The average UK household spends over £1,300 on energy each year. Unfortunately, much of the energy used is wasted, pouring out of homes through drafty doors and windows and uninsulated walls, floors, lofts and basements.

Around half the heat loss in a typical home is through the walls and roof and insulation is generally the most cost-effective energy efficiency improvement.

If you require, loft and cavity wall insulation this is readily available and we could arrnge it for FREE. Please contact us for details. If you are over 70 and / or entitled to benefits, it will definitely be free.

Solid wall insulation is more expensive but when the Green Deal is launched, it will become much more attractive to arrange.

We have good contacts with installers that are members of the National Insulation Association and if you would like us to arrange installation, please let us know. Their website is a good source of information.

Cavity Wall Insulation
Most houses built post-1920 could benefit from cavity insulation, where a foamy substance is placed between the two layers in the brick work of the external walls.

Whether your walls have been filled depends on the age of your home. Building regulations required all homes built between 1985 and 1990 to have partially insulated cavity walls, and since 1990 all new homes are required to have fully filled cavity walls.

You can check to see if your property appears suitable for cavity wall insulation by checking the brick pattern on your property. Where bricks are positioned lengthways, cavity walls are present. Where bricks are placed head on and lengthways, solid walls are present meaning there is no cavity to fill (generally homes built before 1930 have solid walls).

You can also measure the thickness of your homes external walls. Cavity walls are at least 30cm thick whereas solid walls are only around 23cm thick. It is easiest to check at a door or window.

To find out if you home has cavity wall insulation, look for small drill holes, measuring around 25mm in diameter, which have been filled with cement that matches the colour of the wall.

These drill holes will follow a pattern, usually starting two to three rows of bricks below the windows and about one to two metres apart. This is where the insulation has been injected into the wall.

Benefits
Having cavity wall insulation will:

• save you up to £260 per year on your energy bills
• Make your home warmer in the winter and help prevent condensation on the walls and ceilings
• Reduce the amount of heat build up in the Summer, keeping your home cooler
• Enable you to play your part in reducing your carbon footprint and the effect of global warming

Installation process
Before this can take place, a survey of your property needs to be carried out at a convenient time for you. It usually takes approximately 20 minutes.

Installation usually takes around two to three hours but the time does depend on the size of the house.

Upon completion of the installation, the appointed installer will apply for your cavity insulation guarantee agency (CIGA) 25 year Guarantee which will be posted to your home address. Please allow up to 90 days for this to arrive.

Loft Insulation
With up to 25% of heat being lost through the roof, correct insulation can dramatically reduce this loss and save you money on your heating bills.

Loft insulation should be around the recommended level of 270mm (around 10.5 inches). If your loft has less than this, the benefits of cavity wall insulation are restricted; as the hot air would be channelled rapidly upwards and lost through the roof – making your heating bills more expensive than they need be.

Reducing lost heat will dramatically reduce your heating bills and a return on investment can often be seen in under a year.

Solid Wall Insulation

Click here for information.