 for the call out), finally I have ordered the original seal for all the windows! I don't want to use glued seals from b&q or woodies as these only add to the problem and make it after 2 years even worse.

Next step I will remove gas fireplace and block wall vents in the living room.

Maudi

Mullie wrote: »

Not a bad idea but tough to measure like with like.

We've compared the times we have to run our heating with friends who live in another 2 bed in Charlesland and there are big differences. We run our heating 3-4 hours max a day during the Winter. They have theirs on for around 7-9 hours a day!

Its just down to making the effort in sealing up as many drafts as possible. Heres a summary of what has made a difference for us:
- Check your window seals
- Check for gaps under the window sills
- Get a letter box that keeps the drafts out
- Check along the top and base of the skirting boards (This was a massive cause of heat loss for us)
- Seal up the hall door and the inner hall door as much as possible
- Don't put in spot lights
- Check for drafts coming out through the gas fire (Found another gale here - I've blocked it up and obviously don't use the fire anymore)
- Block your vents
- Basically check for any 'hole' in the inner walls and block them. Since the air is flowing freely through the walls it will come in anywhere it can


Thats all fairly easy to do and I've found it to make a big difference.

hi.ive taken care of pretty much the same as yourself.except the fire place i dont have a draft there is it coming ou the gas service pipe?on the ground.?another one i found was a draft blowing up the gas shut off valve in the press in the kitchen..and recently ....on the side of the bath..where the wooden panel meets the lip of the bath..i had a draught there!!

lakeroad

tp25 wrote: »

I haven't look at the roof cavity there.

Instead I have been looking for causes of draft.

The main cause I found are extremely poor rubber seals around the timber windows. In fact mine were over painted with lacquer (perhaps when made) and now crushed!.

I rang munster joinery to get the quote for replacement and it cost €1.44 per meter of seal (plus €70 for the call out), finally I have ordered the original seal for all the windows! I don't want to use glued seals from b&q or woodies as these only add to the problem and make it after 2 years even worse.

Next step I will remove gas fireplace and block wall vents in the living room.

Last year I replaced all the original seals on the exterior doors and windows. Munster joinery have a warehouse beside the tv3 studio in Ballymount, you can buy replacement parts for all their doors and windows. I picked up a roll of their original rubber seal's which just slots into a rebate in the frame, once the existing is removed. You can only drop in at certain times but if you contact the main Munster joinery number they should give you the address and times.
I hope the place is still open.

tp25

lakeroad wrote: »

Last year I replaced all the original seals on the exterior doors and windows. Munster joinery have a warehouse beside the tv3 studio in Ballymount, you can buy replacement parts for all their doors and windows. I picked up a roll of their original rubber seal's which just slots into a rebate in the frame, once the existing is removed. You can only drop in at certain times but if you contact the main Munster joinery number they should give you the address and times.
I hope the place is still open.

@lakeroad thanks! +1 for this!

I have added rockwool (breathable) into the vents at upstairs bedrooms. I do open windows to ventilate at least 1 time a day. Repeat: I do not use fire place in the living room.

tp25

caesarthechimp wrote: »

First verify that your house is timber frame; go outside and look carefully at the wall. If you see little brown plastic vents between some of the bricks, this is where the air gets into the cavity. These are nothing to do with the wall vents inside, and don't line up with them. This cavity ventilation is to stop mould and rot taking hold on your timber frame. If that rots, the roof falls in on your head :pac:

When you stuck your arm into the cavity, (overlooking the fact that you shouldn't have been able to because the missing plastic duct pipe would have been in your way) you should have felt the bricks on one side and a breather membrane on the other side. The insulation is behind the membrane, between the timbers.

If people have draughts coming in through electrical outlets, the faceplates can be taken off and the holes in the back boxes can be sealed up with ordinary silicon mastic, but only after a qualified person has first disconnected the electrical power supply.

Hi caesarthechimp,

If one was to try to improve wall insulation what would you recommend? I'm talking about timber frame house.

Would you remove plasterboard and improve existing insulation between the timbers or would you do something else?

Maudi

tp25 wrote: »

Hi caesarthechimp,

If one was to try to improve wall insulation what would you recommend? I'm talking about timber frame house.

Would you remove plasterboard and improve existing insulation between the timbers or would you do something else?

Pm sent

kieran.

tp25 wrote: »

I have added rockwool (breathable) into the vents at upstairs bedrooms. .

This is a very bad idea for bedroom (in fact all rooms) if the vents are closed there inhabitants of the room will be breathing stale air containing all the nitrogen exhausted from the inhabitants for most of the night. Good practice would be 0.35 air changes per hour to each room.

Wall vents serve a genuine purpose closing them up with out implementing a new ventilation strategy is a recipe for dishwater.

tp25

kieran. wrote: »

This is a very bad idea for bedroom (in fact all rooms) if the vents are closed there inhabitants of the room will be breathing stale air containing all the nitrogen exhausted from the inhabitants for most of the night. Good practice would be 0.35 air changes per hour to each room.

Wall vents serve a genuine purpose closing them up with out implementing a new ventilation strategy is a recipe for dishwater.

You still have micro-ventilation present in the windows, plus we leave small window gap open during the night.

Note: I plan to obtain proper ventilation system from Icon, this will replace the poor sewer pipes currently placed into the walls by builders.

kieran.

sorry, didnt realise you had trickle vent

You should probably seal the vents fully that case.

Gordy6040

just while we are talking about insulation.
i have a draft comming in under the hall door. looks like the door was lifted when i was getting wooden floors put in, there are a few washers propping up the door hinges when the pin goes into the hinge. The door is too low to roll over a door mat so i dont think the door was set too high.

Does anyone know of a solutin that i can fit under the door? im afraid anything i fit will cause the door to rub on the floor.

Maudi

Gordy6040 wrote: »

just while we are talking about insulation.
i have a draft comming in under the hall door. looks like the door was lifted when i was getting wooden floors put in, there are a few washers propping up the door hinges when the pin goes into the hinge. The door is too low to roll over a door mat so i dont think the door was set too high.

Does anyone know of a solutin that i can fit under the door? im afraid anything i fit will cause the door to rub on the floor.

You can get a great product that looks just like a door snake jobby.but slips on under your door so you have a "snake"each side of the door..or you can get a hairy brush type draught excluder that screws on directly to the bottom of your door..

Gordy6040

Those snake things are useless, I tried them before, brush is a good idea though, I'll give it a bash. Thanks for the suggestion.

tp25

Gordy6040 wrote: »

Those snake things are useless, I tried them before, brush is a good idea though, I'll give it a bash. Thanks for the suggestion.

there is one more suggestion,

it will involve some work

1) remove the door from the hinges
2) place the door in the back garden on two chairs (to allow you work on it)
3) with proper glue attach the rigid compressed foam (PIR or similar product) or timber into the bottom of the door, cut residues with sharp blade or trim everything if needed
4) with glue attach wooden strip onto the bottom of the door
5) paint over everything
6) re-attach the door.