{"id":8797,"date":"2026-02-20T16:14:46","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T15:14:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=8797"},"modified":"2026-02-20T16:14:46","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T15:14:46","slug":"insulate-insulate-insulate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=8797","title":{"rendered":"Insulate insulate insulate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">There haven\u2019t been many blog posts recently since I\u2019ve been hard at work on the house! Plus WordPress has been playing up. Something I\u2019ve only partially managed to solve. <\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">My big aim has been to fundamentally unequivocally reduce our gas usage. In November 2023 we replaced most of our double glazing but our gas usage stayed stubbornly high (this was partly due to a change in working patterns). However I would like to see a definite drop in consumption beyond that allowing for a reduction in the number of people that has taken place recently in the house and more working from home. The easiest time to do any additional insulation of course is when your doing something else.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">In a previous post <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">I said I\u2019d taken the Parquet floor up <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">in the dining room <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">and donated it on freecycle<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">. <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">For those who don\u2019t know a<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"> Parquet floor is a patterned floor \u2013 <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">in our case <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">made of <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">four <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">small <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">wooden <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">rectangles formed into squares. <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">These <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">were <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">then grouped in<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">to<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"> further 4 by 4 groups <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">(as far as the room\u2019<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">s size and shape<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"> allowed<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">)<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">. A<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">esthetically <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">I\u2019ve never liked it. Recently we had the front hall <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">boards varnished and polished. <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">I thought the boards underneath <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">in the dining room<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"> would look better and would lighten a fairly dark room <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">hence getting rid of the floor above<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">. <\/span> <span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">We\u2019ve<\/span> <span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">had<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"> a third PV system put in. This require<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">d<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"> running cable under the dining room floor <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">from the system to the main board<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">. At the same we\u2019re going have a cable laid for an electric cooker at some point in the near future <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">taking the same route <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">and a cable for a heat pump or other electric heating in the future<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">. This is the excuse I needed since it necessitated taking up <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">at least three <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">bits of the floor. <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">That and the room <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">was<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"> in dire need of redecoration <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">which we also planned to do<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">. So I decided to<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"> insulat<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">e<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"> underneath using the same method I used in the hall. This involves hanging the insulation (<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">in this case <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">glass mineral wool) <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">between the floor joists. <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"> I <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">couldn\u2019t<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"> d<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">o <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">some <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">where<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"> pipes and wires <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">run <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">but I\u2019ve done 9<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">8<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">% of it. <\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">A<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">fter this I did under another room which we were going to redecorate and then have the <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">boards varnished and polished.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">Another place I\u2019ve <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">insulat<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">ed<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"> is round the windows <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">using the same type of <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">glass<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"> wool insulation<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">. <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">These are surrounded by <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">wooden panels. By tapping <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">them <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">like in the lounge I reckoned <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">by the hollow sound <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">there would be a gap between the wood and the stone. In most cases I\u2019ve been right so far although <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">in some cases the old disused shutters are underneath.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">Doing this then<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"> involves cutting bits of panel off <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">then dropping or pushing bits of insulation into the gaps <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">then sticking the panel back on<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">. This <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">effort <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">has made a dramatic difference <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">to the room temperature <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">in one room in which I\u2019m writing this<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">.<\/span> <span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">(I\u2019ve monitored the temperature for a while). <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">In another bedroom I managed to insulate the panels alongside <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">the radiator and behind it. Taking the cover off and enlarging the gap at the top with a chisel allowed the packing of insulation into the gap behind the radiator which is on outside wall. <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">There is a considerable space behind the radiator panel since the stone is not \u2018dressed\u2019 (regular).<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">S<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">o far so good and the cost <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">is <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">about \u00a3<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">2<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">00<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">ish for all the above<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">. Note. <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">I\u2019ve been re-pointing the outside of the building with lime so the walls are breathable \u2013 meaning no vapour barrier <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">and <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">therefore<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"> no mold issue <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">internally<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">. <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">Our usage of gas has dropped by about 1MW so far.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">The photo below shows insulation in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-cover\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"480\" height=\"640\" class=\"wp-block-cover__image-background wp-image-8798\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_3364-rotated.jpeg\" data-object-fit=\"cover\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_3364-rotated.jpeg 480w, https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_3364-225x300.jpeg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><span aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-cover__background has-background-dim\"><\/span><div class=\"wp-block-cover__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-cover-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-large-font-size\"><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There haven\u2019t been many blog posts recently since I\u2019ve been hard at work on the house! Plus WordPress has been playing up. Something I\u2019ve only partially managed to solve. My big aim has been to fundamentally unequivocally reduce our gas &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=8797\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Insulate insulate insulate - The oil lamp - shining God&#039;s light on peak oil<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=8797\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=8797\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=8797\",\"name\":\"Insulate insulate insulate - 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