Ideas on insulation

[Booldawg]

Our house is a nightmare to heat; due to the design.

It has what I can only describe as a lower floor extension (at the back) that isnt constructed from proper building materials; ie bricks, breeze blocks and a cavity. On the outside it has a kind of brick 'effect' but I suspect its fairly thin concrete panels. All plaster boarded on the inside so it doesnt look 'odd'.

There are no internal doors between between our front hallway and the french windows at the back of the extension. This means the design of our house is fairly 'straight through' and alot of the heat gets loss partly due to this and partly due to the usage of non-insulating building materials in the extension.

There is an archway between our living room and the extension. I'm thinking of getting a wood framed doorway (the kind with glass panels) put in. Would this help immensely?

I know its hard to explain without drawing diagrams! Also the only access to our kitchen is via the rear extension.

[Count-A-Strong]

The doors would help considerably (if they were double glazed). You can get insulating materials to put on the inside of the walls and then replasterboard over the top but this is obvioulsy a big-ish job. Kingspan are one company who have such materials but as you can see, they are mant as additional insulation to traditionally constructed walls:
http://www.insulation.kingspan.com/uk/k18.htm
I suspect if the walls aren't traditional, neither is the roof therefore insulating the walls may not be very efficient.

[Booldawg]

yes it a flat, felted roof.

I did look at various sites, not sure if its cavity walls or solid walls on our house. solid wall insulation is very expensive.

I think the doors will help. At least that will keep the lounge warm.

[rowanwitch]

and thick curtains that hang down to cover the walls as well we have winter curtains in our conservatory and they make a lot of difference.

[nonomaybe]

Booldawg you can improve your insulation quite easily on the walls.The roof, if you have to add the insulation outside, may involve more work but can quite easily be done.The floor can also be done, particularly if it is floating.I am currently, or was before the snow came, doing exactly that.Fortunately I'm not affected by the need for planning permission so I could just plow on!! I am adding my insulation to the outside of the house as I didn't want to lose room space by adding it inside.I perhaps also have the advantage that I am fixing the additional 100mm insulation to timber and facing the facade with timber. Check if you can "encase" your extension with a timber facade coz if you like the notion I reckon it would be the easiest for a DIY-er to do.

[The Builder]

I'm sure it can only help to make use of curtains or doors as the cheaper option. What I don't like though, is the old story of treating the symptoms rather than the cause.
The Count is dead right .......... I've detailed on here several times how to go about it.
Also ............ some time ago I outlined to someone how to go about Nono's suggestion. I prefer it for several reasons .......... no internal disruption, if it is masonry built, then external insulation would make the existing walls into a heatstore, also, it would be a great way of losing the .......... ahem ....... "brick effect" lol.
Easily within the scope of a confident DIYer, even if you had someone in to do the rendering.............. or DIY with weatherboard/tilehanging, or whatever.
It would put good value on the house too ........ easily pay for itself.
Don't be so tight Boolders .............. invest! ;o)

[Booldawg]

Thanks for all the replies! I will defintely invest as often the thermostat gets wound up to 30 by less CO2 conscious members of the household.