Who understands U values?

[Katymac]

This is something to do with insulation

However I don't know if low is good or if high is good

I am considering Walls at 0.35 with Floors & ceilings at 0.24

Any ideas?

low is good - DH has been through all this for our extension - if you mail me at julie at highfields1 plus com (you put the dots in the spaces !) with the details I will get him to mail you - will be this evening.

this might help.

That helps lots

So those values are quite poor - well it's what I expected

is this for your house ?

No for a portacabin for a nursery

well I guess you could check what the expectations are fromt eh building regs people.

They meet all the building regs - it's just that I've got to pay to heat it - so if I put a bit more in now - it will save money in the long run (& be a bit greener)

yep - that is the approach we took - we went for the best u-value windows, extra insulation in walls, ceilings, and floors. Iguess teh best approach is to go for as much as you can afford up front.

A little money spent now could save loads over the years

We are also looking at solar hot water for the nursery

depends if you are going to have a combi boiler (the one without a hot water tank - it heats the water as it goes) - in which case you don't have a tank to store the hot water - so not really compatible with the solar panels.

We looked into - but they were expensive, and we have only a tiny roof facing south so would not be very efficient.

DH says they are the minimum you can do - ie you can't be any higher than those values (0.25 for a flat roof and floors, 0.35 for walls).

We can't have a combi (not gas in village - I'm not paying for oil)

We will prob have either electric underfloor heating - or electric panels (low heat ones) or a pellet burner (if I can find a pellet supplier locally)