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FWIW I suffered from this in some rooms. Double glazing UPVC from the 80s. I replaced the sealed units (some of which may have 'gone' I think) with low e argon filled. Now get condensation in bottom 2cm only and only on very coldest days. It also made a noticeable difference to the house comfort. I dont have trickle vents. If you can borrow a thermal imaging camera that may give useful insights, particularly if you have cold bridges or failed cavity wall insulation neither of which you can find by simple inspection (but of course they may not be easy to fix either!)

To be quite frank, that's good. Lots of zone control can result in boiler running for very short cycles, bad for boiler life and has increased gas consumption. I would start a new thread asking how best to insulate the floor from below. Because you want to stop heat being leached away, but also make draft free.

Half a conversion with a warranty and half without would be a red flag for me, and I'm sure other buyers, and so of course that negatively affects saleability and future value - the impact diminishes over time as the current owner is likely to have already bumped into serious issues. I wouldn't rely on the indemnity at all but you could ask that the vendor purchase a retrospective warranty, preferably from the provider of the other half's warranty. That will cost the vendor a few thousand, but if they won't agree then I'd personally want to knock a lot more than the warranty cost off my offer regardless what my own surveyor says, because of the extra risk you're taking on.

Condensation is on the glass, typically at the bottom half of the glass - I have no pictures today, but I can do it in some cold days. These days are warmer, with no condensation. Yes, there is a trickle vent on the top, I typically make it open during the summer time but off in winter to reduce the draft. The thermometre is set for the whole house; I put it in one of the bedrooms, there is no separate control for each room, unfortunately.

Didn't at the time, all I knew was the heat loss of the house was supposed be x, but I was actually using twice that. From there it was a voyage of discovery and learning. Plumbers weren't interested, it just the way it is! I soon realised the boiler as in cycle on off mode continually.

thanks, i will check tonight when i am back

Thanks for the guide on what to do it is really helpful. I realise these systems are complicated to understand and get the best out of them and I'm no expert in this area but the comments and advice will help me understand better. I will follow your advice, it will take me some time too. Really interesting that you reduced gas consumption by over 50%, that is impressive and of course you know what you are doing. I'm not hoping or expecting anything like that but just wanting to make the best of what I have if at all possible and if (as it appears) I have 2 conflicting requirements of a boiler, then if savings would be reasonable I'm open to spending a bit now to save long run...not too long run as I'm an OAP...LOL. Thanks for all the comments and help everyone. Looks like I have some work to do....I wonder if I can fit a radiator next to the boiler to keep me warm when looking at this...LOL.

Do they leak? if so maybe need to be changed Where is the condensation - if on the glass, it would say your rooms are very cold or the ventilation isn't correct, photos help. Do your windows have trickle vents are they open of closed? You say room temp, is that a single room or all rooms? A thermal camera, make the job quick, a candle flickering if held near a source of draft is a low cost options

Before doing this, confirm whether the draft is coming from the seals or from around the edge of the frame. Sounds more likely that the installers didn't seal around the frame too well (or it failed).

Link? +1 to that. If keeping the TS I'd just heat it from the 6kW immersion and have the ASHP bypass the TS completely and directly feed the rads (and DHW, if zoning allows). You can then heat the TS to 80degC to increase its capacity using cheap rate at a slight saving vs running the ASHP on expensive rate (savings would increase if the cheap : expensive ratio increases in future, or be wiped out if the difference reduces - who knows). Personally I'd be on the side of removing TS altogether, for simplicity and maintainability. But I'd love to program an intelligent control system for it, just for funsies.

Thanks a lot! The fibreglass insulation is quite thick, I think it should be around 15-20cm. I'll have a look at the window seals, but since the windows are relatively new (6-8 years), how can I know whether I should change them or not? Is the condensation caused by the seal and a sign to change? There are too many windows and doors could cause drafts, any way to measure? and how about the walls? I have the Worcester combi boiler and the room temp is set between 17-19 degrees, depending on the time, most of the time I just put it on, only switching it off for a few hours in the night. Do you see it will be more energy efficient if i keep it on at a fixed temperature? This week until Friday, from the HIVE app, it shows the heating is on for 62 hours (I live in the north, so the temperature is lower).

Thanks sparrowhawk. Definitely satisfying fixing a few of the smaller leaks so far! I got a reply from building control inspector along with a photo - it's a warm roof with 150mm PIR above the deck. Interesting you say the leaks may be coming where the joists rest on the walls. I'm prepared to expose these to try and fill them but I suspect there is a bigger draft coming from somewhere to be honest. And on that, my sons bedroom in the corner of the 1st floor is freezing, and there's a draft. We've taken the skirting up and exposed the corner and it looks like a complete dogs dinner (see photos). The cavity is compromised, there's a draft coming in here and you can see down to the steel that was put in as part of the extension. I am wondering if the draft is actually coming from a cold roof, which is adjacent to the extension. Any thoughts/suggestions? I have gone back to building control to see if they can provide details of the tie ins between extension and the property and asked if they would come out and have a look (slim chance but who knows).

Sadly you are probably right that this argument will keep popping up. Still, feel free to quote that post back at them.

But how deep? Replace seals, either replace with new seals from manufacturer or replacements from Screwfix etc Don't you will cause way more issues with damp Good guess will be drafts, you really need to understand where they come from and fix them, most is more time than cost. Draw curtains at night. Also how do you operate your heating system, tell us time schedules, room thermostats or TRV - as much info as you can. At lot of uncomfort comes from the way people operate the heating. What boiler do you have system (with cylinder) or combi (no cylinder)?

I would be surprised if the kitchen heat loss is really 1.4kW that would be more than half my total house heat loss at -10 outside.

Sorry not exactly new - European manufactures have been designing boiler for low and slow weather compensated, room compensated heating systems for decades. UK manufactures offer drummed down technically poor boilers, manufacturing and installing, with the basis of design being S and Y plan heating systems, they should have been banned the day condensing boilers were mandated, a few decades ago.

Im running 300mm spacing without issue, wouldn’t fret too much. I have 1x 100m pipe doing main bathroom, then it does hallway by front door and then kitchen diner

I'm not fully committed yet. Did look at those EPH controls you recommended before reordering the Wiser system. The EPH would have required another re-wire of the wiring centre and cost at least twice as much. One of the benefits of reordering now is that I now benefit from the extended return times Amazon gives you around Christmas. So I've got months to get to grips with the Wiser system and still have the option of changing my mind. So far its mostly working for me, couple of niggles that I'm trying to work out if its me misunderstanding something, a bug or intentional design but I don't think anything show stopping (given workarounds I've discovered). Todays task is installing Home Assistant to access the debug info. Shame that appears to be the easiest way to get it. My biggest concern right now is how much scope there is for me to run low and slow and heat the whole place is with the existing radiators. Half the flat the system can easily cope, the other half seems more difficult. Heatpumps being funamentally low and slow and the controls being designed around that vs boilers where low and slow is a new thing grafted on must mean there is a lot of technical debt/legacy that gets in the way.

Hi everyone, I live in a two-storey detached house built around the 1960s. It has traditional double-brick cavity wall construction and a crawl space under the ground floor, approximately 70–80 cm high and accessible. In winter, the house feels cold, and even when the heating is on, I feel that the warmth does not stay in the room for long. The heating bills are especially high during colder months. I’ve also noticed that during winter, there is significant condensation on the inside of windows, even though they are modern double-glazed units. Here’s what I know and have already done: The loft is fully insulated with mineral wool insulation. All windows are modern double-glazed, but slight draughts can still be felt in very cold weather. There is an original air vents / air brick on the wall in each room, which I’m considering blocking, as the property no longer uses fireplaces. I’ve installed radiator reflective foil panels behind radiators located on external walls. The cavity between the double-brick walls is not empty. Given all this, I am trying to understand: Where is the majority of heat loss most likely happening in this type of house? Is it mainly: through the loft/roof, via the suspended timber ground floor into the crawl space, through the walls, or through windows and doors (there are many!)? I am considering insulating the ground floor from below by installing mineral wool insulation between the joists in the crawl space, supported by breathable netting. This might be some low-cost solution I can do myself, I believe. Is this a practical and worthwhile solution in terms of heat retention and cost-saving? Or would the benefit be relatively limited compared to other improvements? Thanks

Yes new build. Block and beam, 150mm PIR and 75 screed.

That's it in a nutshell. That's why this needs sorting or a solution on the table before you conclude the missives. What did the home report say about the drainage (let me guess get another survey?)

No foul drainage, no house. In its current state (if I understand the current situation correctly [ no foul drain and an obvious problem])) the house is close to worthless.

Ask them for the exact wording/clause number for this. As we agree there is no commissioning certificate for the use of individual extract fans. There will be Building Reg requirement for extract rates from each 'wet' room but this should be in the spec for the fans

That will say whatever the vendor told them when registering it prior to putting it for sale. I know of 2 round here with septic tanks draining to a watercourse and SEPA have shown no interest in doing anything about it. My suggestion of rodding it was to see just how far it went and if by chance it did go to the stream, you know you have a route to discharge a proper treatment plant.

what does your solicitor advise? not trying to be funny but if the building had structural issues and needed to be rebuilt then i would suggest the rebuild costs be knocked off the asking price. obviously the seller will reject this but if you think of worst case scenario that a structural warranty will give you then that's the cost you'd incur without one. if it's a semi detached though if one side has a warranty then i can't understand why the other side wouldn't? if structural issues happen on one side then won't that also affect the other side? tbh, i don't have a clue what to advise here apart from speak to your solicitor! maybe others will be along to offer something else.