New builds are leak tested. Big pressure fan put where the front door will be and then they measure the pressure loss. Builder had to go around fixing leaky seals etc until it passes.
Ours was pretty good, only there was a big gap, guess where.. under the front door! Massive draught!
A strip tacked on to reach the seal was all that was needed.
I added a surround seal to the door to have double seals, a letter box sealing flap (a big one to match the large letter box outer flap), and an inside key hole cover (turned it myself in brass
). The outer keyhole cover is effective too.
The whole place is swathed in thick celotex, Inc under the stone floors that are all underfloor heated.
Upstairs the underfloor heating is good but not as great at retaining heat as the downstairs stone / concrete.
When we moved in, the carpeted rooms were sluggish to warm up and I kept records of the temp rises to prove it to the developer.
It turned out they had fitted too high TOG rated underlay! The developer had to change it all
As long as the carpet and underlay TOG is not above 2 all is well and the heat is allowed out.
The comfort of coming downstairs barefoot in the morning on a warm stone tile floor is amazing.
Them Romans knew a thing or two!
The cats love the warm floors. Stretch out for hours.
The system comes on about 6:30 and slow burning raising the temp to 20deg c when the thermostats (one in each room) cut out after a couple of hours. The floors keep radiating heat all day!
The hearing does not come on again all day! It's 21.5 in the lounge as I write this. I can feel the warm floor through the carpet under my feet.
It's never cold, an even heat over the whole house.
If we want to really roast the wood burner in the lounge is always there!
Marie loves putting it on for effect / charm.
Marie will NEVER move to a house without underfloor heating she says.
As a cold feeling person, I agree.
This house is about as cosy as the triple glazed houses we had in Sweden.
Only diff is they have to handle -20 outside, here it's -5 tops.
Ours bills are less than our previous chuck in heat and loose it all, place.
It could be 22 there according to the thermostat and still feel cold!! I guess all the heat was up on the ceiling.
You need to insulate, insulate and insulate some more. We have no damp problems, or mould etc after two years here..
Designing right from the word go is the key.
If you want warm, get a good new build.. the UK building regs are pretty decent now.
My only gripe is that the developer should have put ground source in for the heating. It works best with underfloor heating. The heating loops are 45 - 50 degrees. Rads need much hotter.
We have the new Worcester Bosch boiler, so hopefully it will be years before we need to consider a different system.
I'd like Tesla solar tiles on the garage roofs. Hey ho
). The outer keyhole cover is effective too.
