Skip to main content

Home Energy - Footpaths challenge - Getting to know your home - Checking for draughts

It has been now more than two years that I am living in my home. I cannot claim I know my house very well in order to do all the energy saving changes. Thanks to Footpaths manual, there is a checklist to help in getting to know a home. It encouraged me to do some searches.

A number of energy saving changes were done before we got in the house

  • the 300mm of loft insulation
  • cavity walls filled
  • double glazed windows
  • the hot water tanks and pipes were lagged
We came in the house with good habits such as ensuring that the appliances and gadgets are not on standby and assets - all our lights are energy savings light bulbs. Nevertheless, there are still few things that are ought to be looked into more closely:
  • draught strips around windows and doors
  • heating controls programmed
  • thermostatic valves on radiators
Let start with ensuring that the house is draught-free!



With my beautiful little hand, I went all around the house checking if there were any drafts. I found one.
Under my front door. I now understand why the corridor is always very cold. So what options do I have to fix this little issue from the least expensive to more expensive options
- Do Nothing
- Make with reclaimed material a door draught excluder (see pic)
- Change the door sweeps
- Change the front door
Easy busy!

I have to choose one of those options. I might start with a door draught excluder!


What about you?

Did you check for any drafts in your house?
What did you do about it?


Comments

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ph.D Research - Can you make yourself irreplaceable?

A while ago, I had dinner with this lovely young eastern European woman. It was our first encounter. She has been living in the UK for only two weeks. she had already a job and an accommodation. We started talking about our academic achievement. She mentioned that she had a master in digital literature. I suggested that she could possibly do her Ph.D at the University of Reading. She shrugged and said  'I have been working as a research administrator in a university for two years. I was the one who convinced students not to do their Ph.D.  Ph.D students slave themselves away for three years of their life. They carry out valuable research, write papers and go to conference, yet they are underpaid and they will probably not get a job at the end of it. Academia is an industry where Ph.D are a herd being truthfully exploited.' It was partially true. I started my Ph.D to escape the dogma of some other mainstream form of exploitation I wanted to be my own project. Academ...

How can you get a Ph.D.Scholarship?

Every two weeks or so I am meeting up with my Ph.D supervisors to talk about my research topic. At out last meeting, we finalise my research question... --- 2 Years ago, 1 month after starting my new job, 3 month after finishing my studies, it was clear for me that I wanted to go back to academia. I set up myself to gain a bit of experience and look for a new job. 18 month ago, I had two interviews, one for a knowledge transfer partnership leading to Ph.D with Birmingham City University and one for a Ph.D with Cranfield University on Sustainability and Communications. Deep inside it was not really what I was looking for. 12 month ago, I almost gave up finding the Ph.D. Then, I changed my mind. I systematically send emails to to find the gap where I could jump in 9 month ago I applied for Design Star with the intention to investigate how design for sustainable behaviour and eco-design will contribute to the concept of the Circular Economy. 2 month ago, I started my Ph...

My Cranfield University Review

Cranfield University is a post-graduate only university situated between Bedford and Milton Keynes.  I completed at Cranfield University a Mdes in Design for Innovation and Sustainability in their Centre for Competitive Design between 2011-2012. I was elected as the first Green Officer for the Student Union. I lived on Campus. What were the reasons I chose to study at Cranfield University? Dr Justyna Rybicka completed the same Master at Cranfield a year prior to me, and she encouraged me warmly to attend the university. I was fascinated by the master topic. I was at the time at the University of Northampton scrutinising the reasons why consumers consume so much knowing that the rest of the world is in a pitiful state through a marketing degree. The perspective of understanding further design processes and ways of developing sustainable products were appealing. How was your experience at Cranfield University? My experience was OK. I made some good friends, leading me to...