Which Insulation to Choose for a House Without Heating?

Faced with the new construction standards which aim, after the low consumption house, the positive energy house, very soon, more and more people are interested in the house without heating. By not integrating any heating means from the design of the home, the home without heating dramatically optimizes the household’s energy consumption. However, in order not to be cold and to enjoy your evenings, it is essential to think carefully about the insulation of the house in order to avoid as much as possible energy losses and the inflows of outside air. Here is what you need to know to successfully insulate your home without heating. You should discuss your plan with a professional interior designer before you start working on that. it will save you time and avoid stress.

Insulating the house without heating

Obviously, choosing to build a house without heating requires providing much more insulation than in a traditional house. Thus, where the insulation of a standard house has a thickness generally between 8 and 10 centimetres, the insulation of a house without heating will be more between 20 and 40 centimetres depending on the areas to be insulated.

Floor insulation

The floor is an important area to insulate in a house without heating. Indeed, the feeling of cold feet when walking can significantly alter the thermal comfort of the home.

For the floor, it is advisable to provide insulation with a minimum thickness of 20 centimetres and if possible from the outside, what is called the return of insulation which will prevent thermal bridges.

Wall insulation

In any house, the walls are insulated. Usually, a thickness of 10 centimetres of rock wool or glass wool is sufficient to treat heat loss. In a house without heating, the thickness to be expected will be more than 30 centimetres with the logic of limiting thermal losses as much as possible, especially in the wall-floor or wall-ceiling connections.

It is in fact within these connections that there are the most thermal bridges and that the losses are the most important. Here too, insulation from the outside will better seal these connections and therefore better reduce thermal bridges.

Roof insulation

Finally, a house without heating must be perfectly insulated under the roof with a minimum thickness of 40 centimetres to prevent the accumulated heat from escaping through the roof.

This insulation can be done within the lost attic of the house. The principle is to keep the heat accumulated throughout the day within the walls of the house without heating.

Insulation of Openings

The openings will also be very important in the design of a house without heating. Indeed, it is advisable to be vigilant on the location of these openings (rather to the south if possible) as well as on their integration into the heart of the building.

The quality of glazing and window frames or patio doors will also be very important to optimize the insulation of a house without heating. It will be ideal to choose triple glazing as well as a framework avoiding as much as possible the thermal bridges.

What type of insulation to choose for your house without heating?

Two types of insulation are possible in a house without heating.

Insulation from the inside

Insulation from the inside is the most classic technique of insulation which consists of laying layers of insulation directly on the floor to prevent rising dampness and coolness, layers of insulation behind the walls to optimize heat preservation and layers of insulation in attics to prevent rising heat from escaping.

This insulation from the inside works well but it nevertheless has two drawbacks which are the encroachment and the non-treatment of the junctions.

Indeed, with a house without heating, the necessary thickness of insulation is important, which has the effect of reducing the living space. The insulation of the walls for example will be carried out by placing panels of glass wool or rock behind the partitions. With a thickness of 30 centimetres, the space required for insulation will significantly reduce the size of the rooms.

Furthermore, insulation from the inside also has difficulties in dealing with the junctions between floor and wall or between wall and roof. Unfortunately, it is precisely at these junctions that the losses are greatest.

Insulation from the Outside

More thermally efficient than insulation from the inside, insulation from the outside is also more complicated to implement and more expensive. This exterior insulation technique must be considered from the design of the house to be affordable and feasible.

On the other hand, the results offered by this technique are impressive because it makes it possible to perfectly bridge the thermal bridges generated by the connections between the walls and the floor. In a way, insulation from the outside creates a protective envelope of the house without heating allowing it to retain the heat accumulated during sunny days.

How to switch to the passive house?

The house without heating or passive house must be designed to use the heat of the sun to heat the whole house.

To succeed in this feat, it will obviously be necessary to think about the orientation of the house, the south for the living room is ideal. The openings will be positioned on the south sides of the house and the north will thus benefit from the heat captured by them.

In addition, in addition to a choice of decisive insulating materials, the ventilation system as well as the possible production of energy thanks to solar panels will make it possible to optimize the energy yield of a passive solar house and to feel comfortable in a house without heating.

Perform an energy balance

If the fact of reducing the energy footprint of your home interests you, it may be interesting to carry out an energy balance in order to know which work will be to start as a priority and what financial envelope this will require.

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Author Bio

Name- Digvijay Rajdaan

Bio- Digvijay Rajdaan is a Sr. interior designer at Design By Lavassa. He is an award-winning interior designer of residential and commercial spaces. He strives to design unique interiors that will have a positive impact on his clients’ lives.