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.

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If your home was built before 1920, its external walls are likely to be solid. Solid walls allow more heat to pass through them than through cavity walls but they can be insulated from the inside or the outside.

Cavity walls are made of two layers with a small gap or ‘cavity’ between them. This cavity acts as a barrier to reduce heat flow through the wall. Click here to find out more about cavity wall insulation

Solid walls have no such gap and this allows more heat to pass through them than through cavity walls. In fact, twice as much heat can be lost through an un-insulated solid wall as through an un-insulated cavity wall.

Why insulate your solid walls?
Solid wall insulation is an effective way to stop wasting energy and money at home. In winter, a well insulated house keeps warmth exactly where you need it – indoors.

So, insulating your walls will help to heat your home more efficiently. Using less energy reduces carbon dioxide (CO2): one of the biggest causes of climate change. It will help you to stop wasting money on your energy bills too.

What could you save?
Solid walls can be insulated in two different ways: with internal insulation (from the inside) or external insulation (from the outside). Both options can make your home warmer and more comfortable, and greatly reduce your heating bills at the same time.

In fact, by insulating your solid walls you could cut your heating costs by up to 40%. By using less energy, your household will produce less CO2. So, insulating your walls is a great way to help fight climate change.

Type  Saving per year   Total cost incl. installation    CO2 saved per year
Internal Around £365 £5,500 - £8,500 1.8 tonnes
External Around £385 £10,500 - £14,500 1.9 tonnes

*Estimated figures according to Energy Savings Trust based on insulating a gas-heated, semi-detached home with three bedrooms.

The figures given above are for the whole installation. However if you are going to be renovating the individual walls of your home, you can make some big savings by insulating them at the same time.

Is solid wall insulation suitable for your home?
Internal wall insulation is best carried out when you are re-plastering your walls or you’re changing major fittings in your bathroom or kitchen. External wall insulation will be more cost effective if your external walls need re-rendering; you may need planning permission if your property is listed or located within a conservation area. Each approach has its own pros and cons; conditions when it’s ideal or which make it unsuitable.

How do you get solid wall insulation?
Internal solid wall insulation is usually installed professionally, and should not be attempted by the average DIY-er; only the very experienced should install it themselves. Approach an installer that provides dry lining or plastering and ask them to show you:

Does your home have solid walls?
Solid walls are mainly made of brick or stone and are found in most houses built before the 1920s. So, if your house dates back to Edwardian, Victorian or Georgian times – and is built of brick or stone – its walls are likely to be solid.

The easiest way to tell is from the pattern of the bricks on the outside of your house.If your home has solid walls, the bricks will tend to be placed head-on and lengthways in an alternating pattern like this.

If the brickwork has been covered, you may be able to tell a solid wall by measuring its thickness. Go to a window or door on one of your outer walls, and take a measurement there. If the wall is more than 25.4cm thick then it probably has a cavity; solid brick walls are usually around 22cm thick; solid stone walls are just a little thicker.

You can also contact your local authority’s building control department, which might know if your house has solid walls.

How do internal and external solid wall insulation compare?
Both internal and external solid wall insulation substantially reduce a home’s heating costs and CO2 emissions. However they are quite different in terms of the effect they have on your home:

Internal Wall Insulation:
 Generally cheaper to install than external wall insulationDoesn’t alter the appearance of outside walls but it will slightly reduce the floor area of any rooms in which it is applied (the thickness of the insulation is typically around 100mm).Is ideally installed at the same time as internal renovation work and re-plastering as this will reduce the costs of the installation. As work is being done to the interior of the house, there will be some disruption but the disruption can be minimised by doing it room by room.Skirting boards, door frames and external fittings need to be removed and reattached to the new wall surface.Can make it difficult to fix heavy items to inside walls – although special fixings are available to help.If there are unresolved problems with penetrating or rising damp, these should be resolved before installation.

External wall insulation:
 Can be applied without disruption to the household and does not reduce the floor area. Renews the appearance of ageing outer walls. Planning permission may be required so check with your local council before undertaking any work.Fills cracks and gaps in the brickwork, which will reduce draughts. Increases the lifetime of a home’s wall by protecting the brickwork.Reduces condensation on internal walls and can help prevent damp, although it will not solve rising or penetration damp which must be resolved prior to insulating the wallsIs ideally installed at the same time as other refurbishment work to outer walls as this will save you a lot of moneyRequires good access to the outer walls so that the installers can apply the insulationNot recommended if the outer walls are structurally unsound and can not be repaired.

 How are solid walls insulated from the inside?
There are two main ways to insulate a solid wall internally – either with rigid insulation boards, or a stud wall. Neither of these methods should be attempted by the average DIY-er. So, unless you’re very experienced in DIY, ask a contractor/installer that provides dry lining or plastering to show you:

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