Having lived with the benefits for a few years, I wanted to tell you a bit about the transformation our home retrofit and extension has made to my family’s life.
In early 2013 we moved into a 1970 semi in North Sheffield. It was a cold winter that year and I vowed not to live in the house another year without doing something about it.
As with many of the best intentions, we didn’t finally start construction work on our project until 5 years later 2018!
And we didn’t move back in until spring 2019.
Was the wait worth it?
Definitely; the house, whilst still not finished (are the best projects ever complete?), is a delight. These are some of the benefits we enjoy every day:
Energy: Our energy supplier has recently reduced our monthly direct debit for the 3rd time in the last couple of years. With ultra low heating and hot water demand, our combined gas and electric bills are less than £1,000 per year. This also means we’re saving carbon emissions every day.
Winter comfort: We only have one radiator. Despite this, the house maintains a comfortable 20-21 degrees year round. There are no cold spots or draughts to make heated spaces feel uncomfortable.
Summer comfort: High quality wood fibre insulation, excellent air-tightness and mechanical ventilation means our home hasn’t risen above 26 degrees, even with outside temperatures of 35+.
Health: With no cold spots, internal condensation is a thing of the past. The mechanical ventilation changes the air in the house once every 3 hours with minimal heat loss. This keeps the air fresh and the chance of asthma and other respiratory issues to a minimum.
Space: The house is only about 20m2 bigger than it was, but with careful design it feels more spacious and has given us a proper 4th bedroom, a utility room, ground floor shower room and a much bigger kitchen.
Light: The house had some dark “landlocked” spaces; especially the first floor landing. Introducing rooflights and carefully placed windows has made these delightfully light-filled.