Warm Loft or Cold Loft?

[alanka]

I've long had this idea floating around in my head, but I've not really discussed it with anyone -- till now. It's nothing new, but in the UK at least it seems very rarely encountered.

That is, why don't we remove some of the insulation from our loft floors, and instead thickly insulate the roof rafters? (There is special semi-rigid insulation material available for this application.) This way we would have moderately cool -- but not freezing -- lofts in the winter. Leaving a certain amount of insulation on the loft floor would allow a little heat from the rooms below to trickle up into the loft to stop it from falling below zero, but yet sufficient insulation to stop the loft getting needlessly warm and therefore wasting heat energy.

The main advantages of this proposal would be: no risk of frozen pipes and tanks, and no condensation problems. Also, the water in the cold water tank would be a few degrees warmer and so would heat up quicker in the hot water cylinder, leading to faster hw recovery times.

Obviously our fuel bills would rise slightly -- because we would be heating a bit more of the house -- but not by much. And some of this expenditure would be recovered in faster hw recovery times, and of course, fewer burst pipes!

What do you reckon?

Cheers, Big Al

This message was edited by alanka on 12-11-05 @ 10:11 AM
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Cheers, Big Al

[diybloke]

Most loft spaces are vented to the outside so as to avoid condensation and dampness. It would be very difficult to keep most loft spaces warm

[alanka]

You're right, but the reason condensation occurs -- which in turn needs adequate ventilation to clear -- is because the lofts are kept so very cold!

Allow them to be a few degrees warmer and the condensation problem would diminish or disappear. You would then be able to reduce the ventilation required, which would make it easier to keep the loft slightly warmer than usual. The loft would still be described as 'chilly' rather than 'warm' -- certainly no place to lounge around in!

Cheers, Big Al
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Cheers, Big Al