Working out how badly insulated my house is.

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  • Stevedh
    Automated Home Guru
    • Mar 2017
    • 177

    Working out how badly insulated my house is.

    I have lots of pretty graphs showing the temperature of all my rooms.
    Assuming I know the outside temperature, then based on the temperature difference and speed at which the temperature drops in a room when heating is off I should be able to work out how badly insulated a room is... I think.
    Anyone know how to do this, and were to find figures to compare the results to ?
  • bruce_miranda
    Automated Home Legend
    • Jul 2014
    • 2307

    #2
    The thing to consider is that outside temperature is a measured constant but the orientation of your house can make the temperature differentials in your rooms quite different during the day wrt to the sun etc.

    Comment

    • Jabes
      Automated Home Sr Member
      • Aug 2017
      • 68

      #3
      Octopus Energy seem to be lending some customers a FLIR looking at twitter... if you could get hold of one of those you'd work it out pretty quick sharp!

      Comment

      • paulockenden
        Automated Home Legend
        • Apr 2015
        • 1719

        #4
        A FLIR is brilliant at helping you to find the cold spots, but it doesn't really help with quantifying the losses.

        Comment

        • DBMandrake
          Automated Home Legend
          • Sep 2014
          • 2361

          #5
          If you have an old house, as we do, I think sometimes lack of insulation is overstated as a problem, compared to draughts.

          Several times now I've noticed the heating struggle to get some zones up to their set points in winter in the evening when outside conditions are say 3C and windy, yet on a day where its -5C, clear weather and dead still with no wind, and with frost or ice on the ground, it has no trouble getting the rooms up to temperature and holding them there.

          The obvious conclusion is that there is a lot of heat loss due to draughts through the house, so when it's windy you get this draught induced heat loss and when it's still you don't. I'm aware of a couple of sources of draught still to be fixed (the front door needs replacing with a new draught sealed door etc) but many other draught sources I have already fixed when I have laid new flooring etc... and the draughts that remain are not obvious at all unless you put your hand right by a door etc during windy weather, yet they seem to cause so much heat loss.

          A FLIR camera would not show heat loss caused by draughts, only heat lost due to IR radiation from the surface of the walls, so don't forget to thoroughly eliminate draughts!
          Last edited by DBMandrake; 24 January 2020, 03:20 PM.

          Comment

          • paulockenden
            Automated Home Legend
            • Apr 2015
            • 1719

            #6
            Wind (especially when combined with rain) will exacerbate any heat losses even without draughts.

            Wet your hand and then blow on it. Now imagine what that would be like for a large single-skinned wall.

            P.

            Comment

            • rs1987
              Automated Home Jr Member
              • Nov 2019
              • 44

              #7
              Originally posted by paulockenden View Post
              A FLIR is brilliant at helping you to find the cold spots, but it doesn't really help with quantifying the losses.
              I've been seriously thinking of buying a Flir One Pro but they're just so damn expensive.

              Comment

              • paulockenden
                Automated Home Legend
                • Apr 2015
                • 1719

                #8
                Originally posted by rs1987 View Post
                I've been seriously thinking of buying a Flir One Pro but they're just so damn expensive.
                If you're anywhere near West Sussex you're welcome to borrow mine for a day or two.

                P.

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