14-03-2022, 01:44 PM
Nick is 100% correct. Sort the insulation and ventilation first. You can't heat the average Brisish house properly with a heatpump unless you attend to these first.
For new build it should be a no-brianer to build to the sort of standards that have been common in Germany and Scandinavia for years. The cost of meeting Passivhaus standards is probably now less than 5%. This ignores the knuckle dragging building industry who lobby hard to make sure that the government lags(!) behind in the building regulations. There is also the fundamental disconnect between the housebuilders (and landlords) who want lowest initial costs and residents who pay the heating bill.
Along with insulation you also have to get ventilation right, otherwise the results are horribly mouldy.
Refurbishing to Passivhaus standards is usually both difficult and expensive unless you are almost starting from scratch. I've looked at external insulation for the large and somewhat exposed north wall of my house. Last time I looked, the payback time was decades. I suppose I should now look again as it may only be 15 years. That's still a long payback period. I don't expect to be here that long.
Getting government policy right on insulation grants isn't easy but, to put it politely, the recent attempts have been a mess.
For new build it should be a no-brianer to build to the sort of standards that have been common in Germany and Scandinavia for years. The cost of meeting Passivhaus standards is probably now less than 5%. This ignores the knuckle dragging building industry who lobby hard to make sure that the government lags(!) behind in the building regulations. There is also the fundamental disconnect between the housebuilders (and landlords) who want lowest initial costs and residents who pay the heating bill.
Along with insulation you also have to get ventilation right, otherwise the results are horribly mouldy.
Refurbishing to Passivhaus standards is usually both difficult and expensive unless you are almost starting from scratch. I've looked at external insulation for the large and somewhat exposed north wall of my house. Last time I looked, the payback time was decades. I suppose I should now look again as it may only be 15 years. That's still a long payback period. I don't expect to be here that long.
Getting government policy right on insulation grants isn't easy but, to put it politely, the recent attempts have been a mess.
www.borinsky.co.uk Jeffrey Borinsky www.becg.tv
