Home Insulation

[DBT85]

If i had the money i'd get both hot water and electric panels, however, I've got a few resources on making your own water panels and lots of spare material knocking about so will give it a go Plus, i think the average houses uses 52% of its energy just heating the house, so in theory, I could cut my gas bill down nearly completely

I've also read a few accounts of some companies fitting electric panels for free, but then they claim back the money from the power companies. Not sure how true it is but it's something I will be looking in to

I thought hot water panels simply made the water less cold instead of actually hot. I assumed it was more useful for showers and baths where you only really want the water at near body temp instead of at CH type temps.

I'd love solar panels, unless we need a new roof and i can get a whole roof done for under 10k i just don't see it happening though. I refuse to re mortgage my house to do stuff or buy things because that's why so many people are screwed at the moment.

 

[diverse180]

I'll look into it properly later, but does anyone know the score with having flat walls insulated?

I'm just wondering if I would need to get everyone in the block to agree to have it done, or if I could just have my own done? (ground floor).

 

[Salsa]

Thanks for all the info, I've popped an email over to miller-patterson for grant info in my area and i'll be checking prices out to do the loft myself.

Only problem with the loft is that I would like to use it for storage as well, and with the recommended amount of insulation i'd have to raise the floor with beams and then board it. The result make make it more expensive than insulating the the actual roof and flooring leaving the current attic floor insulation as it is :S

Popping down the charity shop tomorrow as well, I've been told they've loads of bed sheets made from thick cotton, will be taking the curtains down and sewing these on as an extra bit of insulation

If you are going to board the loft then you dont need the insulation under the boards to be as thick.

In my own house and my mothers, under the area I wanted to board, I lay insulation to the depth of the beams and then stapled reflective foil over the top. Then lay the floor with 18mm chipboard loft boards on top of that. Biggest PITA was re-routing any cables under the area I boarded.

Also if you insulate your loft make sure you clad any pipes (and water tank if you have one) as the loft will get very cold once insulated and they will freeze if not insulated

 

[Street]

As far as I am aware owners are supposed to empty the house and loft of anything before they vacate the premises. our loft had a few old doors and a long bit of aluminium vent so it wan't so bad.

Unfortunately, I was a first time buyer this time and didn't know any of that at the time! I've been in here a year now so its a bit late to go asking them to remove stuff.. Still lesson learned for next time!

There are only a few old chairs and bits of crap up there so hopefully it won't be too much effort. I probably won't use it for storage myself, I'm like you, I tend to throw old things out..

 

[DBT85]

If you are going to board the loft then you dont need the insulation under the boards to be as thick.

What if you use the loft for storage?

In other words, what if you need a solid `floor' on top of your insulation?

You have four main options:

• Insulate horizontally up to the top of the joists, as normal, and then fit boards across them. This will make the insulation a lot shallower than 270mm, so won't save as much energy.
• Before you fit any boards, install a second set of joists across your insulated horizontal joists. Then insulate between these too, to bring the total depth of insulation to around 270mm. This will mean more outlay - but greater savings.
• Do as in option 1 in just a part of the loft, then insulate the rest of the loft as normal - i.e. at right angles to the joists and up to a depth of 270mm.
• Do as in option 1, but instead of using traditional boards, use hard insulation boards. These could be made of the expanded or extruded polystyrene (EPS or XPS) material we mentioned before. This will give you a solid surface and the right level of insulation. Please note: the depth of insulation board required varies depending on the material used.

 

[LOAM]

Wikes have a buy 1 get 3 free offer on most of their loft insulation, im off for 20 rolls of the space blanket (40m/sq. Of quilt wrapped in foil to prevent all the fibres) later at a cost of........£56

 

[DBT85]

I've been havinbg a look at the feed in tariff stuff today regarding solar electricity as well as the deals to get solar installed for free and you save a couple of hundred a year.

it seems that if you can get a loan or stunp up the 10k to get a system installed over the 25 year contract that you sign with the leccy board you'll earn back about 35k (i think this is for a typical 2kw ststem) so the system actually makes money.

Apparently you get paid for every kw you generate regardless of weather you use it or feed it into the grid. So not only do you save money on your bill but you generate income from the system.

As a result I was looking at a loan from Nationwide for 10k over 5 years. total repayable 12k @ £200 a month so 2.4k a year. A few places have suggested that you can get around £900 for a years worth of energy creation so in reality you are paying maybe 1.5k a year for 5 years and after that just making money.

Looking at it you'd swear it was a scam as it sounds too good to be true but its a govt scheme so i'm just not sure now!

 

[Captain_Slick]

On offer again starting today:

£3 loft insulation

Usually runs out pretty quick though.

 

[platypus]

If you can only afford one, go for Cavity Wall.

 

[DBT85]

Well the insulation just arrived... Next time I'll remember to have someone else around to help me out with it. For some bizarre reason I didn't expect 19 rolls of insulation to be that big! The box bedroom is now out of bounds hehe.

 

[AHarvey]

by the time I went to order it was sold out, will keep an eye on it though, and I thought you could only order 18 in total?

 

[DBT85]

by the time I went to order it was sold out, will keep an eye on it though, and I thought you could only order 18 in total?

The side of the roll only stipulates that it must be for DIY use and that the area to be insulated cannot be larger than 100sq m and must be in an existing property and not a new extension or new house.

Fortunately I remembered to move the ladders out of the box room before I put the insulation in there. Oddly i don't possess a proper saw though so I'll have to wait till I pick one up.

Also it all came with goggles, gloves and a mask which is wasn't expecting. Saves me a few more bob.