Relampago

I guess because of cold weather, humidity, rainfall, etc., is not so prevalent in Spain as it is in the UK, I think that not even in the colder areas of Spain

Therefore, it is understandable that the houses in UK necessarily are better insulated, of the same way that also I understand there is scoundrels builders save money by making lower-quality homes than could be

But is my opinion

Domino

glad you said that...
went out with the dog at lunchtime and looked at the construction of some houses round here and
No Insulation.
Just a concrete pour shell and the usual thin terracotta bricks full of holes for the walls, one wall, nothing on the inside.

no wonder I am so cold in the house I have to go out for a walk to warm up

megmet

The first three months after moving here four and a half years ago we lived in Mijitas Pueblo down on the coast, they were building a block of flats at the back of us and three villas at the front.....not one piece of insulation went into any of those buildings!

Fred James

You won't see the insulation going in. They usually spray PU foam onto the inside of the wall and then build another course of bricks or board in front of it.

Mitzyboy

Ours was breeze block followed by poly insulation followed by ladrillos and screeded with cement on both sides.

megmet

Believe me Fred....it didn't go in, not in any way shape or form!
Perhaps that's why to this day they are still unoccupied.

ForHotspot

For those of you with insulation, do you feel warmer & does it help to reduce heat loss?

Fred James

I'm not disputing that but they mainly use sprayed foam so it might be obvious that it has been used,

Fred James

It's impossible to say without comparing it to an identical house without insulation.

In theory it is bound to improve things but to what extent depends on the individual house.

Domino

Well if the Gulf Stream was to switch off we would all be permanantly much colder even here in Spain, and if we could live at that temperature walk across from France to UK, just not sure if the Bay of Biscay would freeze over to allow a walk from Spain without going via France.

Mitzyboy

One thing which also seems obvious .... our lounge has a circular wall on one side, and it is an outside wall. A friends house nearby has one small part of a wall (2 meters) that is an outside wall, and the rest is internal. The difference in heat in these rooms is tremendous. So even with the insulation there can be so much of a difference. Our balcony has been double glazed. However the external wall is not insulated and is just breeze block, and under the floor is another open balcony downstairs. Its a cold room at this time of year and when heated there is much condensation.

johnnyone

It's not the insulation it's how much energy you use to to get to a comfortable level.
Any insulation will reduce the heat loss but from what I've seen in Spainish new builds its much too little to make much difference.

Mitzyboy

Im also not sure how much truth there can be in this, but last year a neigbour had his house coated in a waterproofer and then painted with a good plastic paint ....... and he says he things its made a difference to the heat in his house

Domino

I would love to use an Infra-Red Thermometer on some of these houses and give the owners a picture of their heat loss

Trouble is Spanish attitude appears to be to complain about it for 3 months and the worry about the reverse for the following 9 months.

In a couple of months time we will be able to boil up a cup of tea without a kettle...........

Fred James

I have just checked the temperature of our insulated/cavity walls using an IR thermometer. The outside wall is 9.4c and the inside wall 19.4c. Room temperature is 20.3c

The walls seems to work OK but the windows are a different matter. They are double glazed but the inside pane is 17.2c and the outside pane 13.2c so you can see where the heat is going!