Saving on heating

[newdud]

Hello

I have a house with good loft insulation , all double glazed , and I think the cavity wall are insulated as well.
The house was built in the mid 1980s. I do not think any door are drafty eiter (only have two external doors)
it is a detached house so all sides are exposed to the weather.

I was make the house more energy efficient, so I was think of the following options

1/ Book a company to take a thermal survey of the house using a infrared camera, so I can see where the heat loss is. Not sure who does this or the cost
2/ Hire a thermal camera and do this myself. To buy one for 'one off' use is very expensive
3/ Buy a sub £30 Infrared thermometer and try and do this myself

Which would be the best option ?
I am aware that with the small improvement I can make, it is NOT going to go from B to A* , at best it will be B to B+

I would welcome some thoughts from anyone who may have done this.

[Neelix]

Can you do accurate heat loss assessments in the autumn?

[newdud]

Can you do accurate heat loss assessments in the autumn?

That is a very good question. I suspect it needs to be done in Winter

[big-all]

loft insulation should be 270mm i think it is


i assume you have tried the usual lower temperature 'extra jumper 'less time on scenario

[Someone-Else]

3) I have one of them. Its great for finding out how hot something is without touching it, but as for finding a heat leak, no.

I would buy an IR heat thingy (Thermal imager) lots of them on Amazon.

[Neelix]

i assume you have tried the
usual lower temperature
'extra jumper '
less time on scenario

Which is what most people don’t do first

[Alhads]

There are some very nice, energy efficient ventilation units available. I installed a through the wall fan that captures 80% of the energy and reverses every few minutes - so it provides both fresh air and ventilation as needed.

[Razor]

For the OP it's not quite as simple at that.

Hiring an IR camera is easy enough but interpreting the results properly is a much harder proposition

[etaf]

FYI
Also consider the ROI , how long you intend to stay in the house and money spent out v saving

I have a house with good loft insulation , all double glazed , and I think the cavity wall are insulated as well.
The house was built in the mid 1980s. I do not think any door are drafty eiter (only have two external doors)
it is a detached house so all sides are exposed to the weather.

Chimney ?


what area are you expecting to find issues ?

What type of heating - how is that controlled , do the radiators have controls on - upstairs / downstairs

[ericmark]

Friend at work has a thermal camera which fits to his phone, but still expensive, he has offered to lend it to me, I was watching him checking radiators are working.

However all well and good to measure the heat loss from a window, but what about heat gain? I was looking at k glass, I am told now better versions, but which way around should the glass go? In winter I want heat from sun, in summer I want to stop it, do the windows reverse summer and winter?

I have just had a patio door changed, old one the glass was blown, and it looked rotten, but in my lifetime now 72, there is no way I will save the 1000's of pounds spent to renew it. The gain renewing it is it looks better, and opens wider, but it will never pay for it's self.

When we bought the house it had an energy certificate, it tells me how much it will cost to insulate my floor, and how much it will save, it is totally pointless insulating the floor, as the dinning room, kitchen and hall are not kept that warm anyway, and the living room is over the flat below, and there is already a load of insulation between the false ceiling and the original garage ceiling, it says it will cost £4,000 - £6,000 and save £48 per year, and is the first on the list, and the energy rating is shown in order, next is low energy lighting.

It says cost to convert to low energy lighting £50 and saving £56 per year, now that is more like it, it will save money as oil is cheaper than electric, but as to saving energy, I need convincing. Last house with all tungsten lighting the wall thermostat was set to 18ºC all day long, in winter the infrared from the bulbs made it feel warmer when lights were on, so air temperature was lower, when we swapped to so called energy saving bulbs, in the evening while watching TV the room was too cold, so we had to swap the thermostat for a programmable type, so 18ºC during the day, and 20ºC at night. However this means more losses at night, and over an extended time even when room not used, as it takes time to cool down again.

Main reason for swapping to CFL then LED, was the bulbs lasted longer.

Solar water heating £4,000 to £6,000 saves £59 per year, my father-in-law was conned into having it fitted, he said how much it was saving him, until the smart meters were fitted, then he had no hot water, on investigation the solar panels mid summer were just about taking the chill off the water, reason bill went down was he was using the central heating boiler instead of immersion heater, and when smart meters were fitted, the pilot flame went out.

Solar photovoltaic panels £5,000 - £8,000 save £289 per year, well today that may be even better, as to if the roof will be damaged fitting and maintaining them not so sure, since roof so hard to access, I would not take chance.

I have floored half the loft, and insulated other half, but the cost of heating estimated at £1,130 was well out, it is half of that for both house and flat, so the estimated £163 saving can also be halved, so around £80 per year, I am 72, by 90 likely I will have to live in an old peoples home, so 18 years, so to save energy most that is worth spending is £1,500 according to the government survey.

As to what having something like Drayton Wiser and linked TRV heads would actually save not sure, I already have 9 electronic TRV heads, what would save the most money I am sure is to bin anything my wife puts in front of doors so they can't be closed, but I can afford the cost to heat the house, I would not want to live here without my carer.