Cheap loft insulation

MoneySavingNovice

For South Wales (most areas)

Refer to:-

http://www.homegrants.org.uk/

and enter details

I Hope this helps some-one!

starxtrouble

Reading Borough Council also does free / discounted loft and cavity insulation

'Reading Borough Council offers free insulation to vulnerable householders- those on means tested benefits and/or over 70 years of age. A substantial discount on the normal retail price of insulation is also available to other households. For example, under the scheme cavity wall insulation is around £149 and loft insulation £189 (based on a typical 3 bed semi).'

see http://www.reading.gov.uk/communityandliving/extra-curricularactivities/General.asp?id=SX9452-A7844C49 for more info

puguf

good value kit but take with energycare based in bedfordshire. they were very unhelpful about fitter arrival time. no phone call in advance, fitters had no mobiles, they could have arrived at any time during day so i had to take whole day off. i got really stroppy with them over the phone but they wouldn't budge ?(it was all about keeping costs down - to hell with customer care. this sort of attitude is out of order these days. didnt find this until after i had paid deposit

thsths

malc_b wrote: »

Can I point there is a lot of misinformation of the subject of insulation.

...

What you need to do is check out the U values and work out the roof area if want an accurate figure.

That is true, but is the average resident or even the average handyman able to do that? Come on, it involves maths!

I just did some basic loft insulation, and I was surprised that the existing insulation was both very thin (an inch in places) and very inconsistent, with some areas full of "flakes", others covered with thin foam, and some being completely bare.

Topping it up to 150mm over the bedroom and 100mm elsewhere has made a noticeable difference to the temperature at night without heating. We can do quite well with a winter blanket and the heating off now. I think the areas without any insulation were the problem before.

So I think the conclusion is: if you have no, little or patchy loft insulation, this is a good chance to bring it up to standard.

Always_Harassed

Fred56 wrote: »

Can't seem to find the B&Q offer. Is it only advertised in-store?

Neither can I, can anyone help.

gymtime

South Somerset District Council - free loft and cavity wall insulation to anybody over 60 or anybody with a child under 16 living with them in South Somerset, as well as those on relevant benefits = changes to Warm Streets scheme, funded by the district council and Scottish & Southern Energy. Warm Streets also help provide fuel consumption advice, free draught-proofing and hot water tank jackets - The Centre for Sustainable Energy manages Warm Streets for the district council - we're awaiting an appointment to make the most of this!

malc_b

DED2109 wrote: »

Can you clarify heating and hot water ....... £500.00!!!! For a 5 Bedroom Detached House - thats absolutley amazing! ! How many people live in the property! Im absolutely staggered you are getting your heating and hot water at such a low price.

Well it depends on the price of oil of course. In fact I'm bit of date on that figure, 650 is nearer these days. I reckon use about 1700 l of oil per year (in a cold year). April 2009 oil was 31p/l but Jan 2010 I paid 42p/l of 700. That 666 inc VAT. But then the year before (Jan 09) it was only 34p (and 31p in April). And then in July 2008 of all times heating oil was 57p, work that one out.

I do have a thermostatic values on all rads and a honeywell smart controller. You set temperature and time points, say 20C at 8:00 am it then works out when to turn the heating on in a morning to hit that temperature at that time. So warm nights/days it comes on later. It also does 6 burns per hour so it is not on/off/on/off all time wasting oil at each start.

malc_b

thsths wrote: »

That is true, but is the average resident or even the average handyman able to do that? Come on, it involves maths!

I just did some basic loft insulation, and I was surprised that the existing insulation was both very thin (an inch in places) and very inconsistent, with some areas full of "flakes", others covered with thin foam, and some being completely bare.

Topping it up to 150mm over the bedroom and 100mm elsewhere has made a noticeable difference to the temperature at night without heating. We can do quite well with a winter blanket and the heating off now. I think the areas without any insulation were the problem before.

So I think the conclusion is: if you have no, little or patchy loft insulation, this is a good chance to bring it up to standard.

Bare patches will have a dramatic effect. The U value tells take. An uncovered area is equal to 4 times that area of 50mm, 6 times of 100mm and 10 times of 150mm. So 10% uncovered of 150mm is equivalent to a roof twice the size.

On the maths front you don't have to calculate it by hand. There are plenty of free programs around that do it for you. You just measure the rooms in the house, enter the numbers, select the right type of floor, wall, ceiling and the program does the rest. Interestingly air changes are a major loss. So typical middle size bedroom in my house the losses are walls 96W, window 68W, ceiling 60W (100mm), air change of 1 per hr 136W. The air change is a huge factor and 1 is the recommended level (http://www.plumbingpages.com/featurepages/Heatloss.cfm).

schubertdog

However you go about obtaining loft insulation the benefits are worth the effort. An uninsulated loft loses incredible quantities of heat, even more than single glazed windows so the savings will eventually far out weigh any cost of purchase, it's just a matter of time, the less insulation you have at present the faster you will recoup the costs. The current levels of insulation for new build houses is 200mm so this would be the ideal to aim for but do not settle for any less than 150mm
If going down the DIY route please wear a well fitting dust mask and protective gloves as a bare minimum.

If considering cavity wall insulation engage a reputable company as poorly installed insulation or if it is installed where it is not suitable can cause more problems than it cures.

MrBurns

Far from getting a grant, our council has hit us with a demand of around £140 for building regs approval, to be allowed to upgrade our loft insullation!! They caught us as they came round to inspect when were recently having our roof re-tiled. Has no-one else falled foul of this, or managed to get around it?