Making and Old House Very Thermally Efficient?

[Anonymous]

Hello,

We live 400m above sealevel in 250 year old house in scotland.
The walls our 3 feet thick field stone with a rubble infill. The ground floors are suspended timber floors with associated underfloor ventilation.
All windows are currently double glazed.
The house is generally pretty draughty and expensive to heat, I think this is mostly due to the underfloor ventilation.

With rising fuel costs the heating bills are starting to become a real concern and I have a feeling the situation is only going to get worse.

We often hear about these new build houses where the levels of thermal efficiency are extremely high and thus heating bills low.

I am starting to think that it is time to move out for a few months gut the house and start again!

Does anybody have any knowledge of what can be done to an old house to insulate it to very high standards, and what the ball park costs are likely to be?

Thanks

 

[RobT]

Hi James,

this may not be the answer to all of your needs particularly if your property is listed. But, it does provide you with an option if you want to create an insulated, breathing floor without the extreme ventilation. See link below from IPJ Builders:

http://www.oldhousestore.co.uk/tech_ohs/limecrete.html

Using limecrete would allow you to introduce underfloor heating plus a flagstone floor covering.

Another option would be to simply lift the boards and insulate beneath them without compromising the ventilation which is essential to avoid condensation.

regards

Rob