NIE Insulation Grants

Dunwunderin

To get the package free you need to be 70 or on means tested benefits below that age. If you have just bought a house you are likely to be either!

deirdre42c

Hi

I applied for the NIE grant and they called 4 weeks ago and checked income details and measured house up. They told me they were recommending CWI and roofspace insullation but the next step would be someone coming out to cost it and that would be in approx 6 weeks.

I am happy to report that following excellent customer service from NIE theCWI is being installed today and , having advised the girl that the loft was empty, got a cancellation for the roofspace insulation (also today). When I asked about the costing etc she advised it was already complete and I would have nothing to pay!!

So far so good! Will keep you updated if I think it makes a difference

almillar

Just to let you know that I got the energy meter. Works great after a bit of faffing to set it up - NIE have managed to put their logo on it, but it's still set up in $ when it arrives! They're still available as of last week as my friend has ordered one.

deirdre42c

Just to keep everyone updated.

CWI and loft insullation installed Wed in about 3 hours in total-no mess - guys cleaned up after themselves really well!

Before I had to put the heating on at least 4 hours every night and within 30 mins of turning off house was freezing! Am pleased to say that I've only had the heating on for a total of 6 hours since Wed and house remaining warm right through to next morning. Have actually had to turn the heating off auto and open the windows as I type and heating has been off for an hour and a half!(haven't been able to open the windows at night since about Sept lol)

Hoping this saves me in oil as the prices have got extorionate and it's worth perservering!

So thank NIE and hope anyone else who has applied gets lucky and sees the same impvement!:T

shalis

Could I pose a couple of questions re loft insulation.

Firstly, I currently have fibreglass layers, as well as other materials in my roofspace. I know that fibreglass is a bit hazardous, so presumably it would be advisable to wear a face mask to avoid breathing in any of the fibres. What about eye protection? Also can this be disposed of at Council Cleansing Depots?

Secondly a friend who has had a quote for roof insulation via NIE has been told they should have a total of about 12 ins. insulation in the roof,(similar to what "sheerdelight" said on 16/1/11) and that this material should NOT have anything set or stored on top of it, which would compress it. This apparently renders it next to useless as it destroys its insulating properties.

If the 2nd point is true then effectively you are unable to store anything in the roofspace!!

Any advice would be appreciated.

deirdre42c

he conractors on Wed put in 12 inches of insulation to my loft as this was recommended amount however, there was no mention of not storing anything - in fact the contractor said I could go ahead and put my stuff back the same day- just to watch as the joists had been covered.

There is also a notice pinned up in the loft stating a warning about the joists covered and that 's all

shalis

Thanks deirdre42c. The surveyor definitely told my friend this. Could be that your material is different, although that seems unlikely. I did actually read a similar comment somewhere on the Internet this morn.I understand the warning notice, as, let's face it most households DO store stuff in the roofspace. From my calculations!! my roofspace is approx. 69 sq metres. I would be interested to know the cost to me if I go through NIE, as opposed to buying insulation myself.

Any other comments/advice welcome.

sheerdelight

Shalis. You can't have it every way! If you want good insulation you put in as much as you can afford,preferably at least 12 inches. With this depth it is inevitable that the joists will be covered. You can always leave a bit and floor it leaving the 5-6 inches below it insulated with that lesser amount. Alternatively you raise the floor up above the level of the insulation by increasing the depth of the joists and use this to store some stuff. By the way you can use recycled material that is made from plastic bottles. This doesn't shed fibres the way glass fibre does. Not sure if rockwool has similar properties. Yes glass fibre is a real pain should you need to move or disturb it to do work in the roofspace but it is the cheapest.. Cover as much of the roofspace area as you can with insulation. Anyway you would nevet really set anything on the fibreglass anyway as it would not support anything. I only have about 6 inches of insulation as entireroofspace is floored. Raising ithe floor would be possible but then I would not be able to walkover/ access easily the roofspace because of much reduced headroom.

shalis

I understand all of that. I just don't know too many people who don't have some stuff stored in their lofts. Unfortunately my loft is insulated with a whole mixture of materials, including small bits of broken polystyrene, a paper based material, fibreglass and finally spare cuts of carpet and underlay. So anything that was stored on the joists was basically on the top layer. Not my doing believe me. Done by previous owner. Enough said!! I just want to replace all this with effective insulation. Fortunately I do have a very small area close to the trapdoor floored, so have some space to store the stuff I want out of the way.
Raising the joist height is definitely not an option. I want to permanently remove all these materials.
Incidentally, I notice that some of the roof insulation sold and advertised by B&Q is NOT apparently available here in NI according to their website.

Flower-power22

Just had my loft insulated by NIE.....:j
Took about 4 weeks from the surveyor came to have a look. The only down side of this was having to completely clear my loft (some of the stuff up there had been there since we moved here 5 years ago).

The thickness is amazing compared to what we had...... and this was a new build??????? u can't see the joicts no more!

Thanks NIE:p