What natural insulation do you prefer?

The_Green_Man_2

In my home, I have installed a combination of sheep wool, wood fibre boards, wood wool board, hemp lime and hemp batts to help provide breathable insulation.

After installing a loft full of rockwool several years ago in a previous property, I have to say that I absolutely loved installing rolls of sheep wool in our new lofts. Even the cat seemed to love them, evidenced by the number of times I found him lying on top of the rolls.

The one I didn't enjoy installing was the wood fibre boards as internal wall insulation. There was a huge amount of prep work in levelling the stone rubble walls with lime plaster and then mechanically fixing each board to the plastered wall. In another part of the house, I battened out and filled between and behind the battens with sheep wool and covered it all with wood wool boards. Much more straightforward and extremely quick!

Lime plastering with hemp lime was also a struggle - I had a mate who is a plasterer helping me and, with a disgusted look on his face as he examined the hemp lime on his float, announced "It's like smearing horse sh*t on a wall".

It looks great now that it's up though- very rustic and absolutely perfect for our barn conversion.

Cardew

Solar panels on the roof might provide an extra layer of insulation;)

rogerblack

Ceramic fibre products - glass fibre, rockwool, ... vary lots.
I happened to install some Knauf FactoryClad - I hesitate to say it's as friendly as wool - but damn near. (At least the yellow stuff is - http://www.knaufinsulation.co.uk/en-gb/products/glass-mineral-wool-rolls/earthwool-factoryclad-roll.aspx is the new version)
Then there are 'bagged' products - which are plastic covered, and you don't touch the insulation.
There are deeply, deeply unpleasant fibre/mineral products - but they are not universal.

The_Green_Man_2

Cardew wrote: »

Solar panels on the roof might provide an extra layer of insulation;)

Good idea, I could also insulate the loft with £5 notes taken from poor people. I don't think my snout is deep enough in the trough to do that though.