Insulating your home

Insulation is a barrier in your home’s walls, attic, and floors that reduces heat transfer, keeping warmth in during winter and out in summer. It helps save energy, lower costs, and improve comfort year-round.

Benefits of insulation

Upgrading or improving your home’s insulation comes with numerous advantages:

Energy Efficiency: Insulation reduces the amount of energy needed to heat or cool your home, leading to lower energy bills.
Comfort: With better insulation, you can maintain a more stable and comfortable indoor temperature throughout the year.
Environmental Impact: By lowering your energy consumption, you’ll also reduce your carbon footprint and contribute to a more sustainable future.
Soundproofing: Insulation can act as a sound barrier, reducing noise from outside and between rooms inside your home.
Increased Home Value: A well-insulated home is more appealing to potential buyers and can increase the overall value of your property.

Types of insulation

Understanding the different types of insulation is essential for maximising your home's energy efficiency, as each type is designed to address specific needs and conditions.

Type	Energy saving	Cost	Installation time
Double glazing	⭐⭐⭐	⭐	1-3 days
Floor insulation	⭐	⭐	2-7 days
Wall insulation	⭐⭐⭐	⭐	7-14 days
Loft insulation	⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐	1 day
Draught proofing	⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐	1 day

Draught proofing

Draught-proofing is a cost-effective way to save energy and reduce your heating bills. By sealing gaps around windows, doors, and floors where cold air enters and warm air escapes, you can keep your home warmer. Key areas to address include doors (using covers for keyholes, letterboxes, and gaps) and windows (with self-adhesive or metal strips). For windows that don’t open, use silicone sealant.

Loft insulation

Loft insulation is an easy and effective way to boost energy efficiency and cut costs, lasting up to 42 years. Made from materials like glass or wood fibre, it prevents heat loss from your roof space. You can choose to install it between loft joists or rafters, with the latter being more expensive but keeping both the loft and living space warmer.

Wall insulation

Wall insulation is key to maintaining a stable indoor climate, as walls can be a major source of heat loss if not properly insulated. There are two primary types: cavity wall insulation, which fills the gap between two layers of exterior wall, and solid wall insulation, which can be applied externally or internally. Cavity wall insulation is usually filled with materials like foam or mineral wool, while solid wall insulation uses insulating boards.

Floor insulation

Floor insulation helps prevent heat from escaping through the ground floor, ensuring that your home stays warm from the bottom up. This type of insulation is especially useful in older homes with suspended wooden floors, as well as newer homes with concrete floors. Materials like rigid foam boards or insulation rolls can be placed under floorboards or concrete slabs.

Double glazing

Double glazing refers to windows that have two panes of glass with a gap of air or gas in between. This design improves insulation by reducing heat transfer, which keeps your home warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. Double-glazed windows also help minimise outside noise and condensation. By upgrading to double glazing, you can significantly reduce heat loss through windows, which is often one of the largest sources of energy inefficiency in homes.

References

The Energy Savings Trust has an in-depth guide on all the different types of insulation improvements.
The Washington Post wrote a great article that provides you with general details on insulation.
The Guardian provides useful information on insulating your home in the UK.
The BBC also explains how to reduce your energy bills by insulation.

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