Underfloor insulation
Emma O'Connor
8 years ago
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junipergirl
8 years agoRomany Lambert Garden Design
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Comments (35)@ambulastar1985 - The lack of insulation in Australian homes is indeed appalling. Coming from a European background where insulation standards are very strict (although they differ from one country to another), I fail to understand why Australia is so behind on that matter. We may not have much cold weather compared to Europe but our summers can be extremely hot and it's silly to rely solely on air-con to regulate temperature. So much energy (and money!) could be saved by just planning the house and insulating it properly to start with, without affecting much the initial cost or construction time frame. In France - which is definitely not a leader in environmental matters! - these days, when selling a house, you have to get an expert to estimate how energy efficient your home is and to indicate the energy rating on the ad and sale documents. Houses that are not energy efficient sell for less and can also be taxed at higher rates by councils. It's been a great incentive to get people to think twice when building and/or renovating....See MoreUnderfloor heating — worth the investment?
Comments (139)If those prices don't include the electrician's costs of connection then to me they don't match up and I'd say your supplier/installer can't do maths lol. Pricing will change between supplier and of course electricians, and of course I'm working off the impression that the floors are flat where you want it installed. If the quote includes the electrical work, as in it covers everything besides tiling to where you can switch it on, then it looks reasonable to me and sits around the ballpark of what we paid. With the electrician's connection costs included then the figures match up better between the bathrooms and the living area, looking at it from a total per m2 viewpoint. If it includes the floor covering as well, then I'd say get on the phone and book the job straight away before they realise their mistake lmao. For instance if the quote is just for material and install, without electrical connection then the two bathrooms are quoted at $166.66 per m2 and the living area is quoted at $53.57 per m2. A large difference at cost per m2. If however the quotes include the electrical connection then you can average out the m2 cost across all three rooms and it amounts to $73.53 per m2. The electrician would be charging the same price for connection of each room (with only minor differences) if there is nothing out of the ordinary in any room. That means it's a static cost in each room that could make the bathroom quotes look inflated, and the living room look on the cheaper side. When you have a m2 quote on something across multiple rooms of different sizes, it's important to factor in anything outside of materials that's included in the quote. Assuming the install could be considered standard (whether it be underfloor heating, tiling, carpet, etc.) there will be other costs involved such as labour hours, wiring connection, installation materials, etc. Some can be considered static such as the electrician installing a single thermostat in each room, whatever actual size that room may be. Others will be more fluid such as labour hours for the tradesmen doing the install - will take a lot longer to lay tiles in a room of 56m2 than it will to lay them in a room 6m2. Whenever you are given a quote involving installations by m2, it's important to get them to detail what exactly is included in the quote. If you don't do this you run the chance of ripping yourself off. Let's say you get 3 different quotes from underfloor heating suppliers who all give you different prices but without details. One may look more expensive than the other two but actually be cheaper overall due to including everything up to 'turn on' phase, where the other two may only include supplying and laying the underfloor heating with you having to organise your own electrician after install....See MoreElectric underfloor heating in Kitchen with engineered wood on slab?
Comments (7)@wayne For hydronics talk to Gary Flood at the Enter Shop. They are in Melbourne but he has installers everywhere. http://www.enter-shop.com.au/ Alternatively Alex at AJs Plumbing http://www.ajsplumbing.com.au/ We generally do in-slab hydronics but have also done it inside a rammed earth wall (at our office so feel free to come and look) and underneath a timber floor (several times including in our office). Insulation is critical. In a slab make sure you insulate the slab edge as well as the underside. When we talk of hydronics we generally use heat pumps to create the hot water (it's free to run if powered by PV). You mentioned wetback stoves (wood powered heating). In my view timber is only a viable option in rural settings. In (sub)urban settings the particulate pollution is a serious health issue and there is a fair chance that at some stage woodstoves will not be permitted by urban Councils. You finished by talking of ducted air conditioning. Regardless of the technology used to generate the heat/coolth, ducted systems are inherently inefficient and, in my view, should be avoided at all costs. The heat pumps can be great but the principle of pushing heated air around requires pump energy (you have to move large volumes of air). Almost all residential installations have flexiduct (not rigid as in commercial offices), the ductwork (aside from a study showing 80% of them did not meet the Australian Standard insulation code) due to its flexi-nature has lots and lots of curves and bends all of which increase the need for pump energy. This is why is it not possible to get a rated systems as you can with a split system; it is totally dependant on installation quality. You also need to be mindful of condensation issues in ductwork as heated air passes through relatively cold roof spaces, again quality of ductwork can be a big factor here....See MoreWill underfloor insulation stop mould?
Comments (3)I don't think so. If you think the problem is under the house then you need to improve ventilation there by adding air vents an fans to dry the air. I have never heard about the system you are using , seems wrong to me. Mould groves in dark and damp places. So to solve the problem keep blinds open at all times, and air as much as you can , you would be better off getting dehumidifier and using it in winter. What kind of heating are using. If it's gas it must be flued out. Ducted aircon will dry the air and help with the problem. Most houses in Australia have that problem, it also depends on the house orientation, it's not so simple ....See MoreNorth Shore Design
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