Tips to increase thermal efficiency of home?

[Avacadoandtoast]

Hi all - We’ve just bought a Large property in Scotland. It’s an older property and of granite construction. Oil heating system and the boiler system is old - we will be looking to get that updated. There is also a wood burning stove with a back burner (not worked out how to get the best efficiency out of that yet!)
Because of the granite structure, we are unable to easily add insulation to the walls. Could you please share your experiences/tips to how you have improved the thermal efficiencies of your home?!

Loft insulation should be relatively easy.

Are the windows double glazed? If not get them replaced or put secondary glazing over them. Use draught excluding strip if you are leaving theoriginal windows.

Do the doors fit the frames well? Eliminate gaps by putting draught excluding strip around them and close doors to rooms that you are not using.

Close curtains - fit heavy curtains.

Thank you for the tips! Yes - loft insulation is a must and we are investigating getting under the Floorboards to install insulation there too. I didn’t know about the tape - I will definitely look into that - the house is very drafty!!

Loft insulation 20cm deep plus foam insulation fitted between the eaves.

For the log burner, stack logs and kindling in a shed and leave it to dry for a year, it’ll burn cleaner & warmer.

You can get thermal liners for blinds or curtains, that will keep the heat in at night.

I found this stuff worked remarkably well. It seems to stop both the cold coming in and heat loss.

Do bear in mind that your building will still need to breath, so think about ventilation as well as draught proofing- you may find condensation suddenly becomes a problem as you seal up gaps in an older building...

If your rooms are big enough it's worth considering insulating the walls internally. We have an old stone build house but it has a newer conversion (garage under a mews so same walls) which we had to insulate thoroughly to meet building requirements. The difference in the temperature of that room vs the rest of the house is crazy.

In our case the insulation was done by studding the walls and insulating then boarding over with insulated plasterboard.

Also, invest in thermals, wear lots of thin layers, warm socks, hot water bottles ...

Wintergreen ointment for chilblains.

I know someone who got insulation under floorboards and says it has made a big difference. Hers was fully grant funded, but that may have been because she’s a pensioner. Worth seeing if any grants available.

The under floor insulation does help a bit. In my area it doesn't qualify for a grant, even for pensioners, though loft insulation does, but it wasn't ridiculously expensive.

My (extremely expensive) composite back door made the biggest difference as it opens straight into the kitchen and the old door was draughty and didn't keep out the cold.

I also have thermal curtains across the inside of the inner front door. I close them in the evening and they help too.

Obviously it depends how much you can afford to spend.

Also, invest in thermals,

Yes, I came on to say 'put on a jumper' too.

Minimum 30cm loft insulation and look for a low U value. 20cm is very last century. MVHR - look it up, makes about 2C difference. Warm edge double glazing minimum 1.0 mid pain, please don't fit plastic. Try greenbuildingforum for good advice.

Conservatory over the 2 outside back doors (facing SW) keeps the house MUCH warmer in winter.

When putting deep insulation in the loft (min 30cm) make sure there is still an air flow to the roof space at the eaves ie don't pile it up at the edges. Otherwise the roof space will end up full of condensation and mould.

We also had a suspended ground floor and put insulation under the boards between the joists. Made a huge difference