This has nothing to do with NET ZERO.
It is to provide: -
- Vastly reduced energy consumption in the UK, fewer new power stations.
- Maximum home comfort, no more cold or hot or damp homes.
- Due to 2, a large reduction in visits to hospital reducing costs to the NHS.
When insulating the exterior face of the building you are trying to obtain STS (structural thermal storage), i.e. getting then walls and contents to remain at a sleeping temperature summer and winter so that the structure is the radiators.
It is obvious to any building services engineer that the Great British Insulation Scheme will cause mould as insulating a building seals the building.
When we live in a building we produce water from breathing, sweating, bathing, cooking etc. and if it is sealed then the water can’t escape and mould grows, an adequate mechanical means of water extraction must be installed. Heat recovery extract fans and heaters must be installed in bath / shower rooms and kitchens and reversible air-to-air heat pumps (RAAHPs) installed elsewhere.
The reversible air-to-air heat pumps (RAAHPs) are not those with radiators as they inefficient as radiators need 80°C and heat pumps can’t get anywhere near that temperature and they do NOT take out water. RAAHPs can provide hot air at 30°C or cold air at 16°C or any temperature in between, whatever the temperature is outdoors, at the turn of a switch and they remove water at the same time. They are the cheapest way to provide heating and can be installed in any property. They must be installed by Fgas registered engineers. They have an outside unit, floor standing or fixed high on an external wall and small fan units high on the wall in the room where they are needed, they are very quiet and cost as little over £1000 per room. The pipework can be installed within the structural thermal storage external insulation, so the installation can involve little disruption.
The only maintenance required is to clean the filters regularly which anybody can do with a vacuum cleaner. If there is a problem the RAAHP just stops working.
They don’t provide hot water so the boiler would need to remain, or an electric boiler can be fitted, if there is a immersion heater that will do the job.
I have had this system fitted for 10 years with no problems and very small heating bills.
The Great British Insulation Scheme is a grant for the screwing roofing battens every 60cm onto the existing pebbledash/render of concrete or brick (solid or cavity) walled homes and over that 7cm insulation board and then sealing the building with coloured silicone render. The insulation of RAAHPs must be a requirement to enter the Great British Insulation Scheme otherwise it is a grant for damp homes.
John Greengrass
