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Showing results for tags 'co-heating'.
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I was grazing over my twitter feeds and came across a reference to Co-Heating which was new to me! Most of us are familiar with the blower door test for air tightness but this one wasn't one I'd heard of before! Basically they set up coil heaters and fans, open all interior doors and measure room temperature vs outside sensors to determine if the house performs as it should (keeps the heat in as per calculations based on building type, materials and insulation depths etc, and releases it as projected). They recommend 1 - 2 weeks of data (3 days to setup and tweak). It's interesting as it addresses building performance like airtightness tests do. There's currently doubt over the test as shown below so hopefully over time a better standard will emerge. https://www.bsria.co.uk/news/article/nhbc-foundation-report-casts-doubt-over-reliability-of-co-heating-test/ Would I get one done? If I was buying a developer built house, I'd certainly consider it. It should be forced on every developer for every house they build! For Self-Build with PHPP in place I'm less worried. You should still keep a close eye on things with a few trusted professionals to monitor quality but the level of involvement is much greater vs a house in a mass development. I like quantifiable proof of performance so this appeals to me. What everyone wants is a comfortable house. I hope the availability of simple tests akin to this in the future will help avoid rewarding builders who produce the lowest standards of housing.