A draught check of the house. Have you ever thought about that? In the Netherlands, there are rules for insulation, but there is no such thing yet for airtight building. The result? We insulate ourselves silly, but there is no check for holes and cracks through which precious heat also seeps away. Saskia was visited by the guys from tochtcheck.nl to find out the state of her ‘well’ insulated terraced house.
An insulated house yet always fresh
In cooperation with tochtcheck.nl
In our beautiful 1970s terraced house, we have already taken many measures to make the house more sustainable. Cavity wall insulation? Check! Floor insulation? Check! Shell insulation in the crawl space? Check! HR++ glass? Check! And yet I'm often cold in winter. Or rather drafty. Am I imagining it or am I just a chivery? I've always thought it was the latter, as we've made the house quite durable. Until I ordered a draught check and discovered that heat is seeping away unnecessarily in key areas of the house. The roof, the front door, the windowsill... Pooh, quite a shock. Bring on new draught strips and insulation material. There's work to be done!
How exactly does a draught check work? I asked Ivar Hilhorst, one of the founders of draughtcheck.nl, as he went through my house with an infrared camera and smoke machine, hunting for gaps and holes!
How exactly does a draught check work?
‘We always come with a team of two and will actually start with a number of measurements immediately upon entry. Here, we will first look at the humidity and CO2 levels in the living space(s). These values are important in our advice to properly regulate the balance between airtightness and ventilation. I, or one of my colleagues, will then go through the entire house to close the ventilation grilles, tape off (or dismantle) smoke detectors, turn off the central heating boiler and open all internal doors. Meanwhile, the other colleague can start setting up the blower door system. This is a frame in the front door with a large fan at the bottom. With this system, we measure, among other things, the ACH value (this stands for air changes per hour, or the time it takes to change all the air in the houses). And put the entire house at negative pressure.
A draught check of my house.
With this, we actually simulate a cold winter day where the cold air is pulled in through all the cracks and seams. Then one of us stays inside and the other can go outside with the smoke machine. We will then check all windows, window frames, doors and areas around the house with a smoke test. During the smoke test, we can also see on an infrared camera where the heat leaks are located. Smoke will be sucked in at these spots and this will allow us to understand where the areas for improvement are in the house.’
What do you know after a draught check?
‘After the draught check, you know exactly at which points your precious heated air leaves the house again. We show you which points you can improve to increase comfort and reduce energy bills. The measured values also give an indication of the indoor climate in your living environment. We give tips and advice on how to make improvements for a healthy and comfortable indoor climate.
What can you do to improve it?
‘You will receive a full report from us afterwards with tailored advice. Depending on the situation, you can choose to solve the found heat leaks yourself (if you are handy), or we can put you in touch with reliable contractors and/or carpenters. This really depends on the things we find. This is different in every situation, which is why we are also not fans of false promises that you are guaranteed to start saving a certain percentage.’
Don't you risk everything becoming too jarred?
‘Good ventilation is definitely very important when insulating and airproofing your home. For this reason, we also measure humidity and CO2 levels. Based on this, we also give advice on ventilation. We are big fans of heat recovery (WTW systems). What is important to know: good ventilation continues 24 hours and is regulated. So drafts or opening a window is not optimal ventilation.
Why does good insulation say nothing about draughts?
‘There are countless insulation companies springing up like mushrooms. A very large percentage of these are real cowboys who don't care about proper installation. Believe me, we really do come across the craziest things... Also, there are no standards regarding airtight construction in renovation projects (partly there are for new construction projects). So unfortunately we really do come across too many cases where good measures have been taken but the installation or placement is not airtight. This does not matter for an energy label; when these measures are taken, your energy label will be improved. So the work actually remains uncontrolled.’
Is your draught excluder in place?
Did you know that in four million houses, the front door's draught strip is the wrong way round? As a result, it does not close when the wind blows, but instead opens. Result: draught! Having a draught excluder installed by an experienced handyman is no guarantee. It is very often done wrong, even for pros it is sometimes difficult to see how the draught strip should be fitted. Ivar: ‘In nine out of ten houses we visit, the draught strip is the wrong way round!’
Source: draughtcheck.nl
How many people are potentially affected by draughts?
‘It is difficult to quote a percentage here because it depends on several factors. Think of the year the house was built, is it in an area with a lot of wind, other weather conditions, etc. In practice, we find that basically every home suffers from draughts. Airtight construction was never really taken into account, so there were no checks on this. We simply see that the biggest measures, such as the installation of triple glazing, for example, are not carried out properly, resulting in heat leaks. There are so many places where precious heated air is lost. We often compare a home to a thermos jug with everyone currently focusing on the wall of the jug (insulation). In doing so, not enough attention is simply paid to the cap of the thermos (heat leaks). Your hot coffee or tea is then no-time cooled down and you can reheat everything again.’
Also want a draught check of your home?
Are you also feeling chilly at home, are the blankets and cups of tea in short supply or just wondering about the airtightness of your home, perhaps because you are considering a heat pump? Contact us without obligation with Ivar, Mylan and Martel from draught check.nl for a free strategy discussion. A draught check of your home costs between €595 and €995, depending on your living space. If you tell us that you're using thegreenlist.nl comes, then you will get 10% discount on a draught check. Good luck and give them your regards! Hopefully next winter, you'll be warm again too!
More energy-saving tips from thegreenlist.nl
- Also see: Make saving energy a game with the help of EnergyFlip!
- Also see: easy energy-saving tips to reduce your gas bill.
Photo credits: thegreenlist.nl.
