Cornish church to become home for family of eleven – with help from the easy-to-install Actis Hybrid range
A family of eleven is creating a stunning home from a former church near Truro in Cornwall – and has chosen to insulate it with products from the Actis Hybrid range because they are much cleaner and faster to install than any alternatives.
Tracy and Dave Bennett, who have built a number of homes over the years, say the latest conversion is the biggest construction challenge they have ever undertaken.
Tracy and Dave are converting the chancel, nave, north and south transepts of St Peters Church at Chiverton Cross into a five bedroom home with spacious living areas and enough space to accommodate the youngest few of their nine children, whose ages range from eight to 25.
The church was built in 1861 and decommissioned in 2008. Its original tower, complete with spire had to be taken down in 1898 when the stone started to crumble possibly after being damaged by lightning.
However, the replacement tower, constructed in 1928 will form part of the Bennetts’ new residence.
The couple are completely gutting and renovating the church and using insulating breather membrane Boost’R Hybrid, 60mm honeycomb insulation Hybris and insulating vapour control layer HControl Hybrid in the 400m2 roof to achieve a U-value of 0.17.
They will be using around 750m² of HControl Hybrid for the walls to achieve a U-value of 0.30.
The Hybrid range is becoming increasingly popular across Devon and Cornwall and Tracy and Dave chose the materials on recommendation from friends.
Dave explained: “They are great quality products and make insulating so much faster and cleaner.” They hope to move in in time for a huge family get together at Christmas.
Features at a Glance
Testing
• The thermal performance of the hybrid products is verified in real life, which eliminates any doubt between predicted energy savings, based on laboratory measured product performance, and actual achieved energy savings.
• Tested in a laboratory according to EN 16012 and in real life according to ISO 9869.
• Complies with the current Approved Documents Part L 1A and 1B and anticipate the future changes to Building Regulations in the UK and Europe.
Dual Performance
• Each product combines insulation, air tightness, moisture resistance and reflective properties.
• Resistant to air infiltration, creating a barrier to thermal losses through convection.
• The in-house produced components are moisture resistant.
• They take advantage of solar effects due to the very low emissivity of the external films.
A Unique Pattern
• Easy to recognise, each hybrid product has the same patterned external film with a very low emissivity, as low as 0.05.
• Reflection of up to 95 per cent of the solar thermal radiation outside the building, contributing to summer comfort.
• The foils low emissivity is protected from the altering by a surface lacquering.
• No change to the film’s low emissivity due to surface lacquering.
Separately, or as part of a system
• All Hybrid products can be used separately or together to provide a total insulation system in roofs, walls and loft applications.
• Together, they can achieve the best U-value requirements with a minimal thickness compared to standard solutions.
For further information on the Hybrid Range from Actis click here.