Qery regarding loft insulation and cavity wall insulation

sirmarcus

Hi all,

I am not over 70 and I am not on any benefits; so I cannot get my insulation done free of charge. I also live in a 2-bedroom detached bungalow.

I have phoned up British Gas, NPower and a few local companies. The best offer, which I have got so far, is from local company, which has quoted me £129-00 for my loft insulation and £129 for my cavity wall insulation. They advised me that there was grant available from something called Greenhouse. I can't remember the exact name but anyway, the company are sending someone to my place to give me a firm quote on Friday. I have also get a couple of different companies coming as well to give me a firm quote.

My query is whether £258 is a good price for getting insulation or whether this can be beaten elsewhere by better deals.

Any advise would be much appreciated.

Thanks

nickcardwell

you would be to get the loft insulation done cheaper if you DIY?

Come sept-nov and im sure B&Q will be doing it on offer.

MacsReturns

nickcardwell wrote: »

you would be to get the loft insulation done cheaper if you DIY?

Come sept-nov and im sure B&Q will be doing it on offer.

Yes indeed - I did this last year with my loft insulation (also in a two-bed detached bungalow). The best 'deal' available through any of the installation companies using any grant allowance would have cost me about £250 to add an extra 6 inches.

At the times Wickes had a special offer on loft insulation (basically a different way to feed grant money into the market) which resulted in a 'buy one, get two free' deal. I found the stuff I wanted in the right thickness, worked out my roof space area (about 60 sq m) and decided I would need ten rolls - because of the BOGTF deal I ordered 12. That cost me just over £100, but I had to do the work myself - about three spare evenings it worked out at. Considerable cost saving (I already had masks etc).

So I would recommend that route if you're happy crawling around the roofspace getting hot and itchy. Though to be honest, I got the 'encapsulated' rolls, so the itchy thing is a lot less than it used to be.

BUT I already had cavity-wall done - £258 for both together looks quite good, but definitely worth pricing up all the options.

And for a final boost to your resolve, my winter gas usage was about 30% down even in the much colder winter. Only about 2 years to pay back that £100 I spent :beer:

THRIFTY_GIRL

You won't get cheaper with the cavity wall.

For the loft have a look on the Npower website; they have a buy one get one free at the moment if you are prepared to DIY.

sirmarcus

Don't trust NationwideEnergy Services at http://www.nationwideenergyservices.co.uk/about.htm.

I contacted them. Was advised that cost would be £179 for loft insulation and an additional £179 for CWI. Advised them that I was seeking other quotes as well and hey presto, less than 5 mins later, I get a phone call to advise me that 'they had found a grant that enabled them to deliver each insulation for £129 each; namely £258 in total).'

Agreed with them that they would send a surveyor to my home this morning. Spoke to Energy Savings Trust, who advised me the best price for loft insulation was £129 for my area.

Got a phone call yesterday afteroon to advise me that NationwideEnergy services couldn't make my appointment as they had double booked it. They also gave me an alternative date/time (using their words ''after I had got al of my other quotes") and provided me with a mobile phone number (which would cost me money) to contact them.

I have today been visited by one of heir competitors (Mark Group Energy Serving), who has confirmed that I already have CWI (excellent result for me) and my loft insulation will cost £129.

I will now go with MGSE and will not bother to contact NES. If they can't be bothered to chase for work, I can't be bothered to chase them. Their loss and not mine !

sirmarcus

MacsReturns wrote: »

Yes indeed - I did this last year with my loft insulation (also in a two-bed detached bungalow). At the times Wickes had a special offer on loft insulation (basically a different way to feed grant money into the market) which resulted in a 'buy one, get two free' deal. I found the stuff I wanted in the right thickness, worked out my roof space area (about 60 sq m) and decided I would need ten rolls - because of the BOGTF deal I ordered 12. That cost me just over £100, but I had to do the work myself - about three spare evenings it worked out at. Considerable cost saving (I already had masks etc).

Thanks for your response.

My bungalow is about 87 sq m and so I won't save anything with Wickes or NPower with the DIY option.

I have accepted a quote of £129 to do my loft insulation. They are going to take all of my 'old' (and it is very old) loft insulation out and replace it with new; up to 10inches. For info, some places in my loft are almost bare of any insulation. They are also going to insulate my pipes and tanks, which at the moment, have no insulation. Due to the amount of work involved, the company have advised me that they are going to use 2 men for the job.

There is no way that I could have done this cheaper via DIY so I am really pleased.:):):D:D:):)

sirmarcus

Forgot to mention that I don't need CWI as it has already been done. The insulation company drilled a small hole in my wall and stuck a camera in it to confirm. So I am even more happy now.