I very much agree with a lot of what you say there, the one thing I would add is that you have to factor in old age and the reduction in movement it brings. Everyone always complained that my parent’s (who were of the same mind as you are) place was cold but my parents were fine until their mobility and ability to do those things that had kept them warm reduced. At which point they ended up using oil filled rads in their bed and sitting rooms.I'm not laughing. But I am smiling
I have thermal long johns and tops, thick socks etc which I wear throughout winter. The house is usually around 16-17c in winter at peak. When it r occasionally reaches 18-20c we start to get hot under the collar and unconformable, even without the thermal layers. Most people naturally acclimatise to their environment; be it levels of heat, hunger, etc. Heat a house well into the 20s, and over the years you'll feel the cold a lot more as your body resets to the new "normal". I totally accept that different people have different tolerances, but at the same time I think the above holds true.
I personally can't understand why how we use energy is often not discussed, or at least left to the margins. So many people have a shower a day (some more!), wash clothes after one or two uses, heat houses to the point they can sit in shorts and t shirts, etc etc. If we hadn't evolved into this era of cleanliness, I think a lot of what is now considered normal would be considered anal OCD type behaviour. We scramble around looking for new innovative ways to make everything greener - which is a great thing - but for me the elephant in the room is our usage.
I feel I must say something on topic now to counter my off topic rant! To the OP, I would be inclined to stick with what you've got for the time being. I think we're in a period of flux and it's hard to know what the future will hold for different energy prices, changing installation prices and grants, new green legislation, and new innovation in heating systems which perhaps haven't surfaced yet.
I was brought up by the "Thriftiest" father in Yorkshire....I'm accustomed to living in a relatively cool house & wearing wooly jumpers & thick socks in winter.
You mean it doesn't befit your own deluded political ideology
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Yes they are brilliant. Mines UniQlo ultra light which are quite cheap £60 ish. And Helly Hansen underwear!
No it's allowing the market to work within parameters, as they all do currently anyway. No change, just adjusting the rules and letting the market work out how to do it
but does have nice wide soffits 
. The cavity walls were ‘bead’ filled many years previous to us moving in and, perhaps fortuitously, we have had no issue with damp/interstitial condensation (IC) etc.
It's a good idea in principle but immensely complicated because of the detailing required at every point where new add-on meets old, mainly in terms of keeping water out, as well as cladding the insulation itself. Effectively building a new house around the old.I’ve been following this conversation with interest and here’s my query…..our 1960’s bungalow has the ugliest facing brick known to man
I would like kill a few birds with as few stones as possible and so why don’t I add further EXTERNAL insulation and have it rendered to any colour certified suitable by she who knows better? Thus warming the house and vastly improving its looks at the same time.
Am I imagining this but did I not read somewhere that there is the potential to cause IC through the addition of external insulation? Surely I’m correct (thinking back to my old ONC study days and the dew point curve) that by increasing the EXTERNAL temperature the dew point is pushed outwards and, therefore, lessening the chance of causing IC? Something in me is saying that I may cause a problem but I can’t see how? Any thoughts?
I think that the two most important factors in future heating will be insulation and thermal mass, one to retain the heat and the other to provide a dampening effect for the heat source input. Underfloor heating with a good covering of screed works well, may take longer to heat up but once at setpoint you only need to trickle heat in to maintain, again insulation below is very important and overall insulation of the building. The problem we seem to have in the Uk is that we are still building houses that are not up to a standard especially when it comes to insulation, it is much cheaper to build right than try and retrofit and it has been shown that houses can be very warm with very little heating if the walls are very thick made with the correct insulation and using warm loft spaces with heavily insulated roofs but it is not helpful when your primary / only goal is making big bucks.
