First home owner - Looking to retrofit

[anonymous]

Hey

 

So I bought my first home in July. It's a house built in 1975, and I'm not necessarily looking to go full PassivHaus given that you do get diminishing returns 

 

However I am looking at:

 

Air tightness to PassivHaus levels 

MVHR 

Upsizing radiators 

Heat pump after it's all done too

 

I basically intend on following some PassivHaus principles but not necessarily going for the certification 

[Big Jimbo]

Well done on getting your first home. I have done a fair few refurbs over the last 35 years. My One piece of advice would be attention to detail. Simple things like small gaps around skirting boards. Small gaps around pipes through walls etc. That sort of stuff has always worked well for me. Small gaps in floorboards, skirtings, pipe hole etc, all add up. If you can ventilate by choice it will make a huge difference, rather than just having a house full of small holes. Best of luck.

[anonymous]

16 minutes ago, Big Jimbo said:

Well done on getting your first home. I have done a fair few refurbs over the last 35 years. My One piece of advice would be attention to detail. Simple things like small gaps around skirting boards. Small gaps around pipes through walls etc. That sort of stuff has always worked well for me. Small gaps in floorboards, skirtings, pipe hole etc, all add up. If you can ventilate by choice it will make a huge difference, rather than just having a house full of small holes. Best of luck.

Thanks. I'm getting an air tightness test soon. I've told them that I want to make my house PassivHaus without necessarily achieving PassivHaus certification 

 

In the immediate term, I'd want to solve the issues that's costing me £7/day in gas even if I don't change the thermostat from... 15C. Yes, you shouldn't keep it at that but it was an interesting experiment 

 

For a "Well insulated house" officially getting an EPC of C, it's obviously leaking air somewhere 

 

I do eventually want to ditch gas entirely and that starts with air tightness. 

 

My plans after that are :

 

Reinforce my flat roof (I've got an attic) 

Add 8 additional solar panels + batteries by saving up

 

I've already put 8 panels on the non flat roof part, albeit with a loan largely because the loan is cheaper than the projected electricity costs in April. Go figure. 

 

I'd also want to make my house air tight and then save up for an MVHR too.