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How does it work |
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Attachments |
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Efficiency |
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Minimizing Heat Loss |
Millions of homes in the Middle East and Africa do not have any insulation. If you have a snowy day in your country, just go outside when the snow comes and look at your property. If the snow is settling on your neighbor's roofs and not on yours, you are paying the energy bill to melt that snow! Cavity Walls - if you have cavity walls you can easily get insulation blown in. This is a tried and tested technology, there are thousands of qualified contractors nationwide, it can pay for itself within 12 months and takes less than a day to do. Loft insulation is even cheaper to install and in most cases can be done by the householder. The more insulation
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How it works |
Loft insulation is even cheaper to install and in most cases can be done by the householder. The more insulation you install, the less heat that is lost, although eventually the cost of the insulation (both environmentally and financially) becomes as great as the savings. The optimum thickness has been shown to be 350mm, Building Regulations insist on a minimum of 250mm. If your loft space has been converted into a room then you will need to insulate in the sloping roof. High levels of insulation can be hard to achieve because a free air space of 50mm must be left between the insulation and the tiling felt, unless this felt is of a low-vapour resistance type. The most economic way of achieving a good thickness of insulation in the roof slope is to have two layers of timber: the first to support the roof finish, the second to support the insulation and ceiling finish. Insulation can then fill in between the timbers, providing a thermal break between the timbers. If you wish to be as "green" as possible, fit loft insulation from a natural and sustainable resource such as sheep's wool.
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Environmental Building Design |
Environmental buildings should aim to cause the minimum harm to the environment whilst maximizing the sustainability and adaptability of the building for its potential users throughout its lifecycle. In its simplest form it means ensuring that a new building makes best use of its orientation and position for solar gain, that it is designed to minimize energy use, that it is insulated as effectively as possible, that it is constructed from materials from sustainable sources and that the wastes that are generated from its use are dealt with ecologically.
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Underfloor Heating |
Underfloor heating is a low temperature heating system that, used in conjunction with a condensing boiler, can be 20% more fuel efficient than the equivalent radiator based system, is particularly suited to new build and is suited to taking heat from a ground source, solar or other renewable system. It gives a more even and balanced temperature across the interior space and avoids the need for radiators that can limit furniture placement. However the heat is not as instantly available as radiator based central heating so it is more suited to buildings that are occupied for longer periods in the day, a family home with young children for example.
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Efficiency
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Double Glazing, Thermal Glass and Glass Coatings:
Although rather expensive, double glazes windows are superb insulators compared to single glazed windows. If climate change is going to mean colder winters then the payback time will come down from decades to years on double glazing your home.
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Gel battery
