Personal story:

Andy is an engineer by training and has experience of most of the building trades through building renovation work. He has worked overseas for many years, mainly in remote locations where managing energy has been a vital component of broader work. Returning to our own house, which was cold and draughty, prompted us to do all we could to minimise heat losses and make the place more comfortable.

Motivations:

We have worked much of our lives in Africa and are well aware of the inequities in the world and very conscious of the wastage here in the West. “Living simply that others may simply live” is an adage from many years ago but one that holds a pertinent truth. As Christians, we are aware that we have been given responsibility for God’s creation and need to use the resources that he has given us in responsible ways. We therefore aim to use no more than we need and waste as little as possible. By carrying out this work, we have quartered the amount of gas that we used. By using less, more is available for others … including the generations that follow.

Property background:

Council-built end-of-terrace house, 1964. Suspended wooden floors, cavity walls and gable roof. No significant defects but plenty of slit floorboards letting in draughts from well-ventilated void below ground floor.

Key changes made:

The heat recovery ventilation is perhaps the most key component of the refurbishment as it has enabled so much in terms of thorough draught-proofing, non-opening windows and balancing the temperature throughout the house.

Detailing, particularly around the windows and floors is key to ensuring a good overall result as small gaps can leak inordinate amounts of heat and cause uncomfortable draughts.

Measures installed in detail:

• Blown fibre cavity wall insulation installed
• Ariston condensing boiler including external temperature sensor
• Replaced draughty, Aluminium-framed double glazed patio door with uPVC double glazed door
• Damaged floorboards replaced or sealed, holes below skirting boards filled with decorators’ caulk or building foam
• 120mm floor insulation, fitted from below, between the joists
• Xcell 150 heat recovery ventilation unit, which was eventually tied in to one of the air vents surrounding the log-burning stove
• 3.145kWp south facing photovoltaic system installed
• Solar Twin water heater feeds into lower heat exchanger coil of 210 litre Ariston hot water tank
• 10mm pipe runs from manifold at hot water cylinder outlet directly to each individual tap. Thermostatic limiter on hot tap in bathroom
• Shower flow limiter
• Log-burning stove with hot air ducting. One duct ties in with the heat recovery unit’s incoming fresh air duct; the second supplies hot air to the bedrooms via “hit-miss” grills

Benefits of work carried out:

As well as cutting our fuel bills, the house is more comfortable and useable. The heat recovery ventilation ensures that the air quality is always good and condensation on the windows is rare and transient rather than being common and persistent.

Favourite feature:

Despite not giving us many ‘points’, the heat recovery ventilation is such a key part to the whole heating of the house that it is certainly my favourite part but I also like to see the figures on the electricity monitor that shows us how much the PV is generating.
… and in the winter, it’s so nice to sit in front of the log-burning stove.

Project update:

We are opening on Friday 3rd and Saturday 4th of October under the Green Homes network.

No booking required; just turn up between 1000 and 1600.

If you want to visit at another time, please be in touch.

New this year: draft porch, triple-glazed windows and re-filled cavity insulation.

Updated on 21/09/2014

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