Teatime frost shows good insulation

I’ve just been pottering in my garden and come-over with a bout of procrastination during which I noticed the frost on my roof – and the lack of frost on any of the other roofs neighbouring my house. What could this mean?

My roof is the one on the right. The fact that none of the frost has melted during the day indicates one (or a combination) of three things. The roof is facing north so it hasn’t had any sun during the day. This helps a lot but the roof of my next door neighbour faces the same way and has no frost at all.

The second reason could be that in my house we’re not generating any heat so there is none to escape. There is an element of truth in this – our heating is certainly lower than the average, we only heat rooms we use, we keep doors closed and wear more clothes. I even let my hair grow a wee bit longer in the winter to help.

The third reason is that my loft is well insulated, in my case with shredded and fire-proofed newspaper. A combination of the second and third reasons is the reason.

It is far, far more energy efficient and cost effective to insulate your house than it is to heat it and let the heat leak out.

Suggested Task: Observe your roof

Next time there is an air frost and your roof gets a covering similar to the photo above, see, during the day which parts melt first. If those areas are not accounted for by direct sunlight then you can see where heat is leaking out of your house. Then ... you can do something about it.

Your comments.

Well spotted!