DIYbanter - View Single Post - Good sources of info for "low-energy" building and maintenance work?

The Natural Philosopher

wrote:
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
wrote:
Clive wrote:

for CH and loft I would like to incorporate as many energy-saving /
energy-generation mechanisms as possible.

To kick off...

insulation insulation insulation
solar hw can pay back but too often doesnt.
solar warm air can give good ROI
underground pipes can give a nice return as an ac substitute
solar pv forget it

PV?

yes, photovoltaic. Unless youre a long way from the grid its a
non-starter option.

More because its costly than because its einneffective I guess.

passive cooling avoids much ac

Add into that HUGE masses of masonery or stone inside the
insulation..yes it takes longer to warm in winter, but boy it holds the
temps down in summer!

Ideal if in teh house all day as opposed to out at work.

Yes, exterior insulation for sides and back can be used on solid walls,
which keeps the thermal mass inside the insulation. Wouldnt want to use
it on the front, unless the front wall is ugly anyway.

I wouldnt do it that way..dig out floors and re-lay with large masses of
concrete over insulation...add interior blockwork or concrete walls
instead of stud..

Also add trees - natures own air conditioners.

yes, quite effective, but its important theyre deciduous, otherwise you
get cooling in winter too.

yup. Agreed. Watch foundations tho..

deciduous climber on house walls producng fruit gives summer colling &
food, but must be kept off the roof. High ROI.

A mixture of plants is better in that youre going to make far more use
of all the different fruits & nuts than with just one species.

CFLs god ROI

But overall small impact on everything. Lighting in winter adds a useful
bit of heat,

yes, heat which could be much cheaper supplied by CH.

In this house lighting is insignificant compared to heating. Its a big
house, well insulated..

and lighting is nowhere near as huge a bill as house
heating is.

that really depends, a lot of people are now putting in lighting whose
run cost exceeds the CH.

Lucky them.

A new boiler probably only makes sense if your old one dies. I would
not usually expect it to pay back its buy & fit costs otherwise.

Easy enough to do the comparisons. You might reduce heating bills by
10%...amortize that over whatever period..compare cots of new installation..

NT