Reducing heat loss from ground floor
Discussion
We live in a modern three story town house and unsurprisingly, the ground floor is noticeably colder.
There’s a large radiator in the kitchen, a medium one in the hall on the angled wall by the stairs, and then a smaller one in the toilet, plus a tiny one in the utility that doesn’t get warm. Part of the problem is that we just aren’t heating it much, and it then rises up the staircase. Getting the problem rad sorted will help, and I might replace the others with more modern and better performing designs.
There’s a heavy wooden fire door to the garage and no draughts, but it’s very chilly on the other side so that’s an obvious loss of heat. Realistically, is it worth trying to make a standard metal garage door better insulating or is that impossible without replacing it?
There are blinds over the window and door at the back which help a bit. Curtains would be tricky behind the sink, but may be possible over the back and front doors.
I’ve adjusted the rear doors to make them as flush fitting as possible so the reframe seals well, but there’s a cat flap that we need to keep.
If we get a heat pump, I’d look at putting down underfloor heating as the vinyl can be cold, but is there anything obvious I’ve not considered?
There’s a large radiator in the kitchen, a medium one in the hall on the angled wall by the stairs, and then a smaller one in the toilet, plus a tiny one in the utility that doesn’t get warm. Part of the problem is that we just aren’t heating it much, and it then rises up the staircase. Getting the problem rad sorted will help, and I might replace the others with more modern and better performing designs.
There’s a heavy wooden fire door to the garage and no draughts, but it’s very chilly on the other side so that’s an obvious loss of heat. Realistically, is it worth trying to make a standard metal garage door better insulating or is that impossible without replacing it?
There are blinds over the window and door at the back which help a bit. Curtains would be tricky behind the sink, but may be possible over the back and front doors.
I’ve adjusted the rear doors to make them as flush fitting as possible so the reframe seals well, but there’s a cat flap that we need to keep.
If we get a heat pump, I’d look at putting down underfloor heating as the vinyl can be cold, but is there anything obvious I’ve not considered?
We had a similar problem with our house, we have a south facing sunroom at the back. Had loft installation installed under all of ground floor but could not access sunroom.
Lifted floor and installed thick loft installation, lined walls with cellotec and replaced poor roof material with same.
Now the sunroom is the warmest room in the house, especially if the sun is out. Too hot in summer though temperatures can reach 27/28 with sun out, but if it is that warm we sit out in the garden anyway.
Can you get access under the floor of the kitchen? Can you move around under the floor? If not it is not worth lifting all the floor to install insulation.
Lifted floor and installed thick loft installation, lined walls with cellotec and replaced poor roof material with same.
Now the sunroom is the warmest room in the house, especially if the sun is out. Too hot in summer though temperatures can reach 27/28 with sun out, but if it is that warm we sit out in the garden anyway.
Can you get access under the floor of the kitchen? Can you move around under the floor? If not it is not worth lifting all the floor to install insulation.
Alex Z said:
Realistically, is it worth trying to make a standard metal garage door better insulating or is that impossible without replacing it?
You may be able to slot Kingspan or similar into the garage door and seal the joints between the pieces with foil tape. Fit draught excluders to the external garage door and the internal door.
I have done this with our side hinged garage doors and it works well.
Put interlocking matting of some sort and maybe rug/carpet on the garage floor.
How well insulated is the wall between the house and garage and the outer garage wall?
Balance all of the radiators in the CH system. Few houses seem to have their systems balanced.
Edited by MC Bodge on Friday 3rd January 18:49
gmaz said:
MC Bodge said:
How well insulated is the wall between the house and garage and the outer garage wall?
That was my thought. It looks like a single skin from your diagram, so a layer of insulation inside the garage may keep that wall warmer.gmaz said:
MC Bodge said:
How well insulated is the wall between the house and garage and the outer garage wall?
That was my thought. It looks like a single skin from your diagram, so a layer of insulation inside the garage may keep that wall warmer.Are cheap thermal imaging cameras good enough to identify the heat loss areas?
Thanks everyone for their comments so far.
A cheap non-contact IR thermometer is all you need to suss the cold surfaces.
As with a camera, you need to understand which surfaces are cold or hot due to heat transfer and which are cold or hot due to heat capacity.
If you insulate the garage door that counts for zilch every time you open said door.
Ideally, insulate the door but look at insulating between garage ceiling and the room above too.
As with a camera, you need to understand which surfaces are cold or hot due to heat transfer and which are cold or hot due to heat capacity.
If you insulate the garage door that counts for zilch every time you open said door.
Ideally, insulate the door but look at insulating between garage ceiling and the room above too.
OutInTheShed said:
If you insulate the garage door that counts for zilch every time you open said door.
Ideally, insulate the door but look at insulating between garage ceiling and the room above too.
..but for the 99.9% of the time that the door is closed, insulation and draught proofing does help.Ideally, insulate the door but look at insulating between garage ceiling and the room above too.
I insulated the ceiling of our integral garage. It worked well.
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