Ferdinand

Can you look at something like the type of heat pump that just requires a single hole in the wall, and sits on the inside?

I've always viewed wing insulation as an alternative to skirt insulation where the latter was difficult. I think the modern Autonomous House man (with the circulating pipes drilled beneath his basement for an attempt at seasonal storage) who was off grid in suburban England may have had wing insulation, but I think they moved to the Islands to something slightly less autonomous, and slightly less hard work for oldsters. But that is dragged out of my memory so could be BS.

Evil, 1970s technology. Fill with foam. One way to deal with those is MVHR. My poor man's MVHR is a PIV loft fan, and a HR trickle fan (eg Vent-Axia Lo Carbon Tempra) at the far end of the downstairs.

How much older are you now, and does that alter perception?

The last lot of EWI people I interacted with (good, long established, local company) said that they had only ever done ONE skirt insulation (not the wing insulation) in a retrofit, and that that was for an enthusiast in a wealthy area (West Bridgford). And he thought they were a bit loopy ? .

Talk to your local gym and offer them a donation to their charity for the year in exchange for 2 or 3 people for 10 minutes. Crossfit Gyms would take that up if your offered perhaps £30 or so; pretty much all have charities they support. At ours we fundraised for one of those defibrillators which is now in gym reception for the surrounding industrial area. Or ditto Army or Air Cadets for a donation to the Poppy Appeal. It sounds like just under 100kg, so doable by 2-3 easily I would think. Or buy a sack trolley.

In a well insulated house I put them on internal walls as the cold air movements near windows should be less, and it makes running the services much easier.

@Cognis0 Where are you, roughly?

Quite interesting. Exactly the sort of people who should be investing in their own property.

It's a fsirly inefficient design - especially having that kitchen door 2/3 along the wall in the kitchen, rather than in the corner. An alternative could be to flip the kitchen, so that the run of units is behind the current door opening, and perhaps replace the door with a slider, or swing the other way, or leave open plan. Then you have 2.8m x 1.6m of area to put your table. Alternatively you could probably steel a chunk of one end or the other of your shower, make it a compact loo, and get extra space in one room. I would probably set it up for a table in the lounge area as that is a work table, and put a breakfast bar in the kitchen - which could be a small 400-500 x 1.2m thing on the LH wall or something bigger if you flip the layout or redesign. A table that folds down at both ends might be good. Or do both the above.

I think the other side of that is technology transfer of separable reusable / recyclable packaging. Plastic hi-tech packaging is difficult,, as it has a big role in preservation. I had a salad lunch from a local cafe the other day, and it came in a beautiful corrugated cardboard 'bowl', with lid, folded from a flat sheet, which I can just shred and compost. I think Maccie Ds will do something like this soon. Perhaps we need a Pigou tax on foam boxes. And the way forward on that (and to reduce fertility) is emission-efficient development. Roll on solar farms in Equatorial Africa. I am wondering if such could be a good new focus for our strategic Overseas Aid effort.

Autocorrect changed your R to an L .

If you do go with that, many people in good quality houses end up looking at stoves for caravans or boats as anything else makes it unbearable in no time at all.

Both Airtightness and EWI are *all* about detail, detail, detail. EWI especially is also about careful planning. You need to be obsessive about it. I'm not sure I mentioned it in my thread, but you would need to specify deeper external windowsills so that they stick out over any potential EWI. Cheap if you do it when you do the windows; a pain if you forget.I think I specced either 200mm or 250mm. Also for door thresholds, which I detailed with support for when people stand on them. Inside a classical example of a cold bridge that gets forgotten when doing IWI is the wall strip between the two floors (does not apply to you, but remember you have similar potentially under your floor). One way to think about it is where your insulated envelope runs. In the Little Brown Bungalow I made it beneath the internal floor, and up the walls where I had CWI, and on the loft floor. So I actually ran the plumbing and electrical services under a floating floor to keep them fully inside it. That meant I maintained the airbricks to keep the joints ventilated and dry. In the end I did not do EWI, as it was already good without it, even though my walls had a poorish U-value. The only wall I dry lined was with the other half of the semi-detahced pair, and that was for sound not heat reasons. F

Having taken a sceptical stance, can I suggest that the way ahead may perhaps involve use of coloured corrugated sheet - perhaps box section, which will help address the fire issue. As mentioned above, I think perhaps talk to both neighbour and also the Council.

I think you have fire hazard problems. Combustible material on the boundary. Do Building Regs also become unenforceable? Also you are tipping rainwater onto your neighbour's property, which is not unenforceable from 4 years. I think it is 10 (?). You can't put a gutter up as it will be over the boundary. So in practice if he knows his stuff and is dedicated he can make you remove it. Were I the neighbour I would want it gone or redone in a fireproof material, and I would lean on you to make it safe. Can you have a chat to the neighbour? F

It changes. In my area the basic insulation in a normal cold loft has always been free if my memory serves - I have had them done while renovating, or while a non-benefit claiming T has been in place. Always worth asking, as it is a job they do in half an hour. I have had 3 or 4 in total. The thing that catches people is any requirement for there to be less than 100mm to qualify - so always take it out before the surveyor comes. And don't answer the "how much insulation is there in your lift" query - say "I don''t know, does it make a difference?", and they will tell you what you need to know. I once had a pile on my drive, and all the solitary bees migrated into it and later surprised the handyman. I have had a couple of free boilers, but on those you need a T in the property is claiming an appropriate benefit. I think cavity wall insulation may also be unrestricted, but I have only known one or two non-benefit claiming friends get that - my houses have had it done already, narrow partial cavities, or solid walls (where insulation *is* means tested). Also, ECO3 goes via the energy supply company, and rules vary to a degree aiui. So potentially you can switch to access the thing you need if it matches. The above is roughly right, but I have not had one for several years. There is also a change of scheme coming as ECO3 finishes in March. So if it changes there is an opportunity to choose. Personally I think it works well and has avoided the politics, so should be trebled in scale and let the energy prices come back down more gradually. There will be a lot of demand from LLs, as the EPC requirements look like being brought forward by a couple of years, and the spending cap before LL can plead "too much" things going from 3.5k to 10k, rightly. That latter will hurt some. I'm expecting heat pumps to replace free gas boilers - maybe. F

That's fair comment - it's a 3 year old (2018) article. But the article is actually about saving money first - was a response to someone with high bills, and switching has been the lowest hanging fruit for the last decade at least. It was slightly slugged when the Energy Cap came in, as that effectively balanced the market towards non-switchers to an extent. And obvs at present it is not re-applicable until the market loosens. It's really up there for people who are just starting, and for me to link to in random comment sections etc on any old site.

I'd get a plumber in, have a conversation outside, and sit in the car whilst P does the work.

It sounds like it needs a full renovation. It sounds as if you have no insulation at all, except for the 100mm in the loft. You may be able to get free loft insulation from a local service, but if there is 100mm there already then they may say you are not eligible. What I do is take out the 100mm, and then get the free stuff, and then use the 100mm under the floor as part of my insulation. I would be looking at things you can do first - perhaps double glazing is one of them, as a window can be done in a half day. A sensible approach would be one room at a time to contain the mess, high tog duvets and electric blankets / or hot water bottles. There may also be some stuff in the budget. What are the details on your EPC report? Here is a piece with a few tips I did. Ignore the "switch supplier" at present. F

I'm inclined to export the excess renewables through our rapidly increasing portfolio of interconnectors. There's a large opportunity. In the last 24 25 hours EuCo has been talking about the need to maintain Gas as a "transition fuel", which was the argument for fracking (now dead) here.

It looks logical that it not be available to newbuilds - if it is like most things it is actually done on reduction in carbon emitted, and new builds don't reduce it. Though a technical argument can be made for demo / replace being different.

Certain things require paperwork to be in place before you start. eg CIL exemption, if it is active in your area.

Welcome. I think a plan and a few photo would help here. Ferdinand

Do we have a number for how much energy it currently takes to produce 1kWh's worth of hydrogen?