Mill conversion, wooden ceiling, fill gaps to prevent draughts/aid heat retention?

[Millertime]

Hi,

recently moved into a flat that I've bought in a mill conversion in a G2 building in conservation area.
It's great but it is rather cold, so I've been trying to seal obvious gaps and try to make it a bit more insulated to retain heat etc... and just wondering if it's worth sealing the gaps between the wooden boards that make up my ceiling and form the floor of the flat above, photo's attached.
Is this worth doing, as in will it make much of a difference, if so, how should I do it, i.e. what material (chord, oakum etc...)?

Any help/advice appreciated.

 

[Cubist]

I would be guessing but I would reckon your ceiling height to be in the order of 10 feet (3.3mtrs). Thats a big volume of air to successfully heat and keep your feet warm. It will merit a quite powerful heating system - what system do you have? Also, do you know if the flat above has bare boards or has its floor been covered with some other products.

My other reason for mentioning the ceiling height is that simply filling the joints between the boards would do very little to improve things. Also, filling gaps boards and making them presentable can be a physically challenging job when working overhead. It can be done, but you need to be careful about choice of materials and methods and a lot of diplomacy to maintain relations with your neighbour.

Out of interest how much wall space is occupied by windows and are the double/multi glazed? Heat loss through these will be a major issue.

 

[Millertime]

Hi Cubist, thanks for the reply.
Height is 12'2", yea, it's a lot to try and fill, previous owner installed storage heaters which on some days just do nothing tbh. Doesn't help that I'm on ground floor and the parking garage is underneath too.
Not sure whether boards are bare or covered in property above, but I hear very little from them, occasional surface born noise but generally not much else, no music or voices or air born noise.
Approx 30%window in my main room and same again in bedroom, wooden sash windows, looks like sealed double glazing in them though. I've put masking tape around all the gaps in these and it's actually brought the room temp up quite a bit. Just looking for any/all ways to make it more efficient and to keep bills down and happiness up.
I did resemble a Dickens character at one point during the winter, I'm keen for that not to be repeated.

 

[skierhughes]

I did resemble a Dickens character at one point during the winter, I'm keen for that not to be repeated.

We thought that, but 23 years on there are still some days quality, thick and plenty of layers is required.

I'd guess by the lack of noise they probably have carpet down, so filling the gaps won't achieve masses for the work involved.

 

[Cubist]

12 foor celings - Ouch.
30% glazed walls - Ouch.
Storage Heaters - Ouch.

You don't say what the heaters were replaced with but heat energy lost through the windows will be huge - regardless of whether they are double or treble glazed. That heat energy loss will also be exacerbated by the height of the room as and be heavily dependent on the max heat output from whatever system you have.

As a first move I think you would be better advised to install either heavy thermal efficient curtains or even fitted shutters to minimise heat lost to the cold surfaces of the glazing. The gaps in the ceiling boards will be the least of your problems and, if you cannot hear your neighbours, the likelihood is that heat loss through those is minimal. Would you consider false/suspended ceilings to reduce the room height and improve convection current performance?

 

[Millertime]

yea, it's actually not awful, just a bit expensive in winter compared to summer, and never truly snug. Storage heaters are still here, only one in the main room so that's obviously not ideal I'd have thought, but then, not much point in doubly heating a leaky room either..., Thought of installing indoor ASHP as because I'm above the garage I could tap into that void without having to go through the wall, so that would bring my bill down.
Shutters are absolutely on the list, I guess I could look at secondary glazing too.
Since I posted this I've discovered that maybe the buildings MEV isn't functioning quite as it should be. The pipe attached to my kitchen extractor sounds like a hurricane is raging in there, taking the pipe off the hood revealed a large amount of suction, more than a hoover, that is keeping the backstop of my kitchen hood permanently open even when off, this is drawing air out the room at a forced rate and much more than I imagine it should be at. So I reckon sorting that out would help quite significantly. I understand the MEV has to do its thing to prevent mould etc.., but like I said, it's absolutely full on 24/7. I'll get that sorted with building management and have a look at the other stuff, thanks again.

 

[paulc]

The gaps in the ceiling boards will be the least of your problems and, if you cannot hear your neighbours, the likelihood is that heat loss through those is minimal.

General rule of thumb is if the space above is heated to the same temperature, heat loss through the ceiling is going to be negligible. If you were to try and seal any gaps, you'd want to be working from a scaffold tower rather than a ladder (falls from ladders can kill). As Cubist suggests, heavy curtains would be a better investment.