[GordonGKeymaster]

I think injected polyurethane foam insulation (non breathable) is a last resort for homes with non standard width cavity walls where the brickwork was crumbling and in such poor state (with failing wall ties etc) that literally gluing it all in place might not be a bad thing. It is not promoted as a solid wall insulation option. You’ll know if you’ve got solid walls by looking at the pattern of the brick laying. If there are short brick ends intermixed with long brick lengths it’s a solid wall.

[GordonGKeymaster]

Sam – this kind of detailed technical/current costs enquiry is probably best suited to the Green Building Forum.

[GordonGKeymaster]

Nicholas – The Centre for Sustainable Technology in Wales have a lot of stone built cottages in area so will have some valuable experience to share on what works. They offer a free telephone advice service and may have a leaflet or book to offer on the subject. They may have some info on hemp/lime internal wall insulation trials for stone cottages and similar…

[GordonGKeymaster]

I think this is quite a specialist situtation and it’s likely that external wall insulation would be the way forward – see this YouGen article. You may also find some helpful housing association case studies by searching on ‘insulating Wimpey no-fines’.

[GordonGKeymaster]

Brooklyn,
There’s a useful article here on the SuperHomes website about energy efficient windows. Long lasting low maintenance acetylated wooden frames would be worth exploring if you have the budget and want to green your home.

[GordonGKeymaster]

Nigel – I had a quick exchange with our Bristol SuperHomer. He recommends that you get a professional on site to assess all aspects of the building, take measurements and suggest options which will come within the kind of tolerances/U values needed to produce the level of thermal efficiency etc you are targeting.

You’ll find some case studies within the SuperHomes database actually mention U values so this might give you some idea of what could be possible – especially if you browse the details of the measures installed for homes of a similar age and build.

However, every house being different means there’s really no substitute for a site visit from an expert/s with substantial experience of what will work. The master plan offered by Parity Projects might be the kind of thing to set you on a confident path towards the right spec.

[GordonGKeymaster]

Nigel – this Bristol SuperHome bears some resemblance to your vision and has a lot of technical information re: the choices made and U values that may be helpful to you.

[GordonGKeymaster]

SuperHomer Paul Bragman has used this on the ceiling of his cellar space between the floor joists of his home. He was happy with it when I visited. It looked lumpy so if you are worried about how it looks you might want to steer clear. This thread might shed more light on this.

[GordonGKeymaster]

SuperHomer Paul Capel has a timber framed house. Though he doesn’t have a garage, the house is on stilts so perhaps similar considerations came into play when he approached the floor insulation. You can contact Paul via his page.

[GordonGKeymaster]

There is a lot of reasonable debate around the importance of ventilation at the moment. As Victorian houses have stood the test of time with air passing across and so helping keep dry the wooden structure both below the ground floor and the roof (via the eaves), I think there’s a lot to be said for working in sympathy with that tried and tested idea.

[GordonGKeymaster]

SuperHomer Kit Knowles has a 93% efficient log burning stove…
http://www.superhomes.org.uk/superhomes/manchester-chorltonville-the-thorns/
Wood pellet stoves would also be worth a look. As hardly any ash is created with wood pellets you are getting the most from the source fuel. However, anecdotally efficiency is often just as much about getting the size (kWh output) of the device right for your needs (not oversized) so you can run it in a way that avoids lots of stop/starts.

[GordonGKeymaster]

SuperHomer Mark Brown has written a very helpful article on the pros and cons of his biomass boiler here.

[GordonGKeymaster]

I’ve written an article in the kind of problems with cavity wall insulation. On the whole blown insulation is trouble free unless you’ve a wall which is getting repeatedly drenched. That could be due to relentless driven rain in a very exposed spot, but if you leave a leaking gutter unattended flowing water down the wall or have a sloping drive put down with poor drainage that leaves puddles up against your front wall you could also be inviting problems.

[GordonGKeymaster]

Natasha,
Please see the pages under ‘Get Involved’ for a detailed explanation of how we define a SuperHome or an aspiring Superhome. Some local authorities have supported us to recruit more green open homes in their areas – the owners of these may have no desire to elevate their home to SuperHome status even though they may have some interesting improvements to share, so we have called these Green Homes.

[GordonGKeymaster]

Hi bb,
You can visit Arnold’s SuperHome here:
http://www.superhomes.org.uk/141

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