Green property: how to draught-proof your home

By Sarah Lonsdale 300PM GMT 09 March 2010

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Sarah Londdale block draughts and revoke bills Photo ANDREW CROWLEY

Im kneeling on the playroom floor, head median up the chimney, floating on a hulk inflatable. No, Im not receiving piece in a small uncanny salon diversion Im perplexing to save a couple of pounds on the gas bill.

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Over the years we have finished the draughty Twenties residence some-more appetite efficient, with form wall insulation, mount in glazing and additional loft insulation; however the icy breeze that sweeps off the sea keeps perplexing to find ways in to the north Kent home. It scythes underneath doors, blusters down chimneys and creeps by the letterbox my hold up seems to be one prolonged conflict to keep it out quite as the gas check for the winter entertain has arrived and stirred unbending whiskies.

There are, however, majority ideas and products to hand, a small new and a small centuries old, all claiming to block draughts and revoke bills, so with screwdriver in one palm and mouth acceleration blood vessel in the other, Ive been contrast a couple of on the crevices.

INSULATED LETTERBOX FLAP

Weve finished multiform catastrophic attempts to understanding with this problem. We thought of boarding it up exactly and carrying an American-style stand-alone mailbox, but in the area it would be firm to capture unwelcome courtesy from the internal well read multitude or finish up being filled with drink cans.

Weve attempted assorted bolt-on cosmetic frames with brushes opposite the opening, but possibly these are terribly flimsy, or the postman is quite enterprising the covering strap regularly breaks off inside of days.

We have, however, found success with the Ecoflap, a new, strong letterbox insulator, that is screwed onto the inside of the front doorway and removes draughts utterly and has so far stood up to the postmans powerful shoving.

Of all the draught-busting products I tried, this was the majority in effect and has finished a genuine disproportion to the mezzanine area.

DRAUGHT EXCLUDERS

Not a new concept, but one that is being ceaselessly tinkered with. The ultimate version has solved the complaint of the vital room door, that is really bad fitting, and leads onto a draughty mezzanine that is in redundant use, so a sausage dog-type excluder along the building would not work. German manufacturer Wenko has invented an superb resolution door-width cylinders of insulating polystyrene, assimilated by a support of element so the excluder can slip underneath the doorway and stays in place no make a difference how mostly you open or close it. It wouldnt work on an outmost doorway with an disproportionate starting point however, and is not as flattering as the selected fabric lizard placed opposite the front doorway after the last part of of the family has come home for the night. The lizard is additionally filled with buckwheat husks, so if it ever came to it, we could spin it in to blinis.

DRAUGHT-STRIPPING THE FRONT DOOR

This was a pursuit we got finished in summer and given Jan has been exceedingly tested. We paid a carpenter �75 to implement the wooden grooved support on the outmost side of the doorway frame, but B & Q sell multiform varieties of bottle strips from less than �7 a metre. The outcome is positively improved than before, but still a candle fire gutters when hold opposite the support on inclement nights. It is probable to fit insulated doorway and support doorsets, finished by the Green Building Store in Huddersfield. These are airtight, and heed to ""passivhaus standards, but are pricey from about �1,200 a doorway and frame.

CHIMNEY PILLOW

This is the means of the kneeling and inflating procession and the pure sham sealed in to place in the outworn playroom funnel inside of 4 or five puffs. Another elementary thought that functions and has dramatically marked down the chilliness of the playroom. The usually premonition is not to over-inflate the sham it needs to be a small soft so it lets air by the little gaps in between it and the funnel breast differently but ventilation, precipitation can set up up and means damp. In summer, it can be deflated, private and taken on holidays.

WHERE TO FIND WHAT

US mailbox and mount �82.90 from simplypostboxes.co.uk

Stormguard brush and strap letterbox complement �11.49 from homebase.co.uk

Ecoflap �20 from nigelsecostore.com

Vintage fabric lizard bottle excluder, right �22 refab.co.uk

Wenko bottle excluder �8.95 from nigelsecostore.com

Draught stripping �7.67 per metre from B & Q diy.com

Ecoplus insulated doorsets �600 per sq m, greenbuilding store.co.uk

Chimney sham �18.99 from nigelsecostore.com

SEND YOUR QUESTIONS to Sarah at Life, The Sunday Telegraph, 111 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 0DT or email asksarah@telegraph.co.uk