When embarking on a home retrofit project, many focus on upgrading insulation and installing new windows. However, one critical aspect often overlooked is airtightness. This blog looks at the impact of airtightness on retrofit projects and why it should be a top priority.
In this blog, you’ll learn:
- Why air tightness is important in retrofits
- Challenges posed by air leaks in older homes
- Solutions for improving airtightness during retrofits
- How to address ventilation concerns effectively
Why Airtightness Matters in Retrofit
When it comes to enhancing your home’s energy efficiency, airtightness is a key factor. Air tightness refers to the ability of a building to prevent air leakage through its envelope – walls, roofs, and floors. When a home is airtight, it means that the building envelope effectively prevents uncontrolled air leaks, which can otherwise compromise energy savings and indoor comfort.
Think of a retrofit assessment as a roadmap to your home’s energy efficiency, pinpointing areas for improvement. Airtightness testing, on the other hand, helps identify the uncontrolled leaks, allowing you to address them before they undermine the effectiveness of your retrofit.
The Challenge: Leaks In Our Older Homes
Building regulations have evolved significantly, and older homes often present challenges due to outdated construction standards. Built to vastly different standards to today, older homes are often riddled with leaks. Traditional features like single-glazed windows and thin walls act as weak points, allowing heat to escape and contributing to high energy bills.
Over time, mastic seals around skirting boards and pipes can deteriorate, creating large areas for air to leak into wall cavities. Even a seemingly minor 2mm gap between skirting and floorboards can add up to thousands of millimetres of air leakage throughout your home, losing warm air every second and leading to increased energy loss.
Years of wear and tear can cause structural movement throughout your home, resulting in small cracks and faults in walls and ceilings. These create points of weakness which can become gateways for uncontrolled air leaks. In wet rooms, these leaks can lead to severe damp and mould issues if left unaddressed.
The Solution: Enhancing Retrofit Air Tightness
Implementing air tightness solutions during your retrofit project can significantly boost your home’s energy efficiency. Here’s how:
- Unlock the potential of new systems: Even the latest windows and heating systems won’t perform to their full capacity if existing air leaks are not addressed.
- Utilise cost-effective solutions: Retrofitting for airtightness can include simple measures like replacing deteriorated mastic seals, installing controlling membranes under leaky floors, replastering cracks.
- Post-installation testing: After retrofitting, a follow-up air test can highlight significant improvements and any remaining issues. The final air tightness score cam be included in an EPC, often resulting in an enhanced rating and whole band improvement.
For more insights into air leakage and how to identify and address it, check out our related blog:
Addressing Ventilation Concerns
While improving retrofit air tightness is crucial, it’s equally important to ensure proper ventilation. Improving air tightness can sometimes lead to issues with inadequate ventilation, as reduced uncontrolled airflow may highlight a lack of controlled airflow. This can lead to issues like moisture build up and poor air quality.
To balance airtightness and ventilation:
- Mechanical Ventilation and Heat Recovery (MVHR) systems offer controlled airflow and recover heat from exhausted air.
- Trickle Vents allow for controlled air intake without compromising airtightness.
- Extractor Fans efficiently remove stale air from wet rooms.
- Openable Windows provide purge ventilation and fresh air when needed.
It’s essential to balance air tightness with proper ventilation to prevent problems like damp and mould – when conducting a full house ventilation survey we assess both passive and active routes of ventilation.
Learn more about balancing air tightness and ventilation in our blog:
What’s Next?
Achieving retrofit air tightness is a is a crucial step in any retrofit project to improve your property’s overall performance. It improves energy efficiency, reduces energy costs and increases comfort. Our comprehensive retrofit air test reports provide contractors and property owners with essential information for their retrofit plans, ensuring residents achieve optimal results. For professional air tightness testing, contact our experts today.
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