Old needn't be cold - but do shut that door

To keep the weather out and the heat in, try simple solutions like curtains and draught excluders

COMEDIAN Des Bishop made a name for himself poking fun at our obsession with heating bills in his immersion heater sketch. It captured family life in the 1980s and is still illustrative of home life now, 30 years later.

Paul Arnold is a conservation architectand lecturer at the School of Architecture in UCD who shares his mid-terrace home with seven others, his wife Marie and their six children. He's also author of a series of booklets on Energy Efficiency in Traditional Buildings, and a key speaker in a series of seminars on the topic starting today.

By today’s standards eight in a household is a lot. It’s a lot of people switching on lights, leaving lights on, leaving doors open, not to mention the multiple mobile phone chargers and computer terminals. Their daily thru-flow probably causes an air flow system big enough to be measured by Met Eireann.

So what’s it like trying to police that much energy? “The children are very economical when it comes to using their pay-as-you-go phones, less so when it comes to energy bills,” Arnold says tactfully.

As households scrutinise their utility bills, huddled over heat sources like something out of Dickens, it is comforting to know that there are some simple solutions to winter-proofing your home. And it is easier and cheaper than you think.

Traditional and historic Victorian, Regency and Georgian homes have the potential to be highly efficient as long as you deal with the leaks and draughts, says Arnold.

The simplest, cheapest measures are often the most cost-effective, he says. One of the property’s main features is its original windows. These are single-glazed but benefit from facing south. “During the day this window (in the living room) emits more heat than a double-glazed window would. At night we use the working shutters to keep the heat in,” he says.

Draughts account for 10 to 15 per cent of all heat lost in a house, he explains. “Hanging curtains on windows reduces air flow. They’re a highly efficient way of trapping in heat.” Choose curtains that have a thermal lining.

An old style, interlined curtain inside the front door will further exclude winter chills and it’s something the Arnolds are about to put up. Arnold also recommends sealing front door gaps with an off-the-shelf draugh-excluder, available from all good DIY shops.

Open fires are immensely inefficient, says Arnold, as he sits in front of a lovely 1920s example in his own livingroom. “But chimneys need to work to ventilate the house. Traditional and historical homes work on a different principle to modern homes. The walls get wet and have to dry out, which is why you need good ventilation.

“A good stove, like the one in the den downstairs, is far better than an open fire as long as it is burns a low-carbon material such as wood.” The family burn Wicklow timber from managed forests, which is supplied by Pat Staunton in Glenealy.

When it comes to switching off lights and closing doors to keep the heat in, the Arnolds are like all other families. They could do better, he says. “Families who use visual meters to monitor their energy usage report immediate savings. He hasn’t invested to date but has installed thermostatic heads to control the temperatures of each individual radiator.

“Insulating your attic is equivalent to wearing a hat in winter, says Brian Dowd of the ESB’s new home energy efficiency service Halo, which helps advise homeowners of the products and installation services available to maximise energy savings in their home. Halo will also supply and fit.

Up to one-third of the energy from a house is lost through the roof, Dowd says. “Insulating a typical four-bedroom house will cost in the region of €400 to €500 and is easy to do.”

An efficient boiler is another way to save money and energy, says Arnold. Older boilers waste a lot of heat, confirms Dowd. “Heat escapes up through the flu. The life-span of a boiler is only seven to 10 years. If yours is at the end of its life cycle, consider a condenser boiler. This upgrade will cost approximately €2,000. At present a grant for €700 is available, which is approximately one-third of the cost of a new boiler.”

But before you do that, have the boiler serviced. A service can significantly improve its performance, says architect Dermot Bannon of RTÉ's Room To Improve. Call your local plumber. This will cost from €80 upwards.

In addition to insulating the attic, you need to lag your pipes, says Bannon. “You can do this yourself, all the materials are available at good DIY shops.”

But what do you do if your home is coming down with damp? Damp and humidity are a real issue in the west and south of the country, says Arnold. It takes an inordinate amount of energy to dispel damp. Damp walls are only half as good as dry walls at keeping out the cold. Be vigilant about fixing leaking rain water pipes and unblock guttering regularly.

There are other remedies but they are more expensive. Double glazing, for example, only pays for itself over a 40-year period, says Arnold. Curtains are a cheaper option. Choose timber-frame windows but first establish whether the windows need replacing or repairing. There are substantial window- repair grants available for protected structures.

Before you do anything pay a visit to the website of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland. Heat Your Home For Less offers simple solutions and there is information on the various grant schemes. “The Government says it is committed to the grant schemes,” says Dowd “but we don’t know what will happen in the budget.” Apply now, lest changes are afoot.

And in the meantime start saving all those laddered pairs of tights. They’re the perfect shape to make old-fashioned draught excluders. I’m sure Des Bishop will be able to work that into one of his next routines.

• PAUL ARNOLD will speak at a series of five seminars around the country on energy efficiency in historic houses, starting today in Galway. They are organized by The Irish Georgian Society in association with the ESB, Sustainable Energy Authority Ireland (SEAI), the Department of the Environment and local authorities. The seminars cost €40. Tel 01-6767053, igs.ie.

• For more on the ESB's Halo service call 1850-3723333

Staying warm

• Insulate the attic

• Lag pipes

• Lag the hot water tank

• Insulate doors and windows with heavy thermal-lined curtains

• Use old tights to make old-fashioned draft-excluders – not pretty but effective.