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Built in 1906, Stephen and Susannah’s Jacobean-style manor house lies in rolling countryside near the north Devon coast
The property has been sympathetically renovated with co-owners, the Elliots, and now provides a beautiful home to both families as well as holiday apartments.
Issues
‘Part of the charm of a house like this is its old leaded windows,’ says Stephen.
‘However, during south-westerly gales when the horizontal rain hits the windows, they just can’t keep the water out. So our number one issue is protecting the house from the weather – particularly the wind and drafts. It’s a lovely old house but pretty draughty on a cold, windy evening.’
Stephen and Susannah are passionate about the environment and reducing their carbon footprint. Keen to insulate the house as much as possible, they had already dealt with the loft when their attention turned to addressing the heat leakage through the windows.
‘They’re beautiful, big windows,’ continues Stephen. ‘There are lots of them, which is lovely on a sunny day but difficult in winter.’
The solution and installation
Having heard about Mitchell & Dickinson’s innovative system for insulating period properties, the solution seemed perfect for the Bakers as it met their needs not only for effective insulation but to preserve the beauty of their period windows and help the environment by reducing CO2 emissions.
During installation, ten windows were treated and the work took around three weeks to complete.
‘It all went really well and we’re very pleased with the results,’ Stephen comments. ‘The guys were really nice and they’ve been back a couple of times to carry out a bit of maintenance.’
The results
‘When you live in a house like this you become very used to turning off lights and closing doors behind you when you leave a room to conserve energy and warmth,’ says Stephen. ‘You become quite obsessive about it!’
‘It’s definitely made a difference: it feels much more comfortable. In the winter, we’ll light the wood burner and the rooms stay cosy. We’re really happy with the temperature.’
