Chancellor Philip Hammond announced in the Spring Statement on 13 March 2019 that: "We will introduce a Future Homes Standard, mandating the end of fossil-fuel heating systems in all new houses from 2025.""We will publish proposals to require an increased proportion of green gas in the grid, advancing decarbonisation of our mains gas supply." These announcements … [Read more...]
Draught Problems: The Battle With The French Doors Part 2
This is Part 2 in our battle with cold in our lounge. You can read Part 1 here Draught Problems: The Battle With The French Doors. We ended Part 1 waiting for the air distribution boxes for our MVHR to be insulated, the window company to replace the side light in our lounge French doors and the builders to seal under the external doors. We had been thinking that we were … [Read more...]
Draught Problems: The Battle With The French Doors
We have been battling with a cold lounge for a few months now. The adversary is the French, or to be precise the French doors which have managed to chill the lounge to a level where rugs on knees are required. It has been a battle worthy of the Napoleonic wars: a massive build up of weapons and intelligence, thrust and counter thrust, and some false dawns. Whilst my wife and … [Read more...]
Building Regulations And U-values: How have they changed?
The first set of national building standards for England and Wales, The Building Regulations, were published in 1965 (Scotland 1963). The regulations were amended in 1972, to add a first mention of "conservation of fuel and power". Over the following (nearly) 50 years, the insulation levels required by the Building Regulations have changed beyond recognition. This makes a … [Read more...]
Letter Boxes And Thermal Imaging
In the quest to find things to explore with my new thermal imaging camera my focus turned to house letter boxes. In PassivHaus circles it's generally considered a bad idea to put a letter box or a cat flap through a door if you are looking to improve air-tightness and avoid heat losses. Our house does have a letter box so it set me wondering what the impact on the energy … [Read more...]