Measures installed in detail:

• 11kW Biomass pellet boiler (Windhager), TVRs on all radiators, weather compensation
• Double glazed timber framed windows (U-Value 1.1)
• Draught proofing and sealing undertaken during refurbishment
• External wall insulation, lime rendered (60mm Kingspan EWB k5)
• Floor insulation in kitchen (100mm EPS insulation) and under new extension floor (200mm EPS insulation)
• 300mm loft insulation
• Low energy lighting throughout
• Whole house MVHR system (Vortice Prometeo HR400)
• Roof insulation (100mm mineral wood between rafters, finished with 50mm celotex board roof insulation)
• 3m2 solar water heating panels on the flat roof
• Water saving devices (eg. dual flush toilet, use of well water for toilets and outdoor taps)
• 6kW Wood stove in living room 

Common questions and answers for this SuperHome

How happy are you with your 11kW Windhager biomass boiler?+

We are very happy with this boiler. Last year we burnt just 2 tonnes of pellets in our 5 bed house. The boiler is relatively small in terms of output for a large property of this type so we made sure our house was very well insulated.

Do you feel you struck the right balance with MVHR in terms of ventilation?+

We have had MVHR before in a previous house and therefore know the benefits in terms of comfort and fresh air.

We are ware that for MVHR to work best the house needs to be very airtight which is hard in an old property. However we took the view that we were removing the draughts inherent in old properties through draughty windows and we were also going to use a non breathable insulation so we felt MVHR was necessary to compensate for this. We are very happy with it although it is questionable how much actual energy it saves in an old and not particularly airtight house.

How well has the lime render worked with the external wall insulation?+

We used Kingspan K5 EWB external insulation because we had  limited space under the eaves to put insulation so wanted the maximum benefit for the available space. Keim Render was the only lime render who support using their product on that insulation. We chose the lime render because of its appearance, not because of breathability, as the insulation we have used is not breathable. If you have space a breathable insulation, such as Pavatherm would be better with Lime Render but would require double the thickness for the same thermal improvement.

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