Loft Insulation

[Zak S]

Just been to the loft of our banglow which has large pitched roof. It look like a bit like per the photos. As it can be seen the light coming through at the eaves on either sided, I am just wondering that does not seem normal and far from properly insulated.  What is missing here and how can it be fixed?

 

 

[SteamyTea]

Quite normal, as it that is how they are made.

You need ventilation in a 'cold roof' or condensation becomes a problem.

You don't seem to have hardly any insulation up there, when was the place built?

 

You can easily increase the amount of insulation, just don't block up the ventilation and make sure any wiring is safe to be covered or relocated.

[Radian]

7 hours ago, Zak S said:

As it can be seen the light coming through at the eaves on either sided, I am just wondering that does not seem normal and far from properly insulated.

You certainly can't block it off. How else would the mice get in? 🤣

Does look very open at the eaves. Have you ventured nearer and looked at how the ventilation opening is formed? If done since the 90's I'd expect a plastic tray with grille opening just above the fascia. These stop the larger loft invaders if installed correctly but not the tiny ones with wings.

[Zak S]

5 hours ago, Radian said:

the 90's I'd expect a plastic tray with grille opening just above the fascia

Yes there are grills for the vent which are properly closed but the light, air and cold come through it. 

May be some wasps but that's about it.

Edited September 17, 2022 by Zak S

[Zak S]

6 hours ago, SteamyTea said:

Quite normal, as it that is how they are made.

You need ventilation in a 'cold roof' or condensation becomes a problem.

You don't seem to have hardly any insulation up there, when was the place built?

 

You can easily increase the amount of insulation, just don't block up the ventilation and make sure any wiring is safe to be covered or relocated.

Yes I was thinking about increasing insulation with rockwool

 Is it worth converting into warm roof 

, like the loft converted to habitable space. Would it be better energy consumption wise?

[JohnMo]

No not better for energy conservation.

 

You end up having a larger area exposed between the indoor and outdoor temperature.  At the moment you have the ceiling area only as them inside to outside area.  When you have the roof line insulated you have the whole roof exposed to inside air.

[ETC]

17 hours ago, Zak S said:

Just been to the loft of our banglow which has large pitched roof. It look like a bit like per the photos. As it can be seen the light coming through at the eaves on either sided, I am just wondering that does not seem normal and far from properly insulated.  What is missing here and how can it be fixed?

 

 

Add an extra 200mm of mineral wool insulation.

Make sure you don’t block the eaves ventilation.

Fit an insect mesh along the eaves - if not already fitted.

 

If converting to a warm roof insulate along and below the rafter line and the new ceiling plane but make sure the eaves ventilation is not blocked and that ventilation can travel from eaves to eaves.

[Radian]

1 hour ago, ETC said:

If converting to a warm roof insulate along and below the rafter line and the new ceiling plane but make sure the eaves ventilation is not blocked and that ventilation can travel from eaves to eaves.

That's good advice about keeping an open path from eaves to eaves if there are no ridge vents (as is likely in a loft conversion). I'm contemplating a warm roof conversion for a small loft space that adjoins an internal full-height stairway. The stairway is in the middle of the house and is open all the way to the ridge, splitting the house in two. This creates two separate lofts either side and neither currently have insulation on the internal gable walls. The larger loft will have this wall insulated but the smaller loft has a cut roof construction and is completely floored out for storage. Rather than just insulate the back of this internal wall, it'd be not much extra effort to insulate under the rafters and make the space more 'indoorsy'. But the ridge has a steel beam and cross venting this will be a problem.