• Notice regarding image hosts and attachments. See here.

Combating energy prices

Going to get log/briquettes store built up over the course of the year, check over the electrical draw of the house and increase insulation. Otherwise there isn't really much I can do.
 
Fixed gas/elec late last year for 3 years(!) before it went mental so we're covered there, might look into a heat pump tumble dryer but need to do a bit more research on that one, we have started using a clothes horse a lot more for heavier stuff, and when the weather's good we dry stuff on a line in the garden. Going to whack a load more insulation down in the loft, looked up around up there today properly and there's a few gaps where the builders didn't bother with silly things like that :rolleyes:
With the way things are going it's time to take this stuff a bit more seriously.
Hope we get long, hot summers, and very mild winters from now on...
 
Uther said:
Fixed gas/elec late last year for 3 years(!) before it went mental so we're covered there, might look into a heat pump tumble dryer but need to do a bit more research on that one, we have started using a clothes horse a lot more for heavier stuff, and when the weather's good we dry stuff on a line in the garden. Going to whack a load more insulation down in the loft, looked up around up there today properly and there's a few gaps where the builders didn't bother with silly things like that :rolleyes:
With the way things are going it's time to take this stuff a bit more seriously.
Hope we get long, hot summers, and very mild winters from now on...
Click to expand...

What about under floor? I hear a lot about loft and cavity wall insulation but never very much about under floor insulation.

And yes - hang the washing out to dry!
 
Dirk Diggler said:
What about under floor? I hear a lot about loft and cavity wall insulation but never very much about under floor insulation.

And yes - hang the washing out to dry!
Click to expand...
Never thought of it, I assume it makes a lot more sense if speccing it in a new build, I won't be ripping my floors up to install it.
 
4.2KWh solar install back in August 2018, this made quite a difference to our annual bill due to Mrs F being at home during the day it also trained us to use appliances one after another to get the most out of the days generation.
Serious consideration going into a 10kw+ battery storage and more panels as there's plenty of roof space.
Cavity walls done, loft now 300mm+ and currently insulating under all the suspended floors.
LED lights throughout the house.
Once spring is here the gas fire will be removed from the fireplace and a log burner installed, possibly a big one that can take a back boiler then if prices keep going north I'll fit a vented tank and link the radiator system to the log burner. I've already got a couple of years logs sorted (three big trees down in the recent storms in a neighbours garden waiting for me to sort out)

When we moved in 2018 I made sure we were within a 5 mile radius of work so I barely ever use a car, just an occasional trip to the local farm shop, supermarket home delivery for everything else.
 
Tbh, just going to suck it up for the most part. A 5% pay rise for all staff announced recently at work will help.

Not looking forward to topping up the oil tank in the coming weeks, though, after those prices have doubled.
 
Being more aware of usage really. Turned on eco modes on the tvs, had to turn it off on one though as couldn't see anything on the screen :p
 
robj20 said:
PIR is 0.022 W/mk Vs typical loft insulation at 0.044 W/mK. So twice as good.
I'm doing it for two reasons as well though, replacing 75mm standard in places and 200mm in others with 140mm PIR and also boarding the loft for storage.
Click to expand...

Thanks so. I was thinking the same. Allow me to validate my plan with you if thats ok!?

I already have 270mm insulation, I have a partly boarded loft that is on stilts. Loftzone system which I installed when we moved in. I never got round to completing the bit i wanted to board as we didnt need it. But always planned to. Roughly a third of our loft is great space, can fully stand etc the other 2/3s is low and hence I dont really put anything there nor would I plan to.

I was thinking. As I have 70mm between joists, I could remove the 200mm top bit and place that elsewhere it may do something or not no drama. Leave the 70mm bit between the joists and add 100 PIR board over the top, plus then chip laying on that.
I read that you can simply board over the pir and no need to do anything in particular in regards fixing as the boards themselves over the joists with chip on top are strong enough. having walked on them on my cabin roof which has OSB that seems completely logical, but that has the opportunity for moiture to go downwards through the original roof board if it needs to breath. Hence..

The issue I have is that I have read the air gap thing, my stilts create around a 30mm gap which I read is what you should target. So you need to allow moisture to escape that seeps from the rooms below. So with PIR boards which you tend to tape how can this happen, it seems like your sealing in the ceiling below in effect with pir board and any moisture seeping up would be trapped. You can read of people who dont leave a gap ending up with damage to roof with moisture trapped in soggy loft insulation trapped under chip that also starts to get wet.
Or would you create new joists at 90 degrees to the ones below and leave the PIR slightly lower than the chip on top? meaning you do need to screw the chip boards down
 
Basically don't use heating at all under any circumstance and go on a diet with no expensive things such as fruit/veg.
 
Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
Thanks so. I was thinking the same. Allow me to validate my plan with you if thats ok!?

I already have 270mm insulation, I have a partly boarded loft that is on stilts. Loftzone system which I installed when we moved in. I never got round to completing the bit i wanted to board as we didnt need it. But always planned to. Roughly a third of our loft is great space, can fully stand etc the other 2/3s is low and hence I dont really put anything there nor would I plan to.

I was thinking. As I have 70mm between joists, I could remove the 200mm top bit and place that elsewhere it may do something or not no drama. Leave the 70mm bit between the joists and add 100 PIR board over the top, plus then chip laying on that.
I read that you can simply board over the pir and no need to do anything in particular in regards fixing as the boards themselves over the joists with chip on top are strong enough. having walked on them on my cabin roof which has OSB that seems completely logical, but that has the opportunity for moiture to go downwards through the original roof board if it needs to breath. Hence..

The issue I have is that I have read the air gap thing, my stilts create around a 30mm gap which I read is what you should target. So you need to allow moisture to escape that seeps from the rooms below. So with PIR boards which you tend to tape how can this happen, it seems like your sealing in the ceiling below in effect with pir board and any moisture seeping up would be trapped. You can read of people who dont leave a gap ending up with damage to roof with moisture trapped in soggy loft insulation trapped under chip that also starts to get wet.
Or would you create new joists at 90 degrees to the ones below and leave the PIR slightly lower than the chip on top? meaning you do need to screw the chip boards down
Click to expand...
Depends on your loft, ours has a breathable membrane so the loft is nice and dry, I'm doubling my 70mm joists with a further 3m length of 70mm joists, doubled up so I have 140mm joists in the boarded section glued and screwed so adds decent strength to avoid below ceilings cracking.
I'm taping where I can, our roof construction means I can't actually fit any insulation to the outer edges of the roof/ceiling.

I think damp issues come from people insulating the rafters and not leaving a gap between the tiles and the insulation. If your loft is nice and draughty you don't need to worry.
 
I'd already done what I could years ago. LED lights throughout the house. Smart plugs to turn things off overnight and on schedules. Heating and hot water used as sparingly as we can get away with. Educating the rest of the house on usage which generally falls on deaf ears as they don't pay the bill.
It's all pretty depressing.
 
Me and the Mrs will just sit in darkness on one laptop happily so probably just have to get used to it being cold be the only drama.

Luckily I'm well stocked up on random bits of warm kit.

If we all just hurry up and sign up to the school of thought pay more for the greater good, drive less for democracy then the better. :) for however dark and cold we get at least we aren't at war.... go with that instead maybe.
 
Kicking out the kids would save loads, turning off lights they leave on is a three or four time daily task. :cry: Just gotta wait a few years :rolleyes:
 
chroniclard said:
Kicking out the kids would save loads, turning off lights they leave on is a three or four time daily task. :cry: Just gotta wait a few years :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Stick motion sensors on the main rooms?
We have one in our utility, 2mins on when it senses movement, funny how you get used to not switching and it just coming on as you enter.
I am seriously tempted to do the same in the kitchen, we often walk in or out at night.
Worst thing I did was add under cabinet lighting, it looks so much better with them lit she has them on all the time :(
 
We live in an apartment so not really much we can actually do (I think), but really open to suggestions. Fortunately we are fixed on pricing until December 2023.

Apartments built 2001 and seems pretty high spec insulation and material wise etc. (B rated EPC), so I guess good on that front. We have occupied apartments above and below us so that probably counts as insulation, of a sort.
All bulbs are LED, but actually a bit annoying we can't do much to reduce our bills short of turning the heating down and wearing more clothes. We have a condensing boiler that was replaced in 2013, and seems ok, no excess heat from it etc.
Fortunately we have balconies we can dry clothes on when the weather gets better and the appliances are all new last year, including a heat pump tumble dryer, after a refurb.

Any practical suggestions be appreciated though given our situation - I would luv to reduce our energy use, We cannot have a smart meter however due to the location of the meters in the basement.

Fortunately live in a large town centre, so whilst we do have a car, it rarely gets used, but when it does it is usually to go some distance.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom