Solid wall insulation - is it free?

matelodave

I have to agree with Mr Pincher, I don't minding giving help to those who can't help themselves, but I do object to giving it to those who won't help themselves or feel that the rest of us should be subsidising them

Richie-from-the-Boro

I object to all taxpayer 'green' and all those who believe that windy mills and bits of silicone pointing at the sun are green or even renewable. When a windy mill or a bit of silicone pointing at the sun needs zero taxpayer support and is a 'stand alone' self generating profitable enterprise from the very 1st day with no need for backup generation, then .. .. and only then are windy mills and bits of silicone pointing at the sun of any type green / and - or / even renewable.

Fuel poverty needs tackling, 31 thousand fathers mothers and grand-parents had a heatbeat at the start of last winter but were dead before the winter ended. Those 29% extra directly cold related deaths in UK homes came about because of high fuel bills and living in homes that are far colder and considerably less well insulated than those in many other parts of Europe. What this rich society should be doing is making sure everyone not just the elderly & vulnerable lives in a well insulated warm home and where necessary sufficient income to pay their fuel bills. That's where taxpayer subsidies should be going not little windy mills and bits of silicone pointing at the sun.

RickMoney

The Green deal provides funding support for all upgrades subject to the golden rule. Solid wall insulation is so expensive that it would not meet the golden rule, but without it there is little point doing the other improvements as the money will literally leech out the walls..

So unless there is a process in place to help the low percentage of houses in this way then heating demand will continue to rise and demand will push your prices up anyway...

Pincher

It took me about seven years to put in the central heating and insulation I have, as funds and opportunity permit. A couple of rooms to do yet. I don't mind a reasonable amount of subsidies, but solid wall insulation is a lot, especially if you go for certification.


Assuming the OP cannot get subsidy, and will do it room by room as redecoration needs (and funds) arise, do take pictures and keep receipts for proof of insulation work, with thickness applied and U Value. I didn't, so the EPC inspector marked the house down as having just solid walls, with NO wall insulation. Without certification, it's just bags of thermal plaster and the cost of a good plasterer. Well, and the edging (I always wondered why the plaster doesn't just crumble away on the corner, now I know).

thenudeone

Richie-from-the-Boro wrote: »

What this rich society should be doing is making sure everyone not just the elderly & vulnerable lives in a well insulated warm home and where necessary sufficient income to pay their fuel bills. That's where taxpayer subsidies should be going not little windy mills and bits of silicone pointing at the sun.

We have probably the least-insulated homes in Northern Europe.

Subsidies are going to less well off people (who can't afford ££££s to buy a more efficient boiler) and to those whose houses are so old that they could never financially justify the investment in insulation. While shopping on Saturday there was even a "sales" stall from a local heating engineer advertising "free boilers" to those on certain benefits.

However, everything has to be paid for, and when people were asked to pay for these (though higher fuel bills) the press kicked up a big fuss, and some of these schemes are now likely to be stopped.

The result, as already pointed out, is that we will still have the worst insulated homes in Europe; energy demand will rise faster than it would have done, making power cuts even more likely in winters to come, and thus pushing prices up as we have to use expensive and inefficient generation capacity to keep heating our draughty homes.

The withdrawal of payments to fund insulation with too long a payback for a householder to justify, is a short-term gimmick which we will all pay for in higher energy prices in the future.