Welcome to the
retrofit revolution
Rising fuel bills are fast making insulation and
secondary glazing essential for period properties.
Mitchell & Dickinson has developed groundbreaking
solutions and its director Mukti Mitchell tells the story
of glazing one of the most beautiful estates in the UK
‘W
e’ve had significant
experience of
secondary glazing
windows in period properties
since we launched our unique
CosyGlazing system seven
years ago,’ says Mukti.
‘And while we’ve secondary glazed
lots of domestic properties, an area for
development has been working with
listed buildings on private estates. We’re
currently in the third year of insulating
the entire village of Clovelly on the North
Devon coast, with three years remaining.
‘The stunning listed village by the sea gets
a battering from the elements in winter,
and so the objectives of estate owner John
Rous were to improve warmth and comfort
for tenants, reduce heating bills and raise
the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)
ratings to E or above.
‘John commissioned a number of test
properties before proceeding with the
insulation of the entire village of 114
homes. Due to the heritage of the village,
we chose to start with measures that least
affected the historic fabric of the buildings.
‘We focused initially on those that attract
the highest level of grants under the
ECO scheme, which were sloping ceiling
insulation and loft installation. In the first
phase we completed 50 properties with
these two measures, complemented by
draught proofing. In phase two we added
an advanced secondary glazing system.’
Loft insulation is relatively straightforward,
but key concerns are avoiding burst pipes
and condensation. 100mm or less of
insulation allows warmth up from the house
which stops pipes bursting, so when this
is topped up to 300mm, loft temperatures
can drop significantly. Therefore all pipes
must be meticulously lagged, ensuring
every single inch is covered and all joints
must be taped.
Many bedrooms in the village have either a
small area of flat ceiling above the middle of
the room and sloping ceilings going down
from there to a low solid wall, or vaulted
ceilings. The slopes have no more than a
sheet of plasterboard between the room
and the space between the rafters through
which external temperature air flows up to
the loft to keep the rafters and beams in
good condition.