Is my home properly insulated

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#273004 30-Jul-2020 08:18

Hi there,

We have a new build home. This is the first winter and I am really wondering if our house has been properly insulated!

It takes the heat pump a long time to warm the living and it is not even warm in all corners. You can still feel cold differences.
It also feels like the cold is coming in trough the double glazed windows. We quite a large window surface. Almost equal to the wall surface.

I also feel that the heat pump might not be sufficient for this space.

Are there companies that can test your home?

Much appreciated.

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#2531192 30-Jul-2020 08:39

If you only turn the heating on when you get home it will be cold for some time until it warms up. Yes, double glazed windows still let a lot of heat out / cold in.

Have a timer turn on heating a few hours before you get home. Try leaving the heating on for a few days, turning it down a bit to maybe 19 / 20 overnight when you're not there. That will heat the house through, and it will make it easier to heat going forwards. If you let your house get really cold it will take ages to warm.

We have a very old house that's well insulated. If we just turn heating on when we get home it does take a while to warm up. Instead we have it on 5am to 7am when we leave, then 3pm to 10pm. Because it's on so much the house never really drops below about 19 or 20 degrees unless the weather is exceptionally cold.

What size is the area the heat pump is trying to heat (including hallways, rooms with doors open), and what is the heat pump output? We oversized a bit, our 150 square meter (ish) house has 10KW in the living / sleeping area, 7kw in the kitchen / dining area, we use oil heaters overnight in bedrooms, and the office has fan heater and oil heater.

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#2531193 30-Jul-2020 08:40

what is the space? what heat pump do you have? double glazing windows usually have winter ventilation toggle, is it set to on?

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#2531195 30-Jul-2020 08:43

Where in the country are you? If Wellington, try the Sustainability Trust.

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#2531197 30-Jul-2020 08:54

There are also other factors - internal draft because of hot air circulating to ceiling, pushing cold air down. Cold walls, furniture and other things need to warm up too.

You feel the cold until all this system stabilized. Lack of insulation and having heat leaks, for example, keep the system constantly changing so it's harder to keep an enclosed space warm (with the corresponding cost).

Some people (like above) say to keep heat going on for a while to warm up the environment and things inside it. This takes time and this effort (including the cost) can all go down the drain if one nice winter day you open the house to "air", causing everything to cool down again.

It's a balance really. Heatpumps are efficient but sizing and positioning are essential.

timmmay

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#2531208 30-Jul-2020 08:59

freitasm:

This takes time and this effort (including the cost) can all go down the drain if one nice winter day you open the house to "air", causing everything to cool down again.

We find that once the house is fully heated through having the heat pumps off for 6-8 hours including windows cracked open and ventilation system going for a few hours makes little difference. There's a lot of mass in a house to warm up - furniture, carpet, floor and wall materials, appliances, books and book cases, etc, etc, etc. They keep their heat ok.

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#2531211 30-Jul-2020 09:08

timmmay:

If you only turn the heating on when you get home it will be cold for some time until it warms up. Yes, double glazed windows still let a lot of heat out / cold in.

Have a timer turn on heating a few hours before you get home. Try leaving the heating on for a few days, turning it down a bit to maybe 19 / 20 overnight when you're not there. That will heat the house through, and it will make it easier to heat going forwards. If you let your house get really cold it will take ages to warm.

We have a very old house that's well insulated. If we just turn heating on when we get home it does take a while to warm up. Instead we have it on 5am to 7am when we leave, then 3pm to 10pm. Because it's on so much the house never really drops below about 19 or 20 degrees unless the weather is exceptionally cold.

What size is the area the heat pump is trying to heat (including hallways, rooms with doors open), and what is the heat pump output? We oversized a bit, our 150 square meter (ish) house has 10KW in the living / sleeping area, 7kw in the kitchen / dining area, we use oil heaters overnight in bedrooms, and the office has fan heater and oil heater.

Much appreciated.

Good point. I might set it to night heating. Although I fear a much higher energy bill. I now have it set to turn on about 20min prior to getting out of bed. It does take the cold of but if you walk around you can still feel cold.

We have a Toshiba cassette heat pump:

Capacity – Rated

5.3

Capacity – Range (min~max)

1.5-6.3

The Toshiba website says we need 4kw ish. So it should be sufficient. With that said. The installer admitted that the build has said to put in a heat pump that was just about enough to safe cost. I wish I did more research before accepting this one.

The room is 4.1 x 8.5 x 2.55. It is an open plan living/ kitchen. Currently sitting at the bar and I feel cold air at my feet. Heat pump on since 6.10am at 26 as I have opened the door to the lounge where it is as cold as it is outside in the morning. Was hoping it could warm it up a bit there, and it did. Now the sun comes out and the lounge will be too warm soon enough. The sun heats it up so much. During a sunny day, there is always a window open. It will get +30 in there.

Instead we have it on 5am to 7am when we leave, then 3pm to 10pm.

And in between these times you set it to a lower temp?

For us, during the day, if it is sunny, which it pretty much always is here, day time is not an issue for the living and lounge. It get's to hot, yes even in winter. As soon as the sun goes away the temp in the house drops real fast. Hence the question if there is a way to get this tested.

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#2531214 30-Jul-2020 09:12

kobiak:

what is the space? what heat pump do you have? double glazing windows usually have winter ventilation toggle, is it set to on?

Space is 4.1 x 8.5

We have a Toshiba cassette heat pump:

Capacity – Rated kW 5.3

Capacity – Range (min~max)

kW 1.5-6.3

A winter ventilation toggle? Not sure what this is. There is a handle that has the option to leave the window open a few mm while still locked. Is this what you mean and if so, what do you suggest?

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#2531215 30-Jul-2020 09:14

mdf:

Where in the country are you? If Wellington, try the Sustainability Trust.

Whakatane, Bay of Plenty :) Thanks though!

kobiak

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#2531219 30-Jul-2020 09:20

Pinpoint:

The room is 4.1 x 8.5 x 2.55. It is an open plan living/ kitchen. Currently sitting at the bar and I feel cold air at my feet. Heat pump on since 6.10am at 26 as I have opened the door to the lounge where it is as cold as it is outside in the morning. Was hoping it could warm it up a bit there, and it did. Now the sun comes out and the lounge will be too warm soon enough. The sun heats it up so much. During a sunny day, there is always a window open. It will get +30 in there.

I have 5kW fujitsu heat pump for ~40 sqm and set it to 22C and heats up the living area within 15-20 mins.

I found the best to set it to swing both directions for much even distribution of the heat. I have one large and 2 smaller windows on west and east side of the room. single glazing. wall insulation.

helping others at evgenyk.nz

kobiak

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#2531221 30-Jul-2020 09:22

Pinpoint:

kobiak:

double glazing windows usually have winter ventilation toggle, is it set to on?

A winter ventilation toggle? Not sure what this is. There is a handle that has the option to leave the window open a few mm while still locked. Is this what you mean and if so, what do you suggest?

yeah that's the one, do you leave it open of fully closed? this would impact heat loss dramatically especially when it's below 10C outside.

helping others at evgenyk.nz

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#2531229 30-Jul-2020 09:30

kobiak:

I have 5kW fujitsu heat pump for ~40 sqm and set it to 22C and heats up the living area within 15-20 mins.

I found the best to set it to swing both directions for much even distribution of the heat. I have one large and 2 smaller windows on west and east side of the room. single glazing. wall insulation.

Reading this I get more and more question marks. My windows are 2.9 long, 3.2 and 1.1 wide and all 2.2 heigh and one is .6 x 2.9. So quite a big surface to loose heat.

timmmay

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#2531230 30-Jul-2020 09:32

Pinpoint:

Much appreciated.

Good point. I might set it to night heating. Although I fear a much higher energy bill. I now have it set to turn on about 20min prior to getting out of bed. It does take the cold of but if you walk around you can still feel cold.

We have a Toshiba cassette heat pump:

Capacity – Rated kW 5.3 Capacity – Range (min~max) kW 1.5-6.3

The Toshiba website says we need 4kw ish. So it should be sufficient. With that said. The installer admitted that the build has said to put in a heat pump that was just about enough to safe cost. I wish I did more research before accepting this one.

The room is 4.1 x 8.5 x 2.55. It is an open plan living/ kitchen. Currently sitting at the bar and I feel cold air at my feet. Heat pump on since 6.10am at 26 as I have opened the door to the lounge where it is as cold as it is outside in the morning. Was hoping it could warm it up a bit there, and it did. Now the sun comes out and the lounge will be too warm soon enough. The sun heats it up so much. During a sunny day, there is always a window open. It will get +30 in there.

And in between these times you set it to a lower temp?

For us, during the day, if it is sunny, which it pretty much always is here, day time is not an issue for the living and lounge. It get's to hot, yes even in winter. As soon as the sun goes away the temp in the house drops real fast. Hence the question if there is a way to get this tested.

Our house has been fully heated since the start of winter, so we leave it off during the day if we're not here. To get the house and contents fully up to heat I suggest you leave the heat pump on for a few days.

We pay $370 a month in the middle of winter to keep our house at 22 degrees, though that includes me working at home most of the time and simply using a fan / oil heater in my office. I think office heating is about $40 a month over what we paid last year for power, pretty good given it costs almost $20 a day for parking.

A heat pump on for 20 minutes will start to make the air warm, but won't warm anything else through. Also, 5kw is fairly small, maybe enough for a space that size if it's not trying to heat other rooms through doorways or anything.

If your house temp drops really quickly when the sun goes away, and it really is heated through to 26 degrees by the sun, something is wrong. Can you get up into the ceiling and look at the insulation? I have about 20 - 30cm thick insulation, did it myself and extra layers do help. Check for gaps, even small gaps make a big difference.

If you have downlights that aren't insulated over then that will be a huge source of heat loss. Make sure they're rated for insulation cover then insulate over them (CAREFULLY check), keeping the driver above the insulation.

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#2531232 30-Jul-2020 09:33

yeah that's the one, do you leave it open of fully closed? this would impact heat loss dramatically especially when it's below 10C outside.

Closed. Except the bedrooms for fresh air and let the condensation get out.

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#2531241 30-Jul-2020 09:43

timmmay:

Pinpoint:

Much appreciated.

Good point. I might set it to night heating. Although I fear a much higher energy bill. I now have it set to turn on about 20min prior to getting out of bed. It does take the cold of but if you walk around you can still feel cold.

We have a Toshiba cassette heat pump:

Capacity – Rated kW 5.3 Capacity – Range (min~max) kW 1.5-6.3

The Toshiba website says we need 4kw ish. So it should be sufficient. With that said. The installer admitted that the build has said to put in a heat pump that was just about enough to safe cost. I wish I did more research before accepting this one.

The room is 4.1 x 8.5 x 2.55. It is an open plan living/ kitchen. Currently sitting at the bar and I feel cold air at my feet. Heat pump on since 6.10am at 26 as I have opened the door to the lounge where it is as cold as it is outside in the morning. Was hoping it could warm it up a bit there, and it did. Now the sun comes out and the lounge will be too warm soon enough. The sun heats it up so much. During a sunny day, there is always a window open. It will get +30 in there.

And in between these times you set it to a lower temp?

For us, during the day, if it is sunny, which it pretty much always is here, day time is not an issue for the living and lounge. It get's to hot, yes even in winter. As soon as the sun goes away the temp in the house drops real fast. Hence the question if there is a way to get this tested.

Our house has been fully heated since the start of winter, so we leave it off during the day if we're not here. To get the house and contents fully up to heat I suggest you leave the heat pump on for a few days.

We pay $370 a month in the middle of winter to keep our house at 22 degrees, though that includes me working at home most of the time and simply using a fan / oil heater in my office. I think office heating is about $40 a month over what we paid last year for power, pretty good given it costs almost $20 a day for parking.

A heat pump on for 20 minutes will start to make the air warm, but won't warm anything else through. Also, 5kw is fairly small, maybe enough for a space that size if it's not trying to heat other rooms through doorways or anything.

If your house temp drops really quickly when the sun goes away, and it really is heated through to 26 degrees by the sun, something is wrong. Can you get up into the ceiling and look at the insulation? I have about 20 - 30cm thick insulation, did it myself and extra layers do help. Check for gaps, even small gaps make a big difference.

If you have downlights that aren't insulated over then that will be a huge source of heat loss. Make sure they're rated for insulation cover then insulate over them (CAREFULLY check), keeping the driver above the insulation.

Thanks again. There is a pretty thick insulation on the ceiling. But it does look a bit messy, due to the down lights. The insulation has been placed over the lights.

But this brings me to my original question. Who would be able to test/ inspect my home. If it is not done properly I want to hold the builder accountable. Council did their inspections but I do not trust them to much. Also they only do a visual inspection and don't measure anything, if that's even possible,

timmmay

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#2531252 30-Jul-2020 09:59

I typed your question into Google and found:

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