Insulation | Reduce Your Heating Bill With Insulation

Reduce Your Heating Bill: Insulation

Insulating your home can save you money on your heating bills and reduce your carbon emissions. When insulating your home consider all areas where heat might be lost – walls, roof and floor insulation can all be added to help reduce heat loss in your home.

What is cavity wall insulation? 

If your house has a cavity wall then this space can easily be filled with insulating material to help reduce heat loss. This will help your heating work more efficiently in your home and help save you money on your fuel bill. Cavity wall insulation is made of mineral wall, beads or granules or insulating foams. In order to work in your property your house must have unfilled external cavity walls.

How much does cavity wall insulation cost?

Cavity wall insulation costs around £250 to install in a typical three bedroom, semi-detached house if subsidised with a grant from your energy provider, available under the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT). Without this reduction installation costs about £500.

How much can I save with cavity wall insulation?

After installing cavity wall insulation you could save up to £110 a year on your heating bills, this means you will recuperate the installation costs within two years and reduce your property’s carbon dioxide emissions by 560kg every year.

What is solid wall insulation?

Not all houses are built with a cavity wall: some houses have a solid wall instead. Solid wall insulation can be internal insulation (with a stud wall or rigid insulation boards) or external (with cladding or render); it simply adds a layer of material to the wall that helps slow down the transference of heat. Both tend to be more expensive and more invasive than cavity insulation, because of this it is best carried out when building, renovating or redecorating.

Should I choose internal or external wall insulation?

Internal wall insulation is usually cheaper than external insulation but it will slightly reduce the size of the room, because of this door frames and skirting boards need to be removed and fitted to the new wall, so it is best carried when doing other decorating work in the house. External wall insulation has the advantage that it is less disruptive to the inside of your property, but it is more expensive and may require planning permission. Although more expensive you should also consider that external wall insulation could also improve the weatherproofing and sound proofing of your house as well as changing its outer appearance.

How much does solid wall insulation cost?

Internal solid wall insulation costs around £5000 - £8000 and external insulation costs around £10,500 - £14,500. These costs can be reduced by carrying out work whilst doing other renovating and you may be eligible for a grant to subsidise installation costs through the Government’s CERT initiative.

How much can I save with solid wall insulation?

With both internal and external wall insulation you will be saving around £365-£385 a year in reduced heating bills. This will reduce your carbon emissions and you could save 1.8 tonnes of CO2 every year.

How can I insulate my floor?

Insulating your floor can consist of filling gaps in the floor boards with a silicone sealant or putting insulation underneath your floorboards. Both are fairly easy DIY jobs that can be done quickly and immediately start saving you money. Floor insulation costs more at around £100 but you save £50 a year. Filling in floorboard gaps costs as little as £20 and you should recover these costs in savings in one year.

How can I insulate my loft?

Heat rises and if your loft is not properly insulated you could be losing a lot of valuable energy through your ceiling. Loft insulation is usually a straight-forward and cost effective job and can work for most homes. Loft blanket insulation can be brought from your local DIY store and fitted so long as you have easy access to your loft. The thicker the insulation you use, the more that you will save. You could recover the costs of installation in as little as two years and then you will continue to enjoy reduced annual heating bills of around £145.

How can I insulate my hot water tank?

If your hot water tank is not insulated you could be making your boiler work extra hard just to keep the hot water in your home heated. A hot water cylinder jacket is cheap and easy to install yourself and will save you £35 a year. You will also be reducing your carbon dioxide emissions by 170kg a year by fitting a hot water cylinder jacket. Look into insulating your hot water pipes too, which costs just £10 and can give you a saving on your heating bill of £10 a year.