Is your home draughty?

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

Apparently, we're a nation of 'leaky' homes and 25 million existing UK homes will not meet the insulation standards by 2050, as reported by the BBC.

What's your home like? Can you identify with the above - is your home draughty, cold and uncomfortable? Tell us what you are doing about it so you can help others! Equally, if your home is toasty and comfortable, share the home improvements you might have undertaken to combat a draughty building.

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Yes, it's draughty!

No, it's comfortable

Other - tell us!

Featured Answer

glynisrailton

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

We solved a draughty window problem (wooden sliding sash) in our Grade 2 listed house by using a fantastic product for gaps in wooden floors. StopGap is inexpensive, quick and easy to apply (and an easily removable product) that has made a huge difference to our home. Bought online the items arrived speedily and as requested. Simple plastic strips that fold and insert into gaps (floors and windows) and stop draughts immediately - no special skills or tools needed. comes in neutral or brown to match your requirements. I have no affiliation to this company...it's just a brilliant product...and I wish someone had told me about it sooner.. Product can be found at: stopgaps.com

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Comments (15)

Andrew
7 years ago
Recently had the door air-blower test done and got 0.21 ACH
PRO
Sandra Lawson Interiors
7 years ago
I have Georgian windows which are draughty and single glazed- my flat is in a Listed building so I can't have modern DG windows. While I save up for new wooden framed windows with new slim double glass, I have heavy, floor length curtains that work very well and look fab. I have the outer doors and French doors sealed around the edges which helps too. I don't have sanded floors as they are often the biggest culprit for draughts but instead have an insulated floating floor.
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User
7 years ago
After a big refurbish, our new house is so much warmer. However, being very sensitive to cold, I'm like a draught detecting machine and have identified pockets around the house which need attention.

The windows have made a huge difference and having plantation shutters added have also helped. When you open the slats a little you can feel the cold air trapped between the shutter and the windows. Very nifty.

There is a huge draught behind the kitchen cabinets, mainly the sink and the corner cabinet which sit on external walls.

under the stairs kicks out a gust where the flooring isn't quite sealed around the wall and the pipes run out to th garage. So long as we keep the door shut, it's fine.
Helena Markou
7 years ago
Had an energy advisor visit this week. We have a few cavity walls that can be filled and as house is built on a slope there is crawl soace under the ground floor that will allow extra insulation to be laid under the floor. We are in Scotland and it can get cold, so most evenings we snuggly up under a big duvet on the sofa.
Pam Carey
7 years ago
As with kele_dickens, the area near my kitchen sink is fffrrreezing in winter. My kitchen is at the north-east corner of the house & the sink area is tucked into a small extension jutting out in that direction (someone told me such an extension is called a "Blackburn sink"). The kitchen is so tiny that there is no room for a radiator & the little electric heater fitted below one unit is at the opposite end of the kitchen! (not by my design!) Cue freezing feet when doing anything at the sink. I've stuffed insulating fleece behind the unit under the sink & bubble wrap too. Heath Robinson would be proud!
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Catherine Lepreux Interiors
7 years ago
We have original sash windows in our living room with external secondary glazing which is coming to the end of its lifespan. In the meantime, thick interlined curtains keep the cold air and drafts out.
We have underfloor heating in the more modern bits of the house, which is FAB!
Tidy Towers
7 years ago
We had our Victorian sash windows draughtproofed with brushes inserted into the sides. It's made a big difference. Lined curtains in the bay windows. Upstairs, our loft conversion was done to modern standards with lots of Kingspan solid insulation and Dulux double glazed windows. We barely need to put the radiators on up there, it's totally different.
liz gear
7 years ago
Draught isn't always a bad thing. Years ago we had a Victorian house with all attendant draughts. We never had any problems with condensation despite living in wet Devon.

Also we never worried about the radon gas- we lived in a granite area- on the grounds that any gas would soon blow out!
PRO
Sandra Lawson Interiors
7 years ago
Indeed Liz Gear- an airflow in each room is necessary to avoid condensation - it's just getting the balance of what's fresh air and what's a draught!
lisa77226
7 years ago
I just sold my home which was a completely renovated (by me) Victorian mid terrace. We had installed excellent double glazing, a brand new very efficient boiler and new rads with thermostats in every room. But my God was that house the most draughty place ever!!!! Not only was it cold on the ground (rads could actually make it warm when needed) but the dust throughout my house was beyond comprehension!!!! It all came through the floorboards (also refinished!) and skirting. Note to those wishing to refinish their floors... take them up first and insulate from below!!

I still loved that house though.... (it was just in the wrong county)
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Fusion interior design
7 years ago
Our house was built in the 1920's and is single skin so no cavity wall insulation. We moved in at the end of January (a few years back) and as there was no proper central heating and crittall windows it was freezing!! We now have central heating; double glazing; a log burner; and I've taken all the floors up and installed insulation. We also had a porch fitted at the front which made a massive difference.
Jan Johnson
7 years ago
Better to have draughts than an airtight house. I miss my few leaky bits around windows, now with new ones they fog up on the inside and takes a couple of hours until i can look out of them. also curtains are getting mould.
liz gear
7 years ago
Here in Devon we have weeks on end of rain/mist/fog/drizzle. It all makes for an unpleasant muggy feeling. Often the house is a bit chilly but being "hermetically sealed" ( most of our windows are triple glazed) it soon feels uncomfortably enervating if we put the heating on.
PRO
Ecoflap
7 years ago
This is a fascinating discussion (well it is to those of use who think about draught exclusion for a living!). It's vital to get the right balance of draught excluding and ventilation and as is clear from previous comments it's different from property to property. Large projects such as new windows and floors can make an enormous difference but so can seeing to little jobs such as blocking a chimney if/when it's not in use, fitting heavy curtains over tricky doors and windows, and ensuring your pet door and letter box aren't badly fitted, intrinsically badly designed or falling apart.

Is your home draughty?

glynisrailton

Comments (15)

Andrew

Sandra Lawson Interiors

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