tjure2k

This is all good advise, and we took a few days to mull over it. We came to the conclusion to put electric panels on the roof eventually, and not to pursue the wet stove. A stove is still a must, as we like the idea of having one in the living room, so that is more a lifestyle choice. We hope we can find an airtight model, so we won't have much heat loss when it is not fired up. The external insulation is a good thought. We had this in the plan, but for later, if it is needed. We didn't think to dig down that far, but I guess it will be beneficial/necessary to get the expected results. Would it make sense to sink a french drain, just in case, since we would have a trench dug out for the external insulation? (I'm not aware of any damp so far.) However, we also think the floor needs insulating rather sooner than later. That is some big and dirty job, so we think we would end up not doing it if we delay it for later So we probably still want to get this done first, even if it is not the optimal order of events, technically speaking. As the house has some cavity wall insulation already fitted, we hope that we will make it through the first winter and then decide what is next. What is the reason to do the MVHR before any insulation? We thought this is a relatively minor job (it's a bungalow, and all the ductwork can be done in the loft) and so can be done at a later stage. Thanks again everybody for all the good feedback, we are still reading up on the various hints we got, and keep changing our minds on a regular basis on these things, as we are both inexperienced. ?

Thanks all, this has been amazing feed-back all round so far, there is plenty for us to think about. We are definitely considering adding external wall insulation. We were planning of live in the renovated house for at least one winter before going down that route. The house has cavity wall insulation and the annexe has internal wall insulation, so we might find that we don't need the additional layer around the house. Our primary aim is to get a warm and cosy house, and not necessarily get it down to passivhaus levels, so we might find we don't need to do that in the immediate future. The loft is already insulated (cold loft, using a blanket insulation) but would benefit from some better insulation. The windows are double glazed, and have obtained a good rating on the EPC and the homebuyer's survey, but might need looking at again, once the floor is no longer the main leak of heat in the house. We also have briefly considered a new build, but we think this might be much more expensive than refurbishing it. The previous owner who was also the builder of the house has done a decent job and the house seems to be in a very good and solid state with a layout that works very well for us. Knocking it down seems a bit of a waste. We might though talk that through with an architect to get a better understanding of the costs involved. The common suggestion, I see, is not to live in the house while the work is ongoing. Our main reason (apart from costing) is that we currently live 40 minutes from the bungalow, and being able to meet and talk to the builders on site would become a logistical problem. We are now adding the cost of a nearby rental to our budget, but we hope it won't be 2 years to finish the works. ? Eliminating the wood burning stove from our plans is a non-starter, I'm told in no uncertain terms by my wife. ? We are not dead-set on the back-boiler but like the idea of having a fall-back for very cold days when the ASHP might be struggling. Thanks again for all the suggestions.

Thanks Ferdinand for your reply, I rather enjoyed reading through your thread of the renovation of the bungalow, it turned out quite nice. We also aim to turn the bungalow into a house that doesn't cost a lot to heat. The driving force is more the intolerance of the missus against drafts and cold spots. I take a dislike to damp, and luckily the house seems not to suffer from any noticeable damp. (The MVHR planned for one of the later stages should reduce humidity further.) Luckily we don't appear to have any asbestos in the house. We had 8 samples taken and to our surprise they came back all clear (NADIS) except for a cold water tank in the loft (£250 quoted for removal). The Artex ceiling and the roof tile undercloak came out clear, even though the homebuyer's surveyor was quite sure adamant the under cloak... The rooms are 2.36m high, which is already close to the recommended height of 2.33m, so we are quite reluctant to take any more height away. We don't plan to move from this house, so we are prepared to spend a bit more to get the floor insulated properly. As long as the costs stay reasonable.

Hi, first post here. My wife and I are about to exchange contract on a detached bungalow built in the 1960s and are planning to give it a thorough overhaul. The structure of the bungalow appears to be very sound, but the heating and insulation really need some modernisation. In particular, we would like to: demolish the porch near the kitchen and extend the kitchen 2m into the garden insulate the concrete floor, by excavating the concrete slab install an underfloor heating throughout the whole house replace the existing oil boiler with an air source heat pump replace the hot water tank with a hot water cylinder (with 3x coils to be compatible with an ASHP, solar thermal collectors, wood burner) insulate the loft (between and under rafters) Potentially later: MVHR install a wood burner and connect the back boiler to the hot water cylinder install solar thermal collectors, connect to hot water cylinder To reduce the risk we are thinking of doing this in two stages. We are planning to live in the small annexe (right hand side on the floor plan) while the work to extend the kitchen, excavate and insulate the floor in hall, living room, kitchen, main bathroom and bedroom 1 is being carried out. This is also when the ASHP and the hot water cylinder is installed. In the second stage we'd continue the excavation, insulation and installation of the underfloor heating in bedrooms 2 and 3, the kitchenette and the smaller bathroom. This is quite a bit of work, and we are rather inexperienced in this, so I'm looking for some feedback how realistic this plan is, potential problems and how long this would realistically take (waiting for the builders to be available, the new concrete floor to dry, etc). Would it make sense to hire someone to manage the project for us? We did some research and found companies that rent electric boilers for the time we are living in the annexe. Is this a sensible arrangement? I had a chat with a builder who advised against excavating the concrete floor and to use some thin insulation on top of the existing concrete. We think it would be beneficial to insulate properly (as it was also the biggest item in the EPC) and if we don't do it now, we probably won't do it later. I'd be grateful for any feedback. Thanks