New A2 House Is Freezing!

At this point BER anything is a waste of money.

A tightness test is where they seal off the obvious sources of air loss(vents) and should have been done on the house by the builder but I guess you can't really trust that was done. I'd start here.

Thermal Imaging, which would show where the heat is going, giving you a idea of location or locations of heat transfer.

This should really be combined with somebody who is willing to start ripping down parts of walls to find out what the actual problem is, everything else says there is a problem and where it is.

Honestly, you would have to imagine with that level of heat loss that they forgot to put some element in or just plain choose not to due to cost. Like insulation with has shot up in price in the last year.

OP as someone in the game and who is involved in alot of house building. There is a provisional BER done on a house Type and then a final BER. However if all the houses are the same they can just test that particular house type and apply the BER to the rest. A BER test will actually tell you nothing new.

Is your house timber framed? If so a lot of these houses have crap Thermal Mass as they are well insulated but have no areas to store heat when its on and release back in when the surrounding room temp drops lower so that might be one thing. However, even with a house with say low internal thermal mass, you shouldn't be losing heat that quickly. I would engage an independent assessor to do a blower door airtightness test and check what you are getting. Your result should really be below 5 Air Changes in an Hour. Ask this person also to do some thermal imaging behind toilets and around windows to see what is happening.

Document everything....

Probably nothing to do with the windows but the air tightness sealing and detailing for the timber frame, window sill, cavity, etc around them.

You would feel the draught around them in high winds if they were not sealed properly. Thermal bridging from outside is expected around them to, to a extent. A expert in the field would have some concept of whats normal and what's not.

Getting a BER is useless it looks at how the house is constructed on paper and takes very few if any measurements

I would get an architect who knows about green builds working on it. A visit from one would probably cost the same a BER, getting a report would be more. I would also contact SEAI and ask them to do site visit. You want to get on top of this now as come May you won't have cold weather to show problem.

I'm in 60's demi-d which we extended and upgrades to a B3, it's never 14 unless it cold out and we have windows open upstairs and the back door open. Something is very very wrong here.

The lowest spec I've seen recently on a new build to achieve A2 was air to water heating with wall vents and rads with room stats all over. Insulation details unknown on that one but nothing special as far as I could work out.

I'd be very surprised if a house could reach A2 with having a gas boiler and standard enough air vents, I do think at some point could be worth getting a new BER.

Tbh in this day and age no new house should be getting planning for having a gas boiler.

That still doesn't explain the heat loss though. Even a BER C house shouldn't lose heat that quick.

Heat loss survey I think is what you need, when the heating is on do the walls themselves feel warm or cold, timber frame decent insulation they shouldn't be cold to touch.

Sooner you can get a heat loss survey done or get an expert in the better, as easier to identify issues in cold weather.

Well there's part of your problem anyway. Not rocket science, just sounds like crap attention to detail in construction.

You'd also wonder about the quantity & quality in terms of material in timber framed housing being constructed and how it'll be faring in 50 years time. Like many things in modern life, there's an expectation of planned obsolescence I think.

Hi Frankiekk.

1. Heat is lost from a house is by either (a) Conduction or (b) Convection.
2. CONDUCTION is heat loss through an element of the structure:- wall; ceiling; floor; windows, etc.
3. I hope that the builder fitted insulation in the floor.
4. you should be able to see the insulation in the attic, which should be approx 300 thick.
5. in a Timberframe house the walls should be well insulated. I have come across a very cold timberframe house many years ago, and discovered that there was no insulation in the timberframe.
6. You could request an electrician to remove some sockets fitted in the timberframe wall and check is there insulation in the wall.
7. double glazing gives a good U value in relation to heat loss.
8. CONVECTION is heat loss by the movement of air
9. Some builders and some workers on site are a disgrace to the Construction Industry, and do not have the proper knowledge of correct construction, and some are just totally incompetent and don’t care.
10. There are 5 main areas in most houses where air is exchanged between the house and the attic void, especially in older houses. (A) holes in the ceiling of the hot press where the pipes from the plumbing and heating pass through at this point. (B) Attic access doors that are poorly fitted and are not fitted with draught excluders. (C) Where the electric wires from the attic void pass down through the ceiling to the Fuse Board (consumer electrical distribution board) and (D) through the holes in the ceiling where the electric wires pass down through the ceiling to the electric light fitting in every room. (E) Downlights that are not air sealed above the ceiling, and /or not properly sealed below the ceiling and
11. also draughts around enternal windows and doors, between the frame and the plaster.
12. To reduce heat loss and draughts and reduce the amount of condensation getting from the house to the attic these holes should be completely blocked and made air tight.
13. Downlighting should be replaced with sealed units. 
14. Health & Safety. Only persons competent in walking in the attic, should go in to the attic to carry out the sealing of these holes. No person except a competent electrician should open any electrical fittings. Expanded foam should only be used by competent persons and strictly in accordance with the manufacturers safety instructions. 
15. All of these holes could be sealed with silicone mastic —-( would be my choice of sealant.) For large gaps it can be built up over a few days. 
16. The attic access door should be fitted with a rubber draught excluder with some fittings to compress the rubber. Also put 100 minimum Insulation on the upper side of the access door ( could be glued on with silicone mastic). 
17. Rooms in the Attic would have other gaps and air leaks which are not mentioned above.
18. where the plumbing pipes pass through the ceiling in to the attic is usually an area of big heat loss.
19. have a look at the areas of heat loss by Convection that I have mentioned above.
20. it is my opinion that you would be wasting your time and money engaging a BER Assessor.
21. you should have an Air-Tightness test carried out on your house.

hi i have same problem with vent holes in wall i intend sealing them up in the summer with spray foam & plaster. 9 inch hole in the wall doesent make sence when you are trying to heat your home.

Results I'm getting are usually below 3m3/hr/m2 with the odd exception above that.

What type of door is it generally a bend in the door has zero way to fix it except for replacing the entire door.

You could put extra door seal on that part of the door to seal the gap as a temporary measure