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YouGen Blog
Air Leakage v Ventilation - Striking the Balance
Posted by Sam Tonge on 15 August 2017 at 2:03 pm
Why is air leakage a problem? Air leakage is widely accepted as a major cause of thermal inefficiency within many of our homes in the UK, accounting for 30% of total heat loss on average. The uncontrolled flow of air through small gaps in our properties can rack up our utility bills as well a…
Condensation and ventilation: preventing damp in your home
Posted by Anna Carlini on 20 June 2017 at 4:50 pm
Ventilation is a surprisingly important element in keeping your heating bills down. How? Because a home that can’t “breathe” is one which traps moisture on the inside and causes damp. Even if a home has high levels of insulation, a damp wall can lose up to 40% more heat than a d…
Draught proofing - how much could you save?
Posted by Alex Barrett on 14 October 2016 at 1:40 pm
Leaky buildings cost a lot of energy. Draughts allow hot air to escape from even the best insulated houses, and can be uncomfortable for those inside. Historic England report that older buildings lose 15-20% of their heat through draughts [1]. Fortunately this can be solved by draught proofing, w…
What works when planning a major refurbishment project?
Posted by Idalia Dawidowska on 30 August 2016 at 11:30 am
My partner and I bought our three bed end of terrace Edwardian house in Chorlton cum Hardy, Manchester, in February 2014. The house had a reasonable Energy Performance rating of 58 (band C) but was in need of a major refurbishment. At this point we weren’t thinking much about energy efficie…
Could home refurbishment be the key to a comfortable retirement?
Posted by Richard Vale on 29 July 2016 at 2:50 pm
As a generation of baby boomers look towards retirement, new thoughts and concerns begin to fill their minds. One consideration that should not be missed is the need to keep warm, healthy and comfortable at home. Keeping out the cold, or rather, keeping in the heat, has been at the forefront …
How can ventilation with heat recovery help your home?
Posted by Helena Ripley on 18 September 2015 at 2:01 pm
The basic theory of a heat exchange or heat recovery system is that heat from one fluid (either a liquid or a gas) is transferred to another fluid (also either a liquid or a gas) without the two fluids mixing. Q. How does a ventilation system with heat recovery work? A. For an explanation…
Which retrofit ventilation system - passive or mechanical?
Posted by Helena Ripley on 16 September 2015 at 10:15 am
Standard ventilation, which is suitable for most houses, uses trickle vents, extractor fans, windows and a lack of airtightness. Extractor fans are located in the ‘wet’ rooms of the house, such as the bathroom and kitchen. Trickle vents in windows allow a small amount of air to move i…
Why does my home need ventilation and what are the options?
Posted by Helena Ripley on 14 September 2015 at 3:40 pm
A house needs to be well ventilated for the comfort of its residents and to help care for the building. A house with poor ventilation can retain moisture and feel draughty or airless. Moisture can condense, leading to problems with damp, while inadequate air flow results in a build-up of indoor a…
Draughty house? What an airtightness test can tell you
Posted by Gabby Mallett on 17 April 2015 at 12:30 pm
What does an airtightness test involve? I recently had an air tightness test done on my home. The goal was to get a good idea of where my house may be leaking air - especially when the heating is on. The conventional blower door test was used. This requires a large fan to be placed…
YouGen's 10 top tips for a warm, energy efficient winter
Posted by Tasha Kosviner on 14 October 2014 at 9:18 am
Brrr. Did you feel that? After such a balmy summer the sudden appearance of autumn is a bit of a shock, right? Now it’s turn on the heating time in many UK homes, here are our top tips to keeping the heating bills down this winter without compromising on warmth. 1. Buy a new woolly! It&…
How to make a 1920s terrace property warm and energy efficient
Posted by Tasha Kosviner on 26 August 2014 at 10:17 am
Making a leaky 1920s house energy efficient is a daunting prospect. But it was experience renovating their previous home – a barge – that gave Jurgen Huber and Zoe Allen the confidence to take on the task. "The practical experience I gained of altering, fitting out, and…
Reader's tip of the month - April 2014
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 30 April 2014 at 9:09 am
This month's tip comes from Lehigh51 who has installed solar PV, solar thermal, a ground source heat pump and rainwater harvesting. "Truly everything has worked as well as I could hope and I am very pleased. My expenditure is within acceptable parameters. My electricity bill is …
Government enlists local authorities to deliver green deal to fuel poor
Posted by Tasha Kosviner on 14 April 2014 at 9:10 am
The government has a new ally in the battle to increase uptake of the foundering green deal: local authorities. Greg Barker has just announced the winners of the bid for a share of the £88m set aside for their so-called green deal communities scheme. The scheme will give …
I am off-gas and on benefits. Can I get help replacing broken storage heaters?
Posted by Tasha Kosviner on 26 March 2014 at 8:41 am
Q. My mother is an 87-year old who lives by herself in her own home and is in receipt of pension credit. Her home is run on electricity and she has three storage heaters. One of these broke a while ago and last week the one in the front room broke. She now has just one working heater wh…
Homebuyers to get grants for energy efficiency measures
Posted by Tasha Kosviner on 9 January 2014 at 9:10 am
Homebuyers need no longer be put off by draughty homes under government plans to offer one-off grants for energy saving measures. The proposal, which is yet to be consulted upon, is likely include a £1,000 discount on stamp duty for basic energy efficient measures and up to £…
10 cheap and easy ways to make your home warmer this winter
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 21 November 2013 at 4:08 pm
The start of this winter's first cold snap really contentrates the mind on ways to keep warm. While you can just turn the heating on for longer, or turn the thermostat up, that's a very expensive way of managing the problem. Luckily, there are other ways of improving the energy efficiency…
Are there really brand new boilers available free of charge?
Posted by Tasha Kosviner on 27 September 2013 at 9:22 am
Q: I have had a phone call from someone offering me a brand new boiler, absolutely free. Is this a scam? A: The phone rings and someone on the end of the line offers you a brand new boiler - absolutely free. Naturally you are sceptical. After months of unsolicited calls offering you…
The UK's most energy-efficient period properties throw open their doors
Posted by Tasha Kosviner on 11 September 2013 at 11:01 am
If you’re considering refurbishing your energy-guzzling period property to make it run more efficiently then here’s a chance to see how others have done it first. SuperHomes Open Days is a countrywide open house scheme where owners of 54 older, retrofitted homes throw open their d…
I have heard that a green deal provider can increase my repayments by two per cent a year. Is this true?
Posted by Tasha Kosviner on 5 August 2013 at 9:49 am
Well, yes, it is. It has been widely publicised that a green deal plan offers a fixed rate of interest, meaning that in most cases, your repayments will remain the same throughout the course of your loan. But a little bit of digging has revealed that there could be circumstances in which your…
My experience of staying in a Passivhaus
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 1 August 2013 at 10:31 am
Having lived in a series of draughty old houses over the years, I've always wondered what it would be like living in a Passivhaus. So when i discovered there was a Passivhaus bed and breakfast in Dartington, Devon where I was due to attend a conference, I booked in. The B&B is one of …
