Free and Cheap Insulation Official Discussion

Kerry1972

Has anyone else had this problem?

On two separate occasions now, I have been visited by surveyors on behalf of Bolsover District Council working in the area making sure everyone has taken advantage of the insulating scheme.

The first looked up in the loft and said I needed loft insulation but never checked for anything else (cavity walls or anything). I filled in the forms, got permission from my private landlord, and booked the day off work. When the contractors arrived, they took one look up the loft and said it was already done & didn't need doing.

A few months later, another surveyor arrived. This time, they drilled a hole in the wall & told me I needed cavity wall insulation. I did point out the previous !!!!-up but they assured me it really needed doing. So, I filled in the form, sought permission from the landlord, and booked a day off work. Only for the contractor to turn up & say once again that it didn't need doing!!

So that's 2 days off work unpaid, disturbing my landlord for no reason, and generally everyone's time wasted!

Does my loft need insulating or not? Do my cavity walls need doing or not? I have no idea!!

I'm eligible for free grants due to housing benefit/working tax credit - is this the reason the work isn't done? To save the government money but still make them look like they're showing willing? I can't help being a little skeptical!

Do the surveyors not know what they're doing? Or are the contractors trying to get an easy day & still get paid for it?

I really don't know!

All I now is my detached bungalow drops cold as soon as the heating goes off and the fuel bills are high.

Any advice anyone? Anyone else had this problem?

happy2B

I am hoping to get cavity wall and loft insulation before the grants run out. I am sure I read something a while ago about getting help with the cost of clearing the loft - but now I can't find anything. There seems to be local council schemes in certain areas but is there anything national?
I am on Employment and Support Allowance and in receipt of Child Tax Credit, so qualify for most of the grants.

John_Pierpoint

Kerry1972 wrote: »

Has anyone else had this problem?

On two separate occasions now, I have been visited by surveyors on behalf of Bolsover District Council working in the area making sure everyone has taken advantage of the insulating scheme.

The first looked up in the loft and said I needed loft insulation but never checked for anything else (cavity walls or anything). I filled in the forms, got permission from my private landlord, and booked the day off work. When the contractors arrived, they took one look up the loft and said it was already done & didn't need doing.

A few months later, another surveyor arrived. This time, they drilled a hole in the wall & told me I needed cavity wall insulation. I did point out the previous !!!!-up but they assured me it really needed doing. So, I filled in the form, sought permission from the landlord, and booked a day off work. Only for the contractor to turn up & say once again that it didn't need doing!!

So that's 2 days off work unpaid, disturbing my landlord for no reason, and generally everyone's time wasted!

Does my loft need insulating or not? Do my cavity walls need doing or not? I have no idea!!

I'm eligible for free grants due to housing benefit/working tax credit - is this the reason the work isn't done? To save the government money but still make them look like they're showing willing? I can't help being a little skeptical!

Do the surveyors not know what they're doing? Or are the contractors trying to get an easy day & still get paid for it?

I really don't know!

All I now is my detached bungalow drops cold as soon as the heating goes off and the fuel bills are high.

Any advice anyone? Anyone else had this problem?

As Loft and cavity insulation is free for everyone until 1st January (but most firms are introducing a cut off date before Xmas)
I would five up on the jobs woth at the council and see if there is a private sector firm prepared to do both in the next 6 weeks.

As you have a detached bungalow, they should be ripping your arm off for such an easy prize.

Unless there is something you are not telling us: 24 hour a day red route with nowhere to park the big van?

Totally surrounded by conservatories?

Tiny access to the loft?

Special unmatchable outside render finish?

Do the surveyors not know what they're doing?

In my experience of two the answer is NO - neither had a functioning endoscope/boroscope for looking in the cavity and did not impress me with their lack of experience. - come Xmas they will be selling something else.

Or are the contractors trying to get an easy day & still get paid for it?

Of course; they are being paid on commission too and are trying to do 4 - 5 properties a day.

John_Pierpoint

happy2B wrote: »

I am hoping to get cavity wall and loft insulation before the grants run out. I am sure I read something a while ago about getting help with the cost of clearing the loft - but now I can't find anything. There seems to be local council schemes in certain areas but is there anything national?
I am on Employment and Support Allowance and in receipt of Child Tax Credit, so qualify for most of the grants.

There is no such thing as a free lunch someone has to pay for clearing your loft:

1. 'Hassle-free' loft insulation comes at a price - June - 2012 - Which ...
   
   www.which.co.uk › News › 2012 › June
   26 Jun 2012 – Eon's new insulation scheme has been launched as a 'hassle-free' package that includes loft clearance, the laying of insulation, and floorboard ...
2. 
   
   You insulate, we clear the loft, says Nick Clegg - Telegraph
   
   www.telegraph.co.uk › Earth › Energy
   12 Apr 2012 – Insulation is one way of reducing energy bills Photo: ALAMY ... [in south London] to see if offering a loft clearance service makes a difference.
3. 
   
   General Builder!! Loft Insulation, Loft Platforms, Loft Clearance ...
   
   www.gumtree.com/p/...insulation...loft-clearance.../106021283
   WINTER IS FAST APPROACHING! DO YOU FEEL THE COLD? DO YOU WANT TO BE WARM THIS WINTER? IF YOUR ANSWER IS YES TO BOTH OF THESE ...
4. 
   
   Loft Boarding / Clearance - Polybead Insulation
   
   www.polybeadinsulation.co.uk/boarding.html
   Polybead Insulation are now offering a loft clearance and loft boarding service together with our insulation expertise making us a one stop shop for all your loft ...
5. 
   
   Loft clearance
   
   www.norwich.gov.uk/Environment/EcoIssues/.../LoftClearance.aspx
   This is a loft clearance service for households who have applied for a grant towards the cost of professionally installed loft insulation and have been advised that ...
6. 
   
   Loft Clearance Service - Action Surrey
   
   www.actionsurrey.org › Free Insulation Scheme
   B&Q are now able to offer residents of Woking a loft clearance service that will leave your loft fully insulated, tidy and provide a handy storage facility for the items ...
7. 
   
   Loft Insulation - Saving Energy
   
   savingenergyuk.co.uk/your-home/insulation-2/loft-insulation
   FREE home insulation is available in all areas for FREE insulation, London, South ... We also have a loft clearance service available for anyone that is unable to ...
8. 
   
   Clearance and Insulation - stpegasgranary.co.uk
   
   www.stpegasgranary.co.uk/clearance-and-insulation/4550156090
   What we offer. ServicesA unique service to meet your personal needs seven day a week,

Judith_W

I'm about to move in the next week or two and need to get loft and cavity insulation and heard that the free grants are stopping in January 2013. Please can someone point me to where this is detailed and whether applying now would be good enough if the date for installation is January?

John_Pierpoint

Actually what is going to happen on January 1st seems to be shrouded in confusion.
The philosophy is the Green Deal: Here is a loan charged at the rate of (say) 7%. You pay currently £90 for an energy performance audit (but possibly subsidised down to £0.00) as the government has signed an undertaking to get every home onto an energy performance database, and we just are not moving fast enough any more.
This £90 report tells you what must be done and you borrow the money to do it. The debt is the responsibility of the house not the owner, so just try to sell it without paying off the debt!
The insulation and roof top panels etc. should save more than the 7% they are costing.
[Don't trust my information I might be as in the dark as anyone else]

Personally, I would get it done before Xmas

lexy1981

Hi All, I have a surveyer from British Gas coming out next week, however I am starting to think that its not such a good idea. For starters we have a household income of around 60k per annum, therefore we get no benefits and very rarely get anything for free, will I even qualify for a grant or is this just another scheme where I end up paying the majority of the cost? Secondly the upstairs of our home already suffers from condensation, I open all windows most mornings to clear this, will this be made worse if I have cavity wall done? All advise appreciated.

John_Pierpoint

You should get it for free at the moment, even from B.Gas (who will most probably simply farm out your opportunity to some installation company) unless you live in some palace sized home.
This is because the government has an international undertaking to cut CO2 emissions by 20% by 2020 (geddit?) and government and power companies don't want to build a massive second National Grid if they can avoid the expenditure and the hassle involve in obtaining environmentally friendly power from renewable sources.

However even giving away incentives like shopping vouchers, is failing to get the die-hards to agree to filling their cavities - especially when they Google the "farm the subsidies, you are not the customer" attitudes of the so called "surveyors", as documented by "Which?".

The present subsidies are unlikely to survive the current 01jan13 deadline.

That said - why do you think your home is full of condensation - are you scared of opening the windows for say 20 minutes when having breakfast. to blow away the sweaty breath from the night before? Presumably you already have extractor fans for the cooking and the bathing/showering and mop up the bad condensation every morning? The amount of heat in the air that blows away is really quite small. in a solid wall house most of the heat is stored in the bricks/blocks.


If you don't remove the wetness, it will just go round and round from warmest place in the home to the coldest, carrying with it large amounts "latent energy". At he moment you are paying to evaporate the moisture. The heat you use to do that gets dumped on the cold surface to leak outside in double quick time.
The resulting black mould is bad for your health.

We are already on what is called "The Green Deal" - I might be wrong but in my opinion this is a method of getting an Energy Performance Certificate for every dwelling in the land onto a European Union database - another international undertaking by our government.
You could be forced in the future to make these "improvements" to your property and would have to finance the improvement yourself; however with access to a loan (currently 7% ?), which would be charged on the property (like a mortgage and "sold" to any subsequent purchaser). In theory the improvements would save you at least the 7% cost and there will be subsidies for expensive work - such as insulating solid walls.

If you do decide to have your cavities filled, check the "agrement certificate"
for the system you are offered:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Board_of_Agr%C3%A9ment

Make sure the installers install as per the specification - unfortunately a lot of corners are cut - in theory the installers of fibre are meant to test the density. Get fibre wrong and it will bed down leaving you with empty cavities round the top of the walls in the bedrooms - jut the thing for black mould condensation.

If possible insulate the cavity closer blocks at the top of the wall (you do have them don't you ?) as they make a "cold bridge".
But don't totally seal the draughts blowing into your loft round the edges, or you will get condensation up there.
If you have a pre-WW2 home you probably won't have a vertical damp-course round the windows. If the outside is not rendered the bricks might get sufficiently wet, for the brick running from inside to outside the window to get damp and no longer be able to evaporate that dampness into the cavity - the result could be damage to the plaster inside the reveal (side) of the window opening.

Also check that you don't have massive voids leading into your cavities, for example where someone has bashed through to instal plumbing waste pipes or to fit electrical cables.

lexy1981

Thanks for the advice. As per my message, I do open windows in the mornings; the condensation problem is due to my home requiring new windows which are due to be fitted next month. As im sure you will understand I did not want to pay out for new windows for the problem to come back again after having the cavity wall done. Good to know it is genuinely free for all though, certainly makes a refreshing change.

Furts

Give consideration to replacing your windows before installing cavity wall insulation. Removing the existing windows is sure to dislodge the beads or fibres you intend to have installed. In addition to cold spots you will find you have made your 25 year cavity wall guarantee invalid.