Retrofit Survey take 2

[Mark H]

Apologies for posting again so soon, but I noticed that there was a problem with one of my questionnaires. So here we go again and the links below are to the revised questionaire.

 

Hello I’m on here to try and find out about the common defects or unintended consequences that people have experienced after they have had insulation retrofitted to their house or live in a house that has had this done in the past. This can be external wall, internal wall, cavity wall, roof or underfloor insulation.

 

I am doing a research project as part of my MSc in Building Surveying at Northumbria University to see if the same defects keep reoccurring and then use that information to find ways to try and prevent this from happening in the future. My worry is that if retrofit insulation is to be installed in millions of homes to make them suitable for heat pump installation and this is to be done in a relatively short space of time, (net zero by 2050 by law), that the quality will suffer even more. We need to make sure the quality is right from the start and not keep repeating the same mistakes otherwise we will be wasting our time.

 

It would be much appreciated if you could spare the time, (5 minutes I promise: mostly a few clicks of the mouse), to click on the link below and fill in my questionnaire. The more people that complete it the more useful it will be. I can also report back my findings to this forum, if I get enough responses, to increase the knowledge pool.

 

https://app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/northumbria/domestic-house-insulation-improvement-questionnaire-duplicate

 

If you are an installer, designer or work in the retrofit industry in any capacity please complete a different questionnaire by clicking on the link below:

 

 

https://app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/northumbria/domestic-house-retrofit-industry-questionnaire-duplicate-2

 

Thank you very much!!

[nod]

Net zero by 2050 is as likely as fazing gas boilers out in new homes by 2025 

 

[JohnMo]

  On 26/03/2025 at 16:59, nod said:

Net zero by 2050 is as likely as fazing gas boilers out in new homes by 2025 

 

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Have to agree

 

I will not be doing the survey but have the following comment.

 

  On 26/03/2025 at 16:47, Mark H said:

My worry is that if retrofit insulation is to be installed in millions of homes to make them suitable for heat pump installation and this is to be done in a relatively short space of time

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Sorry insulation isn't a requirement to make a home suitable for a heat pump.  Sizing emitters for a low flow temperature and you get a good CoP. A heat loss, is the heating requirement. A poor CoP is what makes a heat pump expensive to run. Poor CoP comes from high flow temperatures (small emitters), hydraulic separation (buffers), zones (requiring buffers) and trying to run the heat source intermittently.

 

Insulation and draft proofing will reduce the heat demand and allow less impact on the grid.