In clear language: what a house loses the most heat through — walls, roof, floor or windows — and how to see it element by element, so you insulate where the effect is greatest first.
What you'll learn
Insulating everything at once is expensive. It's smarter to start with the element that the most heat escapes through. In this article we show how to see your house "in parts": how much heat goes through the walls, roof, floor and windows separately — and where your insulation money will give the greatest effect.
Four loss paths
A house gives off heat to the outside through its "envelope":
- walls — usually the largest area;
- roof / ceiling — heat rises, an often underrated path;
- floor — especially in a private house on the ground;
- windows — a small area, but often the largest losses per square metre.
How much heat each element loses depends on its area and how well it's insulated (the U-value).
Why seeing it element by element is useful
If you know that 40% of the heat goes through the roof, there's no point changing the windows first. An element-by-element picture gives a clear order of action and — if you're an energy auditor — a convincing argument for the client: "this is what the heat escapes through, this is what we insulate first".
The heat-loss calculator shows the contribution of each element — walls, roof, floor and windows — to the total losses. So the house's "weak spot" is immediately visible.
How to see your picture
- Open the heat-loss calculator.
- Enter the house dimensions and temperatures.
- Specify the insulation of the walls, roof and floor, and the number of windows.
- Look at the breakdown of losses by element and the total in kW.
- The largest bar is your priority for insulation.
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Example
For a typical uninsulated house the breakdown often looks like this: walls ~45%, windows ~25%, roof ~20%, floor ~10%. The conclusion: it's worth starting with the walls, then the windows. After insulating the walls, recalculate — the priorities will change.
Going deeper into the walls
If you want to deal specifically with the wall — whether it passes the standard and how much insulation it needs — use the thermal conductivity calculator and the article how much insulation a wall needs.
Frequently asked questions
What does the breakdown account for? The heat going through the walls, roof, floor and windows — the main loss paths of the house envelope.
How do I show this to a client? The element-by-element breakdown is a ready visual argument. The scenario for an auditor is in show the client where heat escapes.
What do I do after insulating the weakest spot? Recalculate. Once the main loss is removed, the next "weak spot" becomes a different element.
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