News

A study of home insulation has placed McCarthy & Stone retirement apartments among the warmest properties in Britain. They achieved an insulation rating double the national average, bringing residents lower fuel bills and higher levels of comfort as winter heads for its coldest spell. Some apartments came close to the theoretical maximum possible for a conventionally-built property.

Apartments built to modern standards are cheaper to keep warm for a number of reasons, a crucial one being the ‘tea cosy’ effect. Most of the apartments in a large development have only one external wall, which means they don’t lose heat from either side and, in some cases, above and below as well. Heating costs are so low that people who live in apartments typically pay one-third the cost for fuel that they would in a semi-detached house.

The study was part of the Government’s SAP scale of energy efficiency, which runs from 1 (extremely poor) to 120 (extremely good), with a score of 80 or more considered to represent an energy efficient home. Even when the study was based on the more exposed corner apartments in each McCarthy & Stone development, they came out with an average on 82.5 – some reaching over 100. The UK average is 42.

“Any well-designed new building will provide a good degree of insulation thanks to insulated cavity walls, roof insulation and double glazing,” said Gary Day, Planning Director of McCarthy & Stone. “But the tea cosy effect is most noticeable in developments where several dozen flats build up a residual heat they can all share.” He said.