I was recently called to a newly built property where the homeowners reported that the bedrooms were often only around 14oC, even with the heating on. The house had good levels of insulation, tested airtightness, an air source heat pump, underfloor heating and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR), as well as a log burner in the lounge. All of the technologies were installed well and the controls were properly commissioned. On my visit the rooms were all the correct temperature, so it was one of those occasions when no fault can be found because no fault is immediately evident.
DAVID HILTON is an expert in sustainable building and energy efficiency, and is a director of Heat and Energy Ltd
Luckily, the homeowners had been monitoring the problem. It seemed that the rooms were only getting cold on some nights or on certain weekends. I checked the rooms’ thermostats and found no issues with the schedule. I also checked the hot water demand, as it’s common for hot water to take priority over space heating. However, even if that had been happening (which it wasn’t in this instance) it would not have accounted for such a rapid and dramatic drop in room temperature.