13 Elm Avenue, Beeston, NG9 1BU.
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Our detached Edwardian house in a conservation area has solid brick walls. Previous owners had installed some loft insulation and some self-closing hinges on doors. We have installed a number of low and high tech. measures, as follows, with simpler, less expensive ones first. We had advice from a specialist architect.
See below for more information, with the least expensive first and the number of £s giving a rough indication of cost. [Information provided May 2024.] |
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1. LED light bulbs £
All our light bulbs are now LED bulbs, which use much less energy.
All our light bulbs are now LED bulbs, which use much less energy.
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2. Blackout blinds £
When there is a radiator below the window and the curtains are closed, much of the heat from the radiator goes up behind the curtains and is lost through the window. We have installed a blind in the each window recess, which allows us to keep the curtains open and then the warm air goes into the room. We have found another benefit is that the blind can be used to reduce heat from direct sunlight in Summer (especially if it is a light colour). We used blackout blinds but thicker ones would be even better. |
Blind in the window recess.
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3. Self-closing hinges on doors from the hall £
Previous owners of the house replaced the normal door hinges in the hall with self-closing ones. Since the hall is quite large, it is important to close the doors and keep the heat inside each of the rooms. Then we can keep the hall at a slightly lower temperature and save energy, while the rooms are warm for comfort. Replacing the normal hinges with hinges like these means the door closes automatically, keeping the warmth inside the room. |
The old self-closing hinges.
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4. Heat recovery fans (often known as heat-exchanging fans) ££
These fans cost more than normal fans but they use the heat from the air going out to warm the incoming air. We have had them installed in the kitchen and one bathroom. In the kitchen this allows us to dry washing without using a tumble-dryer. The efficiency of the fans is nowhere near 100% but at least some of the heat is recovered. The heat recovery fan shown takes air out through the left side, which then warms the outside air coming in on the right. |
Heat recovery fan in the kitchen.
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5. Loft insulation ££
We have had the loft fully insulated but it doesn't cover the sloping ceilings in the upstairs rooms. So we have had extra thick insulation attached to the inside of the sloping ceilings. The ceilings are sufficiently high that the extra insulation is hardly noticeable. Most of the upstairs rooms have sloping ceilings under the roof. While the wall insulation was being done and redecoration was needed, we had the insulation attached on the inside of the sloping ceilings as well. See 12. |
Sloping ceiling with insulation.
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6. Dual-flush toilets ££ (- to do when refurbishing)
We had dual-flush toilets installed during refurbishment. They save water, which reduces the energy needed by the water company to pump the water, as well as for pumping the sewage.
We had dual-flush toilets installed during refurbishment. They save water, which reduces the energy needed by the water company to pump the water, as well as for pumping the sewage.
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7. WiFi-enabled thermostatic radiator valves £££
We chose a system that gives each radiator its own schedule of temperature settings for each day of the week. The schedules are set up centrally, so now we can avoid heating unused rooms. For example, we don't normally want to heat the sitting room during the day, so it is set to come on just in the evening. The valves can be turned up or down easily to override the schedule, whenever required, and they then return to the schedule at the next temperature change. Each valve has a battery that needs to be changed (and recharged) periodically. On the schedule we have set the living room temperature to just 10 degrees for the daytime, when we don't normally use the room. On the day we took the photo the controller shows that, thanks to the insulation, the temperature was still 15.5 degrees with some warmth remaining from the evening before. If we want to use the room in the morning, we just turn it up on the valve. |
The WiFi-enabled controller in the morning, showing the room temperature (in black) and the scheduled temperature (in blue).
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8. Rainwater soakaways ££
The house already had one soakaway and we have now had other soakaways installed, including where the water couldn't go into the rainwater harvesting tank (see 9.). The water charge is less when no rainwater is sent to the sewer (but not if rainwater is used to flush toilets - see 9.). Again, less energy is needed to pump away the sewage. In addition, since the amount of sewage is reduced, there should be less of it dumped into rivers. The drain pipe on the right has a bend (to take it to a water butt and soakaway) became disconnected near the bend. Luckily we heard the water pouring out and had it fixed. We recommend checking the pipes regularly. |
The disconnected drain pipe.
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9. Rainwater harvesting for flushing toilets and garden use £££ (- to do when refurbishing)
As well as water butts, we had a large tank installed under the drive before it was paved, to collect rainwater. The water is now pumped into two tanks inside the house, which are used to fill up the toilet cisterns. We needed additional pipes and plumbing work for the "grey water" from the tank, which regulations require to be kept totally separate from the mains water. Most of the time the rainwater is sufficient but there is a top-up available from mains water when necessary (e.g. if there is no rain for a long period). The water bill is lower, because we are now using less mains water. As under 8, we recommend regular check on all drain pipes, especially where the pipe has to bend round to take it to the water butt. (N.B. Using rainwater for toilet flushing stops the reduction for not having rainwater going into the sewer - see under 8. This problem can only be avoided by having another meter to measure how much water is used for toilet flushing. We decided that using extra materials only for that purpose was environmentally unfriendly.) |
The 2,700 litre rainwater tank (for rainwater harvesting) waiting to be installed under the drive.
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10. Double-glazing ££££
We had most of the windows double glazed in 2009 and we chose to have wooden frames, which meant they were much more expensive. The benefit is that they are almost indistinguishable from the original frames, which helped in the conservation area.
We had most of the windows double glazed in 2009 and we chose to have wooden frames, which meant they were much more expensive. The benefit is that they are almost indistinguishable from the original frames, which helped in the conservation area.
11. Solar PV panels ££££
Our solar PV panels were installed over 10 years ago with the inverter in the hall showing how much electricity is being generated. We now use the washing machine and dishwasher during the day whenever possible, in order to benefit from the energy generated. (N.B. the energy company pays us much less for the energy generated than they sell it for.)
Our solar PV panels were installed over 10 years ago with the inverter in the hall showing how much electricity is being generated. We now use the washing machine and dishwasher during the day whenever possible, in order to benefit from the energy generated. (N.B. the energy company pays us much less for the energy generated than they sell it for.)
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12. Internal insulation of walls, some ceilings & floors ££££
We have had all the external walls insulated using mostly polyurethane insulation about 10 cm thick. Some places required thinner, but equally effective, insulation. Unfortunately the thinner insulation was more expensive but it was necessary beside the stairs, where the treads are very narrow on the side opposite the wall. It is very important to deal with any problems with damp before installing the insulation, because damp behind the insulation could be a big problem later on. We had one wall that needed to be re-pointed to prevent the damp coming in. Earlier we had had damp from a leaking gutter at the top of a drain pipe, caused by leaves. We were advised that the insulation should continue in the space below the upper floors and above the ceilings of the rooms below. This house has sloping ceilings upstairs, which had no loft insulation above them, so we had extra thick polyurethane insulation attached on the inside (see 5). We also had insulation installed above the bay window and under the floors with space underneath them (some downstairs rooms and the bathroom over the back porch). Where possible, the insulation was also continued for a short distance on each solid internal wall adjoining an outside wall (known as a "return") to prevent heat escaping along the internal wall. The heat is now retained for much longer in any room after we turn down the radiator. Another benefit is that in Summer we keep the windows closed, so that the house stays cooler inside, especially in combination with the blinds - see 2. We open the windows when it is cooler outside at night, which helps to keep the indoor temperature down. (N.B. opening many windows creates a through draught.) However, if the outdoor temperature at night is persistently too high, then the indoor temperature will eventually equalise with it. |
The "return" in the living room wall, where the internal insulation continues round the corner along the internal wall.
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BENEFITS
- With all the heat-retention measures together (2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10 and 12), including the glazing in the back porch, our gas use has decreased by almost half. (N.B. The loft had already been insulated, apart from the sloping parts.)
- We use less electricity (11), although a small amount of electricity is needed to pump the rainwater (for 6). [We hope the amount of electricity generated by the solar PV panels should be available soon.]
- We now use less water (8, 9 but we don't know how much we are saving, because we didn't have a water meter originally.
- We have better control of individual room temperatures (7), so it is easier to have warmth only where it is normally needed.
- During very hot weather in Summer we can keep cooler (2, .5, 10 and 12). The windows must be kept closed while it is warmer outside and opened only when it is cooler at night. The blinds should be closed when the window is in direct sunlight. By taking care we found the house stayed cooler for several days, even when the outside temperature was too warm at night. In the long hot spell in 2022 the heat did eventually get in.
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PROBLEMS / LESSONS LEARNED
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An infra-red image of a corner from the outside where we didn't have a "return" shows it is warmer (yellow) than the rest of the wall.
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Disclaimer: Please note that EcoTrail-NG9 aims to provide information as accurately as possible but the information on this page has been provided by the property owner.
