Warmer House

[jonsav]

We have recently retired and moved from a terraced house in London to a detached bungalow out in the country.

The bungalow is much colder and harder to heat, I suppose we should have thought about this but we didn't.

I am wondering if anybody has any experience of cavity wall insulation - if it is effective, what the costs are etc.

Any advice would be welcome.
John

[brian]

Hi John - sorry to hear about your problem - if its of any consolation, we have issues, too!

I think it's certainly worth considering cavity wall insulation - but it's also worth looking at existing factors.

For example, in my own circumstances, the double galazing is poorly fitted and so lets in draughts, the loft has not been completely insulated, plus the radiators themselves are pretty small.

The solutions I'm seeking are adjustments to the double glazing to make the seals air tight, improve the type of insulation used in the loft and cover the full area, plus look to replace the existing single radiators for double radiators and see about increasingly their length.

Got to admit, not thought of cavity wall insulation, but I think the issues above in my own situation would need prioritising first!

[TheHouseman]

Hi John
15% of the energy lost through the walls of your house could be saved with Cavity wall insulation.

[John @ www.eviee.co.uk]

Hi Jonsav,

My boss once went to a bbq back in summer at a colleagues house, who was very keen to show off his bank of solar panels attached to his roof (at an enormous cost obviously). My boss asked his colleague if he had had his loft and cavity insulated before shelling out on the renewables. His response:

"Whats that then?"

Loft and cavity insulation is a very cost effective method of keeping heat within your property and can potentially make your money back in reduced energy bills within 2-5 years (espeicially with ever increasing energy prices!).

You mentioned you are retired, i would imagine that you would qualify for some kind of grant for the installation of your insulation. This is a service that can be applied for through our website, or you could approach your energy providers or local planning office for more information.

I hope that helps,

John

[Andriy]

In most houses built after 1930, the external walls are made of two layers with a small air gap or 'cavity' between them. If your home has unfilled cavity walls, a considerable portion of your heating bills will be spent warming the air outside.

Injecting the gap between the two walls of a house with an insulating material decreases the amount of heat escaping through the walls

And you can get grant, so shouldn't too expensive.

Andriy Trukhin

[brian]

I was speaking to a joiner about this the other day, and he suggested that for timber kit houses (ie, typical new builds) cavity wall insulation was not advised, because the air gap is required to allow air flow to prevent damp forming on the timbers and rotting them.

Does that sound about right, misunderstood, or just plain wrong?

[John @ www.eviee.co.uk]

Hi,

I didn't realise we were talking about a timber frame structure, retrofitting insulation into existing timber frame buildings can be notoriously difficult. Blown cavity wall insulation is simply not an option, and i believe the above post regarding air gaps would be correct but this would apply more to a brick and block cavity wall insulation.

It's probably not what you want to hear but your best bet may be to rip your plasterboards down and start again. Put an impermeable membrane on the outward facing timberframe, place insulaion such as flexible slabs in the between studs with no gap and place a breather membrane over the top of that. You might also want to think about insulated plasterboards.

Hope this helps,

John

[crystal_10]

How cavity wall is installed?

You’ll need a registered insulation installer to fit cavity wall insulation – it's not a job you can do yourself.
Cavity walls are filled with an insulating material – common materials include mineral wool, polystyrene beads or foam. Insulating cavity walls will help trap heat and prevent warmth from escaping.
A registered insulation installer will be able to check your property’s suitability for cavity wall insulation and recommend the best type. The cavity wall insulation is then blown into the wall cavity from the outside of your property through drilled holes. The holes are then filled in with materials that match your brickwork.
Cavity wall insulation normally takes around two hours to install, but this depends on the size of the house and other factors, such as ease of access.
Check if your home is suitable for cavity wall insulation

If your home was built from 1920 onwards, it's likely to have cavity walls. The cavity should be at least 50mm wide and the walls need to be in good condition to be suitable for cavity wall insulation.
If your house was built in the past 10 years it's likely the cavity walls have already been insulated.

[purest]

If you are over 65 then the Government will improve the insulation in your house for free!
I cant post a link but a google search should help you find the info.
my friends dad is waiting 18 months to put insulation in because of this.
he's a cheapskate!

[foxhole]

I see Crystal has been Googling again
Poster has not mentioned timber frame
Worth checking the central heating you have is up to the job, if it's under spec [many fit undersized systems to save money]then you will have trouble getting warm.