I've been told that if I don't get my foundations dug by April, new regs will be in force, and I may have to redraw the plans due to greater insulation requirements etc. Is this true, and what is actually changing in 2006 ? Simon.
Everything:
I hope the stupid idea of having to bring the rest of the house to current insulation regs has not reappeared. The would cause civil unrest. It would basically make half the houses in Britain un-extendable. Nothing more to say. Simon.
And isn't a lot of this missing the bigger picture?
Ok, I understand we should conserve energy as much as possible (and I believe *we* do) with better wall / roof / ground insulation etc but is that where most of the heat is lost? How much of it is lost through the 'basic' (air bricks / vents etc) ventilation we have to have now our houses are effectivly hermetically sealed?
My though here is I'm not aware of much talk re passive heat exchangers to try to recoup the heat from the warm air as it is ventilated? I know you can get such things but is their fitment to be part of the regulations? (and if not why not .. or is this not a 'problem' as such)?
All the best ..
T i m
Not very much.
The house that I'm currently sitting in is hermatically sealed. It has to have forced air ventilation and an extractor to stop mold forming (apparently that's why it's there).
It is a constant 22 degrees (I actually find this too warm for sleeping, but can't seem to equalise the temp at anything lower). Half of the rads are always off. The ones that are on are barely warm to touch (best guess is 30-35 degrees). The outside max daily temp is usually 0, often less.
The bill (not that I pay it, as it's included in the rent) is a fraction of that which I pay in the UK to keep my house at 18 degrees.
Houses in the UK really are insulated in a completely useless way.
tim
Is this house in Sweden? The motto is "build tight, ventilate right" and controlled mechanical ventilation may well be the appropriate way of doing this in the winter.
yep,
Is there a suggestion that it is the wrong thing in the summer.
The forced ventilation was turned off and I had my windows open all the time for a nice draft (as I do in the UK).
The Swedes were aghast, "you're supposed to keep the house sealed" they would say, "why? it's summer?"
tim
Yes, but that's because of the mosquitos and the drunks around Midsummer... :-)
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