Keeko

Thanks DeanCatherine, that looks great, but yes may be a little modern for us. We think we have found the answer! Palladio doors, an Irish company, stocked by our local door trader. They have U values of around 1.0, a double rebate for draught elimination, and not too much more expensive than Endurance.

Thanks for this - the doors there look great, though I'm afraid rather too modern for our house. Happy to hear of other options, otherwise we're thinking an Endurance door might be our best option at this point.

Hi everyone, We spoke to our builder, having shared the info above and the option of the rockwall on "hammocks" between the joists and a membrane over the top. We also discussed that the joists are only 10cm deep, so could potentially cause a cold bridge. His suggestion was sticking with PIR between the joists (to take advantage of the greater thermal properties vs the same depth of rockwall, and applying a layer of 25mm PIR over the top of the whole lot. This could also remove the potential for drafts associated with gaps between PIR and joists (the PIR is bound to not fit snugly throughout). This will obviously reduce our ceiling height by about 3cms. Apart from that, does this sound like a good option to you? Thanks, I appreciate hearing your views on this.

Hello all, I've been searching for a good front door manufacturer. I'm looking for: A door with good eco-credentials if possible - this seems to suggest a sustainably sourced wooden door A door with a good U value - around 1 W/m2k if possible - so a composite timber door Good seal/locking mechanisms to prevent drafts Budget around £1,800 I'm aware of all the obvious choices, Rockdoor, Solidor, Endurance etc - which tend to have mixed TrustPilot reviews and often don't seem so strong on their environmental credentials (according to their websites) Companies like Internorm, Hormann etc. seem to specialise in more modern looking doors, which wouldn't match our 1960s semi, and tend to be a bit more expensive. Closest I've come so far is Russell Timber Technology, https://www.russelltimbertech.co.uk/ particularly this range: https://www.russelltimbertech.co.uk/doors/external-insulated-door-sets/insulated-timber-composite-door-sets My questions: Does anyone have any alternative ideas for a door supplier - especially regarding the eco-considerations? Green-builders out there - are there any obvious suppliers I've missed? Any experience with any of the companies I've mentioned? Thank you in advance.

Hi @TonyT We had a Heat Geek Heat Loss survey done, and this came out as us needing a 3.5kWh Heat Pump only, so we're ok on that front. Thanks!

Thanks for all the replies. @LiamJones - that would have been my preference, but I've been told it would be an even more disruptive and expensive job. @JohnMo I'll definitely see if we can install more than 90mm. I think I might have to remove a fair amount of rubble under the floor on the ground surface as there was all sorts in the area that I have seen. Is there a minimum gap we should leave between the ground and the bottom of the insulation? @jayc89 That's very a useful guide and something else to consider - thanks @IGP for sharing your experience with this too. More for me to think about, happy to hear about the experiences of others too. 😊

Hello all, We are in the process of installing a heat pump and underfloor heating on our ground floor (~55m^2). Heat pump is in, next job is to get the ground floor insulated before the UFH pipework and new skirting and flooring goes down. We have a helpful builder, and he has spec'd 90mm of Celotex to go in between the floor joists with a 10 mm gap above it for ventilation (there seems to be a total of ~200mm below the floor joists). While we are at it we are also seeking to internally insulate some external walls with Celotex between batons. I understand there are different approaches to getting the work done and with this being something of a once in a lifetime chance to get this right, I wonder if anyone can provide me with advice that I can respectfully share with our builder? I've heard about the need to avoid thermal gaps, and terms like "thermal bridging" and continuous insulation. When I took IR photos last winter, I saw particular cold spots where the floor meets the walls but is there a balance to strike between insulation while maintaining ventilation? So can anyone share tips or advice. Must do things? Things to consider, or avoid? What would a specialist do, that our builder could replicate? I would be very grateful to hear from you, as I say, once the pipework down, that's it - we won't get another chance to insulate this part our home. Many thanks in advance. David

Hi @Jeremy Harris, thanks for your detailed response, plenty to take on board there. I've created quite detailed spreadsheets of our energy use over the last 3 years (don't get stuck with me at a party!) and I can get estimates of our annual heating energy demand by subtracting gas energy usage figures from the average summer month. Hence our annual gas central heating costs (with ~70-80% efficient boiler) are: 2017 - 4,800kWh 2018 - 5,300kWh 2019 - 4,000kWh This is us being careful (heating only on when we need it in the evenings), thermostat set at around 18.5 degrees and multiple jumpers! Over the year, this seems do-able especially when you consider our current export of ~3,000kWh pa. (Oh for long-term energy storage!) Drilling down to monthly figures, maybe less so. Heating demand can be as high as 1,500 kWh in winter months or 50kWh per day. Agile pricing may just about bring this into equivalence with gas prices, especially if we can store heat for use outside of peak hours. Oh and we can possibly factor in savings on hot water charges in sunnier months. I'll keep thinking. I'll also take a look at your Heat insulation spreadsheet, with thanks to @Ferdinand for pointing that out.

This is a good point, thank you - can anyone point me towards resources that will allow me do this?

Haha - now that's a solar array I would like (OP corrected)! I think our grid energy usage is about right. Our background use is pretty low ~200W thanks to us being careful with switching things off when they are not in use, using a few remote controlled ac sockets. I shower (quickly!) with the shower at it's lowest setting, meaning it only pulls about 5kWh and PW can handle it, girlfriend isn't so crazy as me. Here's our grid usage since the Powerwall 2 was installed (KWh): Jun-19 16.3 Jul-19 20.4 Aug-19 20.6 Sep-19 16.5 Oct-19 21.7 Nov-19 68 Dec-19 60.9 Jan-20 63.7 Total 288.1

Hi folks, thanks for responding. I'm assuming the boiler will not last many more years (it's a Worcester Bosch Junior 28i from 2005). Though we don't need to rip it out, it will make sense to get everything sorted and moved over to electric if possible. Also no, we don't currently have a tank, though that could be an alternative option, with an immersion heater, or something more modern like this:

Hello all, I stumbled on this forum as part of a search for information about SunAmp batteries. I’ve spent a bit of time reading other threads on the topic and this seems to be a friendly and helpful piece of the internet. I’m on a quest to reduce the CO2 generated by the 3-bed 1960s semi (approx 98 sq m) where I live with my partner (no kids). We’ve insulated the upstairs, added some loft insulation, upgraded the double glazing and last year, we installed 5700W of solar panels and a Tesla Powerwall 2. I’d estimate we generate around 5000kWh a year from the panels, and export around 3000kWh of that. We’ve got our grid electricity usage down to about 500kWh per year. The biggest element of this being our electric shower (the Powerwall can only ever supply 5kW of the 10kW load). Gas is used for heating and hot water via a 15 year old Worcester combi-boiler - which I’m guessing is nearing end of life. Our gas usage is fairly low, but I’m looking to reduce that next, from the current 5000kWh per year (more when we have a cold winter). I'm not planning on replacing the gas boiler, meaning we'd be 100% reliant on electricity for heating and hot water. We’re on a deemed solar export tariff, and I’m looking to use as much of the energy generated as possible. I’ve also recently begun the switch to Octopus energy to take advantage of their Agile tariff, so it might be possible to shift much of our current gas energy usage over to electricity - but what would be best for us? GSHP not an option here (small garden) ASHP may be, but I’m conscious of the effort and cost of installing Underfloor heating. Air to Air an option? Right now I’m thinking a SunAmp for the hot water, or could the Uniq 12 supply our heating and hot water? Maybe we could supplement that with and a couple of electric radiators in the lounge and bedroom to keep us warm on demand? I’m not sure if that would be what we need especially if we have a long cold winter like last year (I’m on the South Coast of England). I would be grateful for any thoughts from anyone who has done similar or knows more than I do about these things. With thanks, David.