I've had a logburner for 4 years now and have turned my heating on twice. I source and process the wood myself. I have saved a few quid. Also dry clothes with it and boil all my water on it. Marvelous.
Brilliant video, love the walk through format. Roger is an exceptional presenter and his knowledge, experience and practicality is second to none. Put on another jumper! Brilliant, stop walking round in the winter in a T shirt and shorts with the thermostat maxed out. Another great video from Skill Builder.
An old house of mine had timber suspended floors, with draughts that sometimes lifted the carpets, but with little beauty on the floorboards. I removed all the skirting, laid flooring grade polystyrene - sealed all round and between, so that no draughts or even an ant could get through anywhere - then laid 22mm chipboard flooring over the top, throughout the whole house. Refit the skirtings, new carpets, etc, and that made a huge difference. I could lay on the floor and within minutes you could feel the reflected warmth. Unconventional, but worked excellently. Secondly, I fitted shelves above the rads, butted up to the curtain level, which made the radiators work far better, creating better distribution of rising warmth and stopped the downdraughts from the windows. Unconventional again, but also very effective.
I added a weather compensator to my boiler which cost under £100 (BAXI) and my gas usage dropped by 10%. I also added in a smart multi zoned radiator heating control system (Drayton Wiser) and this has cut it down by another 30%. With the cost of energy increasing and seeing 40% it was the 2 best decisions I have made.
I have a multifuel coal/wood fire in living room for many years. One evening I filled it up with coal but it wouldn't start to burn properly (due to lack of draught even with front door and windows open!). After 3 tries all evening I gave up and went to bed. Was woken up at 3am by a noise - it was the CO detector! The coal had been on a 'slow burn' and due to no draught had filled the room with CO. Opened all windows and raked out the coals. I was very glad I bought the detector - only problem was it was REALLY LOUD and there seemed to be no way to turn it off! I had to cover it with several cushions and go hunting for the manual (you have to stick the supplied pin through a hole in the back). Now I tape the pin to the back of it in case it ever happens again (which it never has).
Tip Rodger if you have a Condensing Boiler check the return temperature ie the temperature of the water returning to the boiler. My condensing Boiler was a replacement for an older boiler. Boiler control on the front set the output of heating water to 75deg so the return was at about 55 to 57 deg ie a 20 deg drop. At this return temperature to boiler hardly condenses , by reducing boiler output to 60 deg in autumn the return temperature back to boiler is 40deg and you get maximum condensing which could increase efficiency by 5 to 10 %. The boiler will run longer but at a lower burn rate of reduced gas consumption . In the winter I found I needed to increase output temperature to 65deg if really cold. I only run heating in morning for 2 hours and evening for say 4-5 hours , but if you run your heating all day this reduction in output will save quite a lot of gas and save damage to boiler caused by cycling were boiler shuts down due to a high return temperature. NONE of this applies if your boiler is NOT a condensing boiler as with these the return temperature needs to be above the condensing due point of 55 deg. Brought a cheap temperature meter and taped to return pipe to monitor temperature of return water. You can also reduce the hot water temperature on the boiler if a combination boiler but don’t go below say 50 deg for safety.
It'd be interesting to see the difference between a poor and well insulated house via a thermal imaging camera which are cheap nowadays as an adapter for a smartphone. The general consensus is that heat loss occurs mainly via the roof and windows which is why double glazing, floor/loft insulation via carpets etc is so effective. Even in a well insulated house, the ground floor will always be a few degrees lower than the loft as a consequence of the inevitable temperature gradient.
Great vid again Roger. Just refurbed my front room with suspended floor. Put celotex between joists and replaced plank floor with 22mm tongue and groove floor panels to get rid of those drafts between planks. Beginning to wish now I had put underfloor heating but maybe later. Also had new double glazed windows fitted as they were over 20 years old. Think I had my monies worth. I run my central heating on a default setting of 16 deg but use radiator thermostats to control each room radiator. Yes I think we need to put more clothes on, we didn't get fat years ago due to using our body fat to keep warm, I remember well going to bed shivering with ice on the inside of windows, happy days. Sorry don't want to make this too long but you mention about exterior wall insulation will need to contact you re this if that's ok
Good one Roger - it would be good to cover the ways of improving wall insulation, external and internal, pros/cons/illustrative costs and the different material options
Lots of good advice, I have helped a number of people save money in listed buildings with some of these tips. Plus I used stormguard glazing film on one property, magnaglaze perspex secondary glazing on sash windows, sempatap for solid walls that can't have external wall insulation, thermal lining for curtains and radiator reflector panels and shelves.
Thick heavy curtains on windows and doors stop draughts and cut convection heat loss. Available cheaply from charity shops, boot sales and general auctions.
It is amazing to see the difference in standards between UK heating and cooling attitudes and practices and those elsewhere. It's like the whole purpose of designing homes in the UK was to make residents uncomfortable and keep them poor, until lately. Some great points, but also so much opportunity for better. Any home could be made NetZero, even in the UK. With all that heat flowing to those high ceilings and into the insulated attic, there's some point to using the attic space as a heat reservoir for a hot water heat pump. Remove the moisture from the attic air, recirculate that heat, extend the life of the structure. Insulate the roof, not the ceiling, and use a switchable vent so your hot water heat pump can cool your living spaces on those formerly infrequent heatwaves. Of course ground source has advantages, where feasible.
Great video Roger, enjoyed that one...I think there could be more of these videos going into a bit more depth on some of the points you mentioned. We recently 1. Took out all of our old flooring including the joists. 2. Dug 50 cm below floor height 3. Put in 50 cm of "foam concrete", the specialist stuff we used was approx 400 kg per M3, and then installed floor heating on top of that.....what a difference that makes !!
For zonal heating on the boiler we use a smart thermostat with smart trvs they cost but it allows individual rooms to call for heat rather than all the rooms because the central wall thermostat calls for it. This allows the unused rooms to be switched to low during the day and heat only as and when needed.
Thank you for the useful advice Roger. I can highly recommend the Stormguard secondary glazing film. It is as cheap as chips and I used it on single glazed windows for a few years before we got our kitchen extension and the effect was very noticeable. We had it over the winter months and took it off for the summer to get a flow of air through and it was so cheap, I redid it the following winter.
amazing video roger, you could have been walking around my house for all the problems it shares. really keen on the underfloor heating/floor insulation idea now i know it's an option :)
I have had two old Georgian houses with sash windows and in both have had them refurbished and insulated beads added using proper company as invariably new cills were need in areas, plus for Listed status we needed to use like for like glass panes. (£70 per pane vests about £5 🙁). Did it make a massive saving on heating?, well a little I guess but just to able to open the sashes was nice together with new safety locked was definitely a bonus. Not hearing them rattling when it’s windy was a joy. Interestedly we have also added plantation shutters (originals painted and screwed into oblivion) and these have worked as additional draft proof. The temperature differential from in between the gap is upwards of 5’c to 7’c overnight and thus positive
One trick to adjust thermostatic valves - on a day where you find the house has the perfect temperature go down close to the valves so you can hear even slight hiss from water flow at the valve. adjust to where it just open up and then a slight turn back to close the valve. this way you then balance out all your valves and they should start warming up the room when ever temperature get below. and doing this to all radiators will also get them even and you will get better efficiency in the system - relying on the printed scale is not the same as the final temperature in the room.
Great tip. Another tip is to clean the cobwebs / dust from the internal fins of e.g. a double radiator so that it can convect effectively. It seems that not many people service the rads in this way every one or two years.
For the dog door, you could have flaps on both sides, or a textile or flexible plastic on one of the sides (i.e. the inside, in the example in the video), to help insulate the door even more. or the windows, I use roller blinds, in my case they are semi-blackout, meaning that they do let some light through (and I chose them to be orange, for that warm light), which also acts like a second glaze, to help keep the warmth from escaping during the night. They are not airtight, so there is still some loss there, but it's a lot better than having the windows without them. In a pinch, I have seen people use clingwrap with scotch tape (packing tape) to better insulate their windows in the winter, especially for rooms they do not use. I even saw people use scotch/packing tape and aluminium foil (tinfoil) for the rooms they do not use, and even people turning semi-blackout roller blinds into blackout blinds by scotch-taping perforated aluminium foil (aluminium foil in which they mader a few tiny/small holes with a meat mallet, to have more points which are glued to the other surface) to their semi-blackout roller blinds. If you have a lawn or a walkway you can change, or even a bit of land or a few walls, you can use metal sheets as mirrors which to reflect more sunlight onto the house in the winter. You can use fresnel mirrors, instead of curved mirrors, to save up on space. Fresnel mirrors are what could be called compound mirrors, using multiple smaller mirrors to get a similar effect to a bigger window, at the price of optical precision (i.e. not usable for getting a good mirror image). Many people install them on the walls, angled instead of parallel, to concentrate sunlight on the house in winter, and on the roof (with the solar water heater) in the summer.
Lovely to hear good advice from someone who knows his onions. Also not interested in making a fast buck but a "How To" fix on the cheap; we'll done Roger, you can work for me any old time.
Double glazing seals can also be replaced for people who have it and notice drafts. I've just done mine, 20 odd your old wooden windows, can't afford to replace them just now so spent 100 quid on the correct profile seal and replaced them. Made a substantial difference, a couple of the windows were quite bad.
Top advice Roger. Good to get some impartial advice form someone who isn't trying to sell something. Now there's a change. My ex mother in law once asked me to visit while a supposed independent surveyor called to advise her on damp patches on her ground floor walls and he tried to sell her a cellar tanking system.
You can get programmable thermostatic radiator valves to set the temperature and on and off times for each room as an easier alternative to zone valves and repiping etc
Have you looked at individual programmable radiator valves? We have iTemp Terriers on all but the living room rad as the thermostat is in there since we are in there most of the time. Curtains above rads? Not great. Put a shelf over the rad to stop most of the heat going behind the curtains. I insulate both flow and return pipes right up to the rads and the hot water pipes to taps
Hi Roger, you haven't mention the programmable radiator valves. I have installed 10 of them in my house and they are programmed to heat the rooms we use when we use them. They aren't cheap (I use Hive) and this is the first winter I have had them in but the house is defiantly more comfortable especially since both my wife and I work from home and our working areas the spare bedrooms and areas we would not occupy normally. It's great to have the bedroom and bathroom heated for an hour before we get up without having to heat the whole house.
Shutters are great, the FRENCH of course have windows that open inwards in most houses. You see the slatted shutters on a lot of french houses which keep air coming in during the warmer months but stop too much direct sun, so the house is cool. In winter shutter keep the heat in as you say. You dont see many window cleaners in France! Another great video.
Great vid Rog but I disagree with shutting off heating to odd rooms leaving them to go cold, this will cause dampness in that area, I have been in houses many years ago in my younger days and there has been mould on the walls and around windows, first thing I notice is the radiator valves are off because the room isn't used. You can also smell it, musty horrible smell. Personally I prefer to keep the whole house warm and leave internal doors open or slightly ajar to encourage air circulation. I'm keen on your U/flr heating idea though, does your video detail a wooden floor installation? 👍
I think that heating the bedrooms in the morning and evening if you are heating the downstairs all day is fine. The heat drift up there any way. We have never heated our bedroom, not one day in over 40 years and the windows are open. Zero damp.
@@SkillBuilder actually, we are the same with our bedroom, window is always open at night, I like the fresh air myself but the other bedrooms have a radiator in each on a sort of tick over or background heat. Deffo seriously thinking about underfloor htg though, got big side and rear extension planned for next spring so will be getting clued up on that. Have you ever installed them Danfoss rad valves that have an individual room stat per valve? Fair amount of control wiring involved but I did a new house in the 90s that had these and the owner loved it.
i live in a Victorian four-story house and I've kept a lot of the rooms with the heating closed down for years now - No Damp or Mould anywhere - I DO keep all the doors open though and the rooms I DO heat, I keep the doors closed - Works for Me :-)
Commonly in Washington State where I grew up we used use fire place inserts to utilize the heat from the fire to radiate into the room. It made a great difference in using the wood more efficiently.
Rockwool is the way to go. I use woven garden fabric stapled to the bottom of the joist which allows water to fall through should you drop water and air can move so no condensation surface. Works a treat stops all drafts and the floor is no longer cold. Great video, very informative and entertaining.
Fantastic video, Roger, thank you. Loads of brilliant tips - especially the temperature setting for a condensing boiler. I need to dial mine back. Another Skill Builder smash. Keep up the good work. Thank you👍👍👍
I second underfloor heating its amazing, however I'd do what I did and strip the rafters out, type 1 and concrete the floors, 100mm pir screed and underfloor ftw. Strongly disagree with the single glazing. We had a very small window in the bathroom which I blocked out with pir as a temporary measure. difference is night and day. it was literally like walking outside in there and now it's like the rest of the house. lol it was that bad in there condensation was dripping off the walls and now is as dry as a bone plus way hotter.
Central heating...PAH! In our flat in the 60's, we had a one bar electric fire in the living room; that's it. My mum would light two gas rings on to take the chill off the kitchen before my brother and I would run to (from bed) to get dressed for school. We had old wonky "Crittal" windows and in the winter, the snow would blow in through the gaps and settle on the tiled cill (inside), it didn't melt either because it was so cold in our bedroom...aah, the good ol' days? Right, where's that bloody thermostat?
@@SkillBuilder that's right... you could draw a picture with your finger as the ice melted with your fingers warmth; t'riffic eh? Apart from frostbite, chilblains, colds and almost constant Bronchitis, it never did us any harm 🤣🤣🤣.
Excellent video, 40 years in the trade haven’t seen a better presentation. Only one anomaly, Gap between panes of glass needs to be smaller not larger for better heat insulation. A larger gap
I use 13Kg lpg cylinders, .. when I make a cup of tea I fill the cup with water and then pour that into the kettle then when I put it on the gas hob I set the gas flame on a very very low flame, thereby more of the heat is absorbed by the water and not escaping up the sides of the kettle.. I do the same for cooking. Before doing this I used a gas cylinder every 3 months, now I am getting 6/7 months.. 50/100% depending how you measure it.. it takes a bit longer, but it is a massive saving. The electric kettle is in the cupboard.
Excellent video Roger and very informative. The UK is going to be in for a real shock unless we switch on quickly to "acceptable" house heating methods, the new innovations are going to be expensive and inefficient, woolly jumper sales are going to rocket! We enjoy your posts and style greatly, thanks all the best.
Although not fashionable a reasonable thick carpet with high quality underlay will insulate the a ground floor rooms especially if there is a void underneath for ventilation . My son has bare floor boards on his ground floor rooms and complains the house is always cold, have told him reason but he thinks carpet is not fashionable . With heater bill as high as they are we will see if he still thinks carpet is unfashionable. Also lamented or wooden flooring with a quality underlay will improve heat retention.
My home is lovely and warm. I did the heating myself, entirely DIY, for a few hundred quid. It's very efficient and eco friendly. How did I do this? I fitted far infrared panels. One in the living room, and one each in the bedrooms. Each is a DIY installation. Each is independently controlled. And they only draw 750 watts when on full whack. Nobody seems to talk about this tech.yet it's efficient, convenient, cheap, and can be stylish. No annual inspection. Maintenance involves a wipe with a damp cloth to dust them. No pipes, no expensive installation, no reliance on gas. And if ever you decide you've mounted one in an inconvenient spot that interferes with your redecorating plans guess what, you just reinstall them yourself in the new spot.
@@gringotom242 I was in the same position when I took a punt. I bought one unit first to try it out. That first unit, with the benefit of hindsight and lessons learned, needs to be repositioned to get the best effect. I think the very few reviews are very mixed, but I think the technology is fine, but some thought and planning does need to go into the positioning to get best effect.
@@gringotom242 not good. Any electro-resisting heaters are same. 1kw of electricity for 1kw of heat. IR panels are same. Pure marketing. And with them you get a lottnof cold spots. I have one in a bathroom, 400w for suplementing heat. Rest of the flat is heated by Nordic Mini split. (Won't tell manifacturers name, doesnt matter) Gues what, IR Panel draws 425wh for small bath, cc 8sqm. Mini split heats about 50 sqm with 700wh. Huge difference For example: if your house has, lets say 3 kw heat loss on 0 c. IR panel will need 3kwh of electricity to keep your house warm. In comparison a good Mini split optimised for heating will use about 1kwh to deliver the same amount of heat.(numbers can differ ofc) Simple, relative cheap solution which also provides cooling. You just have to choose those which are optimised for heating.
@@erminmax I'm sorry, you're wrong. They're not all the same. To understand why, you need to understand the relationship between bandwidths of light and heat for a start. That's a physics lesson that you'll find anywhere, including right here on RUclips. I too read mixed reviews before I took a punt. And the conclusion I've reached is the work well in the right settings. Sounds like you've had bad luck and so wrote them off. The IR panels were on about by the way are not what you've put in your bathroom (I hope, because they're not really designed for use in wet rooms), but I doubt they'd work well in a high humidity environment anyway. You'd be just heating airborne water molecules as they go past on their way to the extractor fan.
doesnt matter. 1 kwh of heat is 1khw. To reach some temperature in a room you need to add equivalent amount of heat that you room has lost. Does't matter if trough infra red(radiating) or convection etc With IR you get spot heating with a lott of cold spots. Pure marketing and very bad and expensive heating. Only reantable way to heat with electricty is trough heat pumps. Air-air(reversible mini split), air water, ground-water etc. Theory and my first hand experience says it.
Brilliant video - about to renovate top to bottom so some great tips. I have a Single Brick house with high ceilings so I like the underfloor idea. I was at a house once who had the wet system - got so hot, couldn't sit on the floor and then took an age to reduce temperature. Assume just setting the right temp is key to underfloor wet systems.
I have done the underfloor insulation. DONT USE ROCKWOOL the rats and mice love it. I use polystyrene sheets at 70mm tick between the joists. Easy and clean to install
i used sheep wool between two layer of breather membrane - the bottom hanging into the joist to also act as support. original floorboards restored and no draughts!
twmd Good luck with that once the clothes moths find it. Your house will be crawling with them and they are virtually impossible to eradicate. You have provided the worlds best buffet for them right under your house.
Open Fire heating Room - as opposed to going up the chimney. Use 50mm pipe as your fire grate - back and top in a "Square C" shape the size of your firebox. For example an 18" wide open fire would have 8 x 2" pipes taking air from below the fire, being heated by the fire and dumping hot air at the top just before the smoke goes past them up the flew.
Good video Thanks for info I have a question is it possible to install underfloor with a wood burning stove country cottage style no oil or gas Thanks in advance Rodger
I put a heavy curtain across my front door.thermal curtains in every room.closed rooms not being used and moved some of the furniture into used rooms,I bubble wrapped. side windows.Placed a pile if free neespapers in most used room,installed thicker carpet underlay.I got a £250 refund on my heating bill.SIMPLES.
Roger, the high ceiling comment, regarding the air kind of being "trapped" in the high ceiling areas. While i know the logic with what im about to say is for cooling, would ceiling fans potentially help to help lower some of that heat level back down, getting that warmer air back towards the bodies in the room?
Definitely. But the draft is the thing to try to eliminate. A friend of ours lived in a converted barn with no insulation (long island winter) and had a 24' ceiling with fans. Worked very well. At 24' we didn't feel any breeze. A 9' ceiling might need a clever approach to do what you're saying. Very excellent idea. Maybe have the fans direct the air upward. Is that what you were thinking. That's good thinking.
My ceiling fan has a switch on it so it can reverse the direction of the spin. A sort of summer and winter switch. One way blows cold air down and the other way sucks the heat up to the ceiling and forces it down the walls to a lower level to get the benefit of the heat.
Hi skill builder what do you think of infrared heating panels - we have a house built in 2010 and is all electric and we are looking to supplement the underfloor wet system which is run by an external 5kw air sourced heat pump Thank You
Those zone valves look like the old solenoid operated type. I replaced mine some time ago with motor on/motor off valves which don't use electricity all the time they are open. They must have saved a reasonable amount over the 10 years they have been in place, and it was a fairly simple swap once I figured out where to connect the wires. Best to do it when the system is being drained down for some other reason.
What I find baffling is that electric heating is hardly ever. considered as an alternative to gas. You're right to say how important lifestyle is when choosing how to heat our homes. I stopped using my gas fired central heating system in 1990 and fitted electric panel heaters with plug-in time switches in every room (NOT STORAGE HEATERS). I fitted an extra large hot water tank at the time everyone was ripping them out. Running costs, I pay at a guess 50% more per year than an equivalent gas system but in 30 years it has never cost anything to maintain or repair, 24hr cosy 20c warm and plenty of hot water.
Sorry but this is completely deluded. With electricity being four to five times the price of gas per kWh, the only way to keep bills anywhere near comparable would be by drastically cutting back on heating. If I use 150 kWh of gas per day to keep my house comfortable, I will need 150 kWh of electricity to do the same, and I'd be bankrupt after one winter! What's wrong with having modern controls on a gas system? And what's this maintenance cost of which you speak? A simple heat only boiler lasts for years (combis are a different story) and need nothing more than an annual service which costs under £100. I don't think I have spent more than £250 on heating system repairs in the last twenty years- a faulty three port valve and a noisy, worn out pump. That wouldn't cover one months electricity bill if I were to heat electrically.
Hello Spencer, interesting comment with many valid points. I wonder how efficient gas systems really are? Figures of 95% are for the boiler only and not the whole system which I venture is less, Have you looked at my video which details the work involved and its actual performance and running costs? My health needs require a 100% reliability - not 99%. No gas system can ever be totally fault free and I am lucky I can afford my all-electric heating.
I have plug in electric heaters in a rental flat. It's horribly expensive. This winter one heater will cost about £400 to run, if I switch it off at night.
There are 2 kinds of radiant floor slabs I am aware; low mass concrete slab over a wood floor system and high mass concrete usually slab on grade. Each has advantages and disadvantages. Perhaps you could discuss these.
Hi Roger, in this video you talk about installing underfloor heating on the underside of a raised floor joist. Can you advise the products that you would use to do this and the method if the product does not describe it itself?
Roger, what are your thoughts on using frozen ice packs placed over the sink to remove moisture from a house? Ive been doing it all week so i can keep the windows closed and save on heating.
I have a low wattage dehumidifier (designed for trickle use over-wintering caravans). Given that we are going to have a cooler house this winter so the temperature will be closer to the dew point, is this electrical method more cost-effective than gas heating to get higher temp method to stop condensation and mould?
In a modern centrally heated house an open fire must be a net cooling rather than heating device. Great for ventilation, not so good for heat conservation - most of the draft from the gaps in the floorboards is going up the chimney. With a wood-burning stove, when the door's closed there's little draft from the flue when the fire's not lit.
I've started havingcold showers. Put it on warm to get in then turn down to 10 percent hot/90pc cold. Stay in for no longer than three minutes. One other advantage is that there is no steam in the bathroom. You do get used to quite quickly...i was surprised.
@@SkillBuilder i agree. Just started about a month back. You must know about Wim Hof ? In such a short time i now really prefer it.....and obv the gas savings.
Can you talk about ceiling fans on a low setting as a method to mix the temperature-stratified air in a room. Does it work? Is it worth getting out my summer fan to use this winter?
I was told you shouldn't turn down the wood burning stove at night. If you do this is takes a long time to lose all it's heat and whilst it is burning at a low temperature it lets out more pollutants/smoke and make your flue dirty.
Roger, thanks for another great video, can i ask, what is the white paint on the basement walls in this video? i have it on mine and its all coming off, i just wondered what it is? and if i can just use KA Tanking Slurry over the top of it? my basements damp, but its not flooding or anything, just a lot of moisture, i was going to install some vents to get some airflow down there, and also tank the walls and floor to see if that help. but this paint which is coming off the walls im interested to know what it is? thanks
Would anyone know the following~ I am about to relag my loft with good quality rockwool I am also considering before the rockwool goes down is running YBS Airtec Reflective Double Insulation across the loft side of the ceiling up and over the ceiling joists and staple it to the joists then adding the rockwool. Is there any practical reason why I couldn't do this, obviously cut around any electrical work.
Hi thank you for the excellent video, what are your thoughts on thermal paint for making a house efficient? Or Wallrock Thermal Liner, any thoughts? Thanks very much again!
Brilliant advice and entertaining at the same time Roger,many thanks.Since my wife has started working from home in basement kitchen,i decided to get smart radiator thermostats so when I'm at work I can keep the kitchen at a healthy temperature for her lol..i dial down the rest of the rooms but I'm wondering if it puts a strain on the combi boiler(in Glasgow so it can be non condensing) if too many radiators are turned down low.Main door tenement flat with only kitchen downstairs.
yes, you can. use a Zigbee remote radiator thermostats. and insulate those pipes in the basement or boiler room, no need to warm the basement or boiler room. If you need a warm basement put in a radiator and insulate the pipes.
Seriusly . Change the Windows 3 layer thermo glass . Insulate the floor . New radiators . Get a pellet furnace instead of gas . Insulate the hollowroom in the Walls . Close the fireplace and get a Wood bruning oven with a watertank in it to help boost your heating and warm water . Get solar panels
My loft has Welsh slate and when I went up for the Xmas stuff the slates were damp/beading a little,it was cold out side. So what should I do? Is it a issue 1930s semi. Good video.
I think you have to accept that some moisture will form in cold weather but if it starts making everything wet you need to seal the loft hatch to stop the draughts and increase ventilation. Usually there is enough ventilation if there is no felt
Turning the boiler setpoint down is a lovely idea ... unless it also feeds the DHW tank. You need 65°C or usually more to get a decent tank temp (Legionella) and boilers tend not to have dual setpoints for CH and DHW operation. So kinda stuffed there.
Replacing an existing, fairly new condensing boiler to get dual settings, or a combi, may "Cut Your Heating Bills", but as to "Saving Money" what is the payback time? (We wouldn't have another combi anyway - too many downsides. We have mains pressure HW these days.)
Our kitchen and dining area is suspended timber with tiles on top with no insulation underneath. It’s really cold in the winter. There is crawl space underneath, can you just put rock wool between joints? Or will I need a vapour barrier?
You don't need a vapour barrier, just staple something under the Rockwool to keep it in place. I use cheap garden netting. Do it and you will be delighted
Roger, can you solve a problem of condensation I have? I have a plastic garden shed which continually has huge amount of condensation dripping of the plastic roof, especially in the winter. There is no heating inside and it is all plastic single skin with small perspex windows. What is the cause and how can I stop it as the dripping condensation is damaging the flooring boards? Many thanks
A vapour barrier helps if it is on the warm side of the insulation. We often use foil backed plasterboard but a counter batten on the top of the membrane is also a very good thing for clearing moisture.
50 deg flow temperature from the boiler means the boiler is in condensing mode. Actually it is the return temperature that matters but the boiler thermostat is measuring the flow.
Roger, I’d love your views on my house, room in roof setup and the upstairs is freezing in winter and roasting in summer. Once heating goes off the temp upstairs plummets. Would be happy to share the full picture of the setup. Only been in a year but need to get this sorted
It sounds to me that whoever constructed the room in the roof didn't insulate the remaining roof space and side walls with sufficient insulation. Strip back the plaster boards insulate with Kingspan board at least 120mm with an air gap between roof covering and the insulation, re plaster and do same to walls. If the walls are solid end walls then insulate onto the wall, batten off and her plaster board. It won't be cheap or convenient but that's what is required
@@SkillBuilder it’s 30 years old, was setup that way when the house was built. Having looked in the loft and eaves there is 70mm glass wool insulation but it’s seen better days, I’ll maybe renew with 300mm and maybe put insulation boards on the other sides of the interior walls where it meets the eves for belt and braces. Not sure if insulation boards on the underside of the roof in the loft space would be good as well
I’m about to move into a house that has a full size basement so the house (living area) floors are concrete slats and tiled on top. You can see from the basement the concrete slats, and they are fully exposed. What would be the best solution for insulating the floor in the living areas? Would expanding foam be a good idea? Spraying it on the basement ceiling?
I would say that provided your roof is ventilated you can't have too much ....... unless you have pipework in the roof in which case i would have thought that 400 mm (16") is enough. N.B. I'm not up to date about the electrical regs regarding putting thermal insulation on top of lighting circuit wiring. I guess that, in general, power wiring doesn't usually run in the roof but worth checking.
@Skill Builder I've had an extension done to one of my outbuildings on my property which has slightly suspended wooden flooring. I have filled it with sheep's wool and then put a layer of a dpc similar material on before putting the wooden floorboards (mostly) on. However the sheep wool underneath is now somewhat damp and is not drying out even though there is some ventilation and really warm sunny whether. Is it possible to stuff too much insulation in and then the air can't flow very well around the room? Our sheep wool is starting to smell a little mouldy too.
I've had a logburner for 4 years now and have turned my heating on twice. I source and process the wood myself. I have saved a few quid.
Also dry clothes with it and boil all my water on it.
Marvelous.
Brilliant video, love the walk through format. Roger is an exceptional presenter and his knowledge, experience and practicality is second to none. Put on another jumper! Brilliant, stop walking round in the winter in a T shirt and shorts with the thermostat maxed out. Another great video from Skill Builder.
Much appreciated!
An old house of mine had timber suspended floors, with draughts that sometimes lifted the carpets, but with little beauty on the floorboards. I removed all the skirting, laid flooring grade polystyrene - sealed all round and between, so that no draughts or even an ant could get through anywhere - then laid 22mm chipboard flooring over the top, throughout the whole house. Refit the skirtings, new carpets, etc, and that made a huge difference. I could lay on the floor and within minutes you could feel the reflected warmth. Unconventional, but worked excellently.
Secondly, I fitted shelves above the rads, butted up to the curtain level, which made the radiators work far better, creating better distribution of rising warmth and stopped the downdraughts from the windows. Unconventional again, but also very effective.
That sounds like my kind of job. I agree with all of it
I added a weather compensator to my boiler which cost under £100 (BAXI) and my gas usage dropped by 10%. I also added in a smart multi zoned radiator heating control system (Drayton Wiser) and this has cut it down by another 30%. With the cost of energy increasing and seeing 40% it was the 2 best decisions I have made.
I have a multifuel coal/wood fire in living room for many years. One evening I filled it up with coal but it wouldn't start to burn properly (due to lack of draught even with front door and windows open!). After 3 tries all evening I gave up and went to bed. Was woken up at 3am by a noise - it was the CO detector! The coal had been on a 'slow burn' and due to no draught had filled the room with CO. Opened all windows and raked out the coals. I was very glad I bought the detector - only problem was it was REALLY LOUD and there seemed to be no way to turn it off! I had to cover it with several cushions and go hunting for the manual (you have to stick the supplied pin through a hole in the back). Now I tape the pin to the back of it in case it ever happens again (which it never has).
Tip Rodger if you have a Condensing Boiler check the return temperature ie the temperature of the water returning to the boiler. My condensing Boiler was a replacement for an older boiler. Boiler control on the front set the output of heating water to 75deg so the return was at about 55 to 57 deg ie a 20 deg drop. At this return temperature to boiler hardly condenses , by reducing boiler output to 60 deg in autumn the return temperature back to boiler is 40deg and you get maximum condensing which could increase efficiency by 5 to 10 %. The boiler will run longer but at a lower burn rate of reduced gas consumption . In the winter I found I needed to increase output temperature to 65deg if really cold. I only run heating in morning for 2 hours and evening for say 4-5 hours , but if you run your heating all day this reduction in output will save quite a lot of gas and save damage to boiler caused by cycling were boiler shuts down due to a high return temperature. NONE of this applies if your boiler is NOT a condensing boiler as with these the return temperature needs to be above the condensing due point of 55 deg. Brought a cheap temperature meter and taped to return pipe to monitor temperature of return water. You can also reduce the hot water temperature on the boiler if a combination boiler but don’t go below say 50 deg for safety.
nice one .. lots of good tips and advise .. thank you
It'd be interesting to see the difference between a poor and well insulated house via a thermal imaging camera which are cheap nowadays as an adapter for a smartphone.
The general consensus is that heat loss occurs mainly via the roof and windows which is why double glazing, floor/loft insulation via carpets etc is so effective. Even in a well insulated house, the ground floor will always be a few degrees lower than the loft as a consequence of the inevitable temperature gradient.
this man is humble, hardworking and trustworthy
Great vid again Roger. Just refurbed my front room with suspended floor. Put celotex between joists and replaced plank floor with 22mm tongue and groove floor panels to get rid of those drafts between planks. Beginning to wish now I had put underfloor heating but maybe later. Also had new double glazed windows fitted as they were over 20 years old. Think I had my monies worth. I run my central heating on a default setting of 16 deg but use radiator thermostats to control each room radiator. Yes I think we need to put more clothes on, we didn't get fat years ago due to using our body fat to keep warm, I remember well going to bed shivering with ice on the inside of windows, happy days. Sorry don't want to make this too long but you mention about exterior wall insulation will need to contact you re this if that's ok
Good one Roger - it would be good to cover the ways of improving wall insulation, external and internal, pros/cons/illustrative costs and the different material options
Agreed, would love to see that!
Yes it would be interesting, especially internal insulation, I’m thinking about myself, it would be good to get a professionals take on it.
Yes, I would like to hear about internal insulation and how far you can go with insulation before you get damp or need a system to change the air.
This is something I’m sure lots of us are thinking about at the moment so I hope you find the time Roger!
Lots of good advice, I have helped a number of people save money in listed buildings with some of these tips. Plus I used stormguard glazing film on one property, magnaglaze perspex secondary glazing on sash windows, sempatap for solid walls that can't have external wall insulation, thermal lining for curtains and radiator reflector panels and shelves.
Great tips! we should look at those very soon
Thick heavy curtains on windows and doors stop draughts and cut convection heat loss. Available cheaply from charity shops, boot sales and general auctions.
It is amazing to see the difference in standards between UK heating and cooling attitudes and practices and those elsewhere. It's like the whole purpose of designing homes in the UK was to make residents uncomfortable and keep them poor, until lately.
Some great points, but also so much opportunity for better. Any home could be made NetZero, even in the UK.
With all that heat flowing to those high ceilings and into the insulated attic, there's some point to using the attic space as a heat reservoir for a hot water heat pump. Remove the moisture from the attic air, recirculate that heat, extend the life of the structure. Insulate the roof, not the ceiling, and use a switchable vent so your hot water heat pump can cool your living spaces on those formerly infrequent heatwaves. Of course ground source has advantages, where feasible.
Great video Roger, enjoyed that one...I think there could be more of these videos going into a bit more depth on some of the points you mentioned. We recently 1. Took out all of our old flooring including the joists. 2. Dug 50 cm below floor height 3. Put in 50 cm of "foam concrete", the specialist stuff we used was approx 400 kg per M3, and then installed floor heating on top of that.....what a difference that makes !!
We have a job like that coming up next year.
Absolutely brilliant thank you. I manage a single glazed rental property and so much of this was helpful
For zonal heating on the boiler we use a smart thermostat with smart trvs they cost but it allows individual rooms to call for heat rather than all the rooms because the central wall thermostat calls for it. This allows the unused rooms to be switched to low during the day and heat only as and when needed.
Thank you for the useful advice Roger. I can highly recommend the Stormguard secondary glazing film. It is as cheap as chips and I used it on single glazed windows for a few years before we got our kitchen extension and the effect was very noticeable. We had it over the winter months and took it off for the summer to get a flow of air through and it was so cheap, I redid it the following winter.
I will check it out
@@SkillBuilder our air source is off at the fusebox best way to save the electric
amazing video roger, you could have been walking around my house for all the problems it shares. really keen on the underfloor heating/floor insulation idea now i know it's an option :)
I have had two old Georgian houses with sash windows and in both have had them refurbished and insulated beads added using proper company as invariably new cills were need in areas, plus for Listed status we needed to use like for like glass panes. (£70 per pane vests about £5 🙁). Did it make a massive saving on heating?, well a little I guess but just to able to open the sashes was nice together with new safety locked was definitely a bonus. Not hearing them rattling when it’s windy was a joy. Interestedly we have also added plantation shutters (originals painted and screwed into oblivion) and these have worked as additional draft proof. The temperature differential from in between the gap is upwards of 5’c to 7’c overnight and thus positive
One trick to adjust thermostatic valves - on a day where you find the house has the perfect temperature go down close to the valves so you can hear even slight hiss from water flow at the valve. adjust to where it just open up and then a slight turn back to close the valve. this way you then balance out all your valves and they should start warming up the room when ever temperature get below. and doing this to all radiators will also get them even and you will get better efficiency in the system - relying on the printed scale is not the same as the final temperature in the room.
Great tip. Another tip is to clean the cobwebs / dust from the internal fins of e.g. a double radiator so that it can convect effectively. It seems that not many people service the rads in this way every one or two years.
For the dog door, you could have flaps on both sides, or a textile or flexible plastic on one of the sides (i.e. the inside, in the example in the video), to help insulate the door even more. or the windows, I use roller blinds, in my case they are semi-blackout, meaning that they do let some light through (and I chose them to be orange, for that warm light), which also acts like a second glaze, to help keep the warmth from escaping during the night. They are not airtight, so there is still some loss there, but it's a lot better than having the windows without them. In a pinch, I have seen people use clingwrap with scotch tape (packing tape) to better insulate their windows in the winter, especially for rooms they do not use.
I even saw people use scotch/packing tape and aluminium foil (tinfoil) for the rooms they do not use, and even people turning semi-blackout roller blinds into blackout blinds by scotch-taping perforated aluminium foil (aluminium foil in which they mader a few tiny/small holes with a meat mallet, to have more points which are glued to the other surface) to their semi-blackout roller blinds. If you have a lawn or a walkway you can change, or even a bit of land or a few walls, you can use metal sheets as mirrors which to reflect more sunlight onto the house in the winter. You can use fresnel mirrors, instead of curved mirrors, to save up on space. Fresnel mirrors are what could be called compound mirrors, using multiple smaller mirrors to get a similar effect to a bigger window, at the price of optical precision (i.e. not usable for getting a good mirror image). Many people install them on the walls, angled instead of parallel, to concentrate sunlight on the house in winter, and on the roof (with the solar water heater) in the summer.
With high ceilings, a ceiling fan running slowly in reverse brings the heat down.
Lovely to hear good advice from someone who knows his onions.
Also not interested in making a fast buck but a "How To" fix on the cheap; we'll done Roger, you can work for me any old time.
Double glazing seals can also be replaced for people who have it and notice drafts. I've just done mine, 20 odd your old wooden windows, can't afford to replace them just now so spent 100 quid on the correct profile seal and replaced them. Made a substantial difference, a couple of the windows were quite bad.
Good tip, we should look at that
Did my doors too, its easier to do than people think.
Top advice Roger. Good to get some impartial advice form someone who isn't trying to sell something. Now there's a change. My ex mother in law once asked me to visit while a supposed independent surveyor called to advise her on damp patches on her ground floor walls and he tried to sell her a cellar tanking system.
You can get programmable thermostatic radiator valves to set the temperature and on and off times for each room as an easier alternative to zone valves and repiping etc
nice video Roger, and you mentioned the best form of insulation right at the end, putting a jumper on!
Have you looked at individual programmable radiator valves? We have iTemp Terriers on all but the living room rad as the thermostat is in there since we are in there most of the time. Curtains above rads? Not great. Put a shelf over the rad to stop most of the heat going behind the curtains. I insulate both flow and return pipes right up to the rads and the hot water pipes to taps
Like to see real professional guy explaining important things to people.Great and good job, thx a lot for tips !
Hi Roger, you haven't mention the programmable radiator valves. I have installed 10 of them in my house and they are programmed to heat the rooms we use when we use them. They aren't cheap (I use Hive) and this is the first winter I have had them in but the house is defiantly more comfortable especially since both my wife and I work from home and our working areas the spare bedrooms and areas we would not occupy normally. It's great to have the bedroom and bathroom heated for an hour before we get up without having to heat the whole house.
Shutters are great, the FRENCH of course have windows that open inwards in most houses. You see the slatted shutters on a lot of french houses which keep air coming in during the warmer months but stop too much direct sun, so the house is cool. In winter shutter keep the heat in as you say. You dont see many window cleaners in France! Another great video.
Such a different climate. So much drier than the UK or the Netherlands. You’re lucky in the UK that your ground is drier than in the Netherlands.
The best videos come from this channel. Honest.
Great vid Rog but I disagree with shutting off heating to odd rooms leaving them to go cold, this will cause dampness in that area, I have been in houses many years ago in my younger days and there has been mould on the walls and around windows, first thing I notice is the radiator valves are off because the room isn't used. You can also smell it, musty horrible smell. Personally I prefer to keep the whole house warm and leave internal doors open or slightly ajar to encourage air circulation.
I'm keen on your U/flr heating idea though, does your video detail a wooden floor installation? 👍
I think that heating the bedrooms in the morning and evening if you are heating the downstairs all day is fine. The heat drift up there any way. We have never heated our bedroom, not one day in over 40 years and the windows are open. Zero damp.
@@SkillBuilder actually, we are the same with our bedroom, window is always open at night, I like the fresh air myself but the other bedrooms have a radiator in each on a sort of tick over or background heat.
Deffo seriously thinking about underfloor htg though, got big side and rear extension planned for next spring so will be getting clued up on that.
Have you ever installed them Danfoss rad valves that have an individual room stat per valve? Fair amount of control wiring involved but I did a new house in the 90s that had these and the owner loved it.
@@SkillBuilder I have done exactly this, in combination with ventilation. Absolutely no mould, and the Bath room is warm when you need it.
i live in a Victorian four-story house and I've kept a lot of the rooms with the heating closed down for years now - No Damp or Mould anywhere - I DO keep all the doors open though and the rooms I DO heat, I keep the doors closed - Works for Me :-)
@@SkillBuilder That's Because You're Very Careful With Your Money Rodger 💰 😜👍
Commonly in Washington State where I grew up we used use fire place inserts to utilize the heat from the fire to radiate into the room. It made a great difference in using the wood more efficiently.
Are they like firebricks or are you talking about pieces of metal?
Rockwool is the way to go. I use woven garden fabric stapled to the bottom of the joist which allows water to fall through should you drop water and air can move so no condensation surface. Works a treat stops all drafts and the floor is no longer cold.
Great video, very informative and entertaining.
Hi David
I do the same thing, garden netting is cheap and easy to attach.
Fantastic video, Roger, thank you. Loads of brilliant tips - especially the temperature setting for a condensing boiler. I need to dial mine back. Another Skill Builder smash. Keep up the good work. Thank you👍👍👍
I second underfloor heating its amazing, however I'd do what I did and strip the rafters out, type 1 and concrete the floors, 100mm pir screed and underfloor ftw. Strongly disagree with the single glazing. We had a very small window in the bathroom which I blocked out with pir as a temporary measure. difference is night and day. it was literally like walking outside in there and now it's like the rest of the house. lol it was that bad in there condensation was dripping off the walls and now is as dry as a bone plus way hotter.
I used to do the shrinking plastic double glazing trick in Edinburgh in my student days. Good advice it really works.
High ceilings in Arizona make sense. It gets up to 115° F in summer. In winter we use ceiling fans to push the warm air down.
Central heating...PAH!
In our flat in the 60's, we had a one bar electric fire in the living room; that's it.
My mum would light two gas rings on to take the chill off the kitchen before my brother and I would run to (from bed) to get dressed for school.
We had old wonky "Crittal" windows and in the winter, the snow would blow in through the gaps and settle on the tiled cill (inside), it didn't melt either because it was so cold in our bedroom...aah, the good ol' days?
Right, where's that bloody thermostat?
Did you get those lovely ice patterns on the glass, I used to love those.
@@SkillBuilder that's right... you could draw a picture with your finger as the ice melted with your fingers warmth; t'riffic eh?
Apart from frostbite, chilblains, colds and almost constant Bronchitis, it never did us any harm 🤣🤣🤣.
@@SkillBuilder Don't forget the Ex army coats on your bed Ha Ha
Excellent video, 40 years in the trade haven’t seen a better presentation. Only one anomaly, Gap between panes of glass needs to be smaller not larger for better heat insulation. A larger gap
Very interesting and educational 👍. I remember being able to pull myself up into a loft, 30 years ago
I use 13Kg lpg cylinders, .. when I make a cup of tea I fill the cup with water and then pour that into the kettle then when I put it on the gas hob I set the gas flame on a very very low flame, thereby more of the heat is absorbed by the water and not escaping up the sides of the kettle.. I do the same for cooking. Before doing this I used a gas cylinder every 3 months, now I am getting 6/7 months.. 50/100% depending how you measure it.. it takes a bit longer, but it is a massive saving. The electric kettle is in the cupboard.
Excellent video Roger and very informative. The UK is going to be in for a real shock unless we switch on quickly to "acceptable" house heating methods, the new innovations are going to be expensive and inefficient, woolly jumper sales are going to rocket! We enjoy your posts and style greatly, thanks all the best.
A superb video ,so many of my questions answered
Although not fashionable a reasonable thick carpet with high quality underlay will insulate the a ground floor rooms especially if there is a void underneath for ventilation . My son has bare floor boards on his ground floor rooms and complains the house is always cold, have told him reason but he thinks carpet is not fashionable . With heater bill as high as they are we will see if he still thinks carpet is unfashionable.
Also lamented or wooden flooring with a quality underlay will improve heat retention.
My home is lovely and warm. I did the heating myself, entirely DIY, for a few hundred quid. It's very efficient and eco friendly. How did I do this? I fitted far infrared panels. One in the living room, and one each in the bedrooms. Each is a DIY installation. Each is independently controlled. And they only draw 750 watts when on full whack. Nobody seems to talk about this tech.yet it's efficient, convenient, cheap, and can be stylish. No annual inspection. Maintenance involves a wipe with a damp cloth to dust them. No pipes, no expensive installation, no reliance on gas. And if ever you decide you've mounted one in an inconvenient spot that interferes with your redecorating plans guess what, you just reinstall them yourself in the new spot.
Thanks for this I'm finding it hard to find information on these
@@gringotom242 I was in the same position when I took a punt. I bought one unit first to try it out. That first unit, with the benefit of hindsight and lessons learned, needs to be repositioned to get the best effect. I think the very few reviews are very mixed, but I think the technology is fine, but some thought and planning does need to go into the positioning to get best effect.
@@gringotom242 not good. Any electro-resisting heaters are same. 1kw of electricity for 1kw of heat.
IR panels are same. Pure marketing.
And with them you get a lottnof cold spots.
I have one in a bathroom, 400w for suplementing heat. Rest of the flat is heated by Nordic Mini split. (Won't tell manifacturers name, doesnt matter)
Gues what, IR Panel draws 425wh for small bath, cc 8sqm. Mini split heats about 50 sqm with 700wh. Huge difference
For example: if your house has, lets say 3 kw heat loss on 0 c. IR panel will need 3kwh of electricity to keep your house warm.
In comparison a good Mini split optimised for heating will use about 1kwh to deliver the same amount of heat.(numbers can differ ofc)
Simple, relative cheap solution which also provides cooling. You just have to choose those which are optimised for heating.
@@erminmax I'm sorry, you're wrong. They're not all the same. To understand why, you need to understand the relationship between bandwidths of light and heat for a start. That's a physics lesson that you'll find anywhere, including right here on RUclips.
I too read mixed reviews before I took a punt. And the conclusion I've reached is the work well in the right settings. Sounds like you've had bad luck and so wrote them off. The IR panels were on about by the way are not what you've put in your bathroom (I hope, because they're not really designed for use in wet rooms), but I doubt they'd work well in a high humidity environment anyway. You'd be just heating airborne water molecules as they go past on their way to the extractor fan.
doesnt matter. 1 kwh of heat is 1khw. To reach some temperature in a room you need to add equivalent amount of heat that you room has lost. Does't matter if trough infra red(radiating) or convection etc
With IR you get spot heating with a lott of cold spots. Pure marketing and very bad and expensive heating.
Only reantable way to heat with electricty is trough heat pumps. Air-air(reversible mini split), air water, ground-water etc. Theory and my first hand experience says it.
Brilliant video - about to renovate top to bottom so some great tips. I have a Single Brick house with high ceilings so I like the underfloor idea. I was at a house once who had the wet system - got so hot, couldn't sit on the floor and then took an age to reduce temperature. Assume just setting the right temp is key to underfloor wet systems.
Yes keep the temperature low.
@@SkillBuilder As easy as 123! Don't fancy renovating mine and I'll even help you make the RUclips videos!
I have done the underfloor insulation. DONT USE ROCKWOOL the rats and mice love it. I use polystyrene sheets at 70mm tick between the joists. Easy and clean to install
They use it for nesting materials and it makes them itch
I'm surprised they don't make a rock wool flooring insulation with a thin layer of steel wool. That'd keep the mice out.
i used sheep wool between two layer of breather membrane - the bottom hanging into the joist to also act as support. original floorboards restored and no draughts!
Wont polystyrene sheets have a much worse u-value? I'm doing mine in a few months and probably going to use sheep wool
twmd Good luck with that once the clothes moths find it. Your house will be crawling with them and they are virtually impossible to eradicate. You have provided the worlds best buffet for them right under your house.
The open fire I have warms up the chimney stack and the upstairs bedrooms benefit from it.
Open Fire heating Room - as opposed to going up the chimney.
Use 50mm pipe as your fire grate - back and top in a "Square C" shape the size of your firebox.
For example an 18" wide open fire would have 8 x 2" pipes taking air from below the fire, being heated by the fire and dumping hot air at the top just before the smoke goes past them up the flew.
Good video Thanks for info
I have a question is it possible to install underfloor with a wood burning stove country cottage style no oil or gas Thanks in advance Rodger
Hi Roger brilliant video again, what is the best way to insulate a concrete kitchen floor.
Thanks
Loads of great info - thanks!
I put a heavy curtain across my front door.thermal curtains in every room.closed rooms not being used and moved some of the furniture into used rooms,I bubble wrapped. side windows.Placed a pile if free neespapers in most used room,installed thicker carpet underlay.I got a £250 refund on my heating bill.SIMPLES.
Roger, the high ceiling comment, regarding the air kind of being "trapped" in the high ceiling areas.
While i know the logic with what im about to say is for cooling, would ceiling fans potentially help to help lower some of that heat level back down, getting that warmer air back towards the bodies in the room?
I think they use this idea in factories where the heat is ducted back down to floor level
Fishbait. Slow fans work well in that respect
Definitely. But the draft is the thing to try to eliminate. A friend of ours lived in a converted barn with no insulation (long island winter) and had a 24' ceiling with fans. Worked very well. At 24' we didn't feel any breeze. A 9' ceiling might need a clever approach to do what you're saying. Very excellent idea. Maybe have the fans direct the air upward. Is that what you were thinking. That's good thinking.
My ceiling fan has a switch on it so it can reverse the direction of the spin. A sort of summer and winter switch. One way blows cold air down and the other way sucks the heat up to the ceiling and forces it down the walls to a lower level to get the benefit of the heat.
Good idea, but you are adding more electricity usage to do so !
You're the man Roger. Love your videos
Hi skill builder what do you think of infrared heating panels - we have a house built in 2010 and is all electric and we are looking to supplement the underfloor wet system which
is run by an external 5kw air sourced heat pump Thank You
Those zone valves look like the old solenoid operated type. I replaced mine some time ago with motor on/motor off valves which don't use electricity all the time they are open. They must have saved a reasonable amount over the 10 years they have been in place, and it was a fairly simple swap once I figured out where to connect the wires. Best to do it when the system is being drained down for some other reason.
What I find baffling is that electric heating is hardly ever. considered as an alternative to gas. You're right to say how important lifestyle is when choosing how to heat our homes. I stopped using my gas fired central heating system in 1990 and fitted electric panel heaters with plug-in time switches in every room (NOT STORAGE HEATERS). I fitted an extra large hot water tank at the time everyone was ripping them out. Running costs, I pay at a guess 50% more per year than an equivalent gas system but in 30 years it has never cost anything to maintain or repair, 24hr cosy 20c warm and plenty of hot water.
Sorry but this is completely deluded. With electricity being four to five times the price of gas per kWh, the only way to keep bills anywhere near comparable would be by drastically cutting back on heating. If I use 150 kWh of gas per day to keep my house comfortable, I will need 150 kWh of electricity to do the same, and I'd be bankrupt after one winter! What's wrong with having modern controls on a gas system? And what's this maintenance cost of which you speak? A simple heat only boiler lasts for years (combis are a different story) and need nothing more than an annual service which costs under £100. I don't think I have spent more than £250 on heating system repairs in the last twenty years- a faulty three port valve and a noisy, worn out pump. That wouldn't cover one months electricity bill if I were to heat electrically.
Hello Spencer, interesting comment with many valid points. I wonder how efficient gas systems really are? Figures of 95% are for the boiler only and not the whole system which I venture is less, Have you looked at my video which details the work involved and its actual performance and running costs? My health needs require a 100% reliability - not 99%. No gas system can ever be totally fault free and I am lucky I can afford my all-electric heating.
I have plug in electric heaters in a rental flat. It's horribly expensive. This winter one heater will cost about £400 to run, if I switch it off at night.
Can boiler stove's external air supply duct be vented vertically through the loft area and outside ?
Love your videos Roger..what's your opinion on infra red heating panels as an alternative to conventional heating (radiators etc.)?
There are 2 kinds of radiant floor slabs I am aware; low mass concrete slab over a wood floor system and high mass concrete usually slab on grade. Each has advantages and disadvantages. Perhaps you could discuss these.
Hi Roger, in this video you talk about installing underfloor heating on the underside of a raised floor joist. Can you advise the products that you would use to do this and the method if the product does not describe it itself?
Roger, what are your thoughts on using frozen ice packs placed over the sink to remove moisture from a house?
Ive been doing it all week so i can keep the windows closed and save on heating.
I have a low wattage dehumidifier (designed for trickle use over-wintering caravans). Given that we are going to have a cooler house this winter so the temperature will be closer to the dew point, is this electrical method more cost-effective than gas heating to get higher temp method to stop condensation and mould?
In a modern centrally heated house an open fire must be a net cooling rather than heating device. Great for ventilation, not so good for heat conservation - most of the draft from the gaps in the floorboards is going up the chimney. With a wood-burning stove, when the door's closed there's little draft from the flue when the fire's not lit.
I've started havingcold showers. Put it on warm to get in then turn down to 10 percent hot/90pc cold. Stay in for no longer than three minutes. One other advantage is that there is no steam in the bathroom. You do get used to quite quickly...i was surprised.
I always have a cold shower in the morning. It is beneficial in so many ways
@@SkillBuilder i agree. Just started about a month back. You must know about Wim Hof ? In such a short time i now really prefer it.....and obv the gas savings.
Can you talk about ceiling fans on a low setting as a method to mix the temperature-stratified air in a room. Does it work? Is it worth getting out my summer fan to use this winter?
Concrete suspended floor in my house. What are my underfloor options, if anything?
Fit ceiling fans. Circulate warm air downwards.
I was told you shouldn't turn down the wood burning stove at night.
If you do this is takes a long time to lose all it's heat and whilst it is burning at a low temperature it lets out more pollutants/smoke and make your flue dirty.
Depends on chimney and quality (dryness/type) of wood.
Good practical advice that considers how people actually use their homes. I like the jumper option the best 😁
Roger, thanks for another great video, can i ask, what is the white paint on the basement walls in this video? i have it on mine and its all coming off, i just wondered what it is? and if i can just use KA Tanking Slurry over the top of it? my basements damp, but its not flooding or anything, just a lot of moisture, i was going to install some vents to get some airflow down there, and also tank the walls and floor to see if that help. but this paint which is coming off the walls im interested to know what it is? thanks
Excellent information thank you regards john
I reckon I've just found my new favourite channel. 👍
Glad to hear it!
brilliant vid great to have a guy come in and know what he is talking about
Would anyone know the following~
I am about to relag my loft with good quality rockwool I am also considering before the rockwool goes down is running YBS Airtec Reflective Double Insulation across the loft side of the ceiling up and over the ceiling joists and staple it to the joists then adding the rockwool. Is there any practical reason why I couldn't do this, obviously cut around any electrical work.
Is it saving you money buying all the lagging and paying someone to fit zone valves etc how much would that cost compared to how much you would save?
Hi thank you for the excellent video, what are your thoughts on thermal paint for making a house efficient? Or Wallrock Thermal Liner, any thoughts? Thanks very much again!
Brilliant advice and entertaining at the same time Roger,many thanks.Since my wife has started working from home in basement kitchen,i decided to get smart radiator thermostats so when I'm at work I can keep the kitchen at a healthy temperature for her lol..i dial down the rest of the rooms but I'm wondering if it puts a strain on the combi boiler(in Glasgow so it can be non condensing) if too many radiators are turned down low.Main door tenement flat with only kitchen downstairs.
Outstanding upload, thank you.
yes, you can. use a Zigbee remote radiator thermostats. and insulate those pipes in the basement or boiler room, no need to warm the basement or boiler room. If you need a warm basement put in a radiator and insulate the pipes.
Seriusly . Change the Windows 3 layer thermo glass . Insulate the floor . New radiators . Get a pellet furnace instead of gas . Insulate the hollowroom in the Walls . Close the fireplace and get a Wood bruning oven with a watertank in it to help boost your heating and warm water . Get solar panels
My loft has Welsh slate and when I went up for the Xmas stuff the slates were damp/beading a little,it was cold out side. So what should I do? Is it a issue 1930s semi. Good video.
I think you have to accept that some moisture will form in cold weather but if it starts making everything wet you need to seal the loft hatch to stop the draughts and increase ventilation. Usually there is enough ventilation if there is no felt
Also make sure your loft insulation isn't packed in tight up to the eaves. Allow an airflow all around the edges.
HI I WOULD USE SEDCONDER GLASING ON LISTED BUILDS?
Great video could you do a video on pellet stoves for heating/ hot water just about to buy a house on bottled lpg and looking at alternatives . Cheers
Turning the boiler setpoint down is a lovely idea ... unless it also feeds the DHW tank. You need 65°C or usually more to get a decent tank temp (Legionella) and boilers tend not to have dual setpoints for CH and DHW operation. So kinda stuffed there.
Good point it does need to be higher for DHW. The Viesmmantwo stats is the way to go.
Go combi.
@@mattmackenzie1111 No sure exactly what you are saying. IMHO heating water other than on demand is sub-optimal.
Replacing an existing, fairly new condensing boiler to get dual settings, or a combi, may "Cut Your Heating Bills", but as to "Saving Money" what is the payback time?
(We wouldn't have another combi anyway - too many downsides. We have mains pressure HW these days.)
@@mikes4163 Unhappiness with combis is usually down to them being sized for CH, not HW. Builders saving cost. No-one likes a cool shower...
Installing underfloor heating is very expensive - why I am not going for a heat-pump system - as you advised in a previous video?!
Our kitchen and dining area is suspended timber with tiles on top with no insulation underneath. It’s really cold in the winter. There is crawl space underneath, can you just put rock wool between joints? Or will I need a vapour barrier?
You don't need a vapour barrier, just staple something under the Rockwool to keep it in place. I use cheap garden netting.
Do it and you will be delighted
Roger, can you solve a problem of condensation I have? I have a plastic garden shed which continually has huge amount of condensation dripping of the plastic roof, especially in the winter. There is no heating inside and it is all plastic single skin with small perspex windows. What is the cause and how can I stop it as the dripping condensation is damaging the flooring boards? Many thanks
Need your help doing a warm roof .insulation then upwards lates to hold insulation then membrane then cross lates and tiles do I need vapour barrier
A vapour barrier helps if it is on the warm side of the insulation. We often use foil backed plasterboard but a counter batten on the top of the membrane is also a very good thing for clearing moisture.
Excellent Vid Roger thanks
Letterbox flaps and keyhole covers help too.
50 degrees for return temp - need to work out the delta T for correct settings
50 deg flow temperature from the boiler means the boiler is in condensing mode. Actually it is the return temperature that matters but the boiler thermostat is measuring the flow.
Plenty of good advice, cheers roger.
Roger, I’d love your views on my house, room in roof setup and the upstairs is freezing in winter and roasting in summer. Once heating goes off the temp upstairs plummets. Would be happy to share the full picture of the setup. Only been in a year but need to get this sorted
It sounds to me that whoever constructed the room in the roof didn't insulate the remaining roof space and side walls with sufficient insulation. Strip back the plaster boards insulate with Kingspan board at least 120mm with an air gap between roof covering and the insulation, re plaster and do same to walls. If the walls are solid end walls then insulate onto the wall, batten off and her plaster board. It won't be cheap or convenient but that's what is required
It sounds as though you have no insulation in the roof. A infra red camera would be a good way to find out. How old is the loft conversion?
@@SkillBuilder it’s 30 years old, was setup that way when the house was built. Having looked in the loft and eaves there is 70mm glass wool insulation but it’s seen better days, I’ll maybe renew with 300mm and maybe put insulation boards on the other sides of the interior walls where it meets the eves for belt and braces. Not sure if insulation boards on the underside of the roof in the loft space would be good as well
I’m about to move into a house that has a full size basement so the house (living area) floors are concrete slats and tiled on top. You can see from the basement the concrete slats, and they are fully exposed. What would be the best solution for insulating the floor in the living areas? Would expanding foam be a good idea? Spraying it on the basement ceiling?
Great video 👍 Can you have “too much” loft I insulation? I have 400mm at the moment and worried that if I add more it could introduce condensation.
I would say that provided your roof is ventilated you can't have too much ....... unless you have pipework in the roof in which case i would have thought that 400 mm (16") is enough.
N.B. I'm not up to date about the electrical regs regarding putting thermal insulation on top of lighting circuit wiring. I guess that, in general, power wiring doesn't usually run in the roof but worth checking.
@Skill Builder I've had an extension done to one of my outbuildings on my property which has slightly suspended wooden flooring. I have filled it with sheep's wool and then put a layer of a dpc similar material on before putting the wooden floorboards (mostly) on. However the sheep wool underneath is now somewhat damp and is not drying out even though there is some ventilation and really warm sunny whether. Is it possible to stuff too much insulation in and then the air can't flow very well around the room? Our sheep wool is starting to smell a little mouldy too.