Free government help for home insulation

hubb

I am a home owner of a victorian brick semi detached house. The roof is slate with no felt underlay. The slates will need replacing soon as they are in such a state of age. The previous owners have put some kind of loft floor fibreglass insulation but I am not shure how good it is. We have a combi boiler and open fire but even with that, the house is very hard to keep warm. Especially upstairs which emits a draught down the open stairway when the fire is lit. The double glazing is old and pretty hopeless. You can still feel a draught from the windows and the outside walls are like ice in this weather, also attracting white mold. Of course the walls are not cavity, just double brick.

My wife is an employee in a school and I am self employed clerical from home. Is there any type of grant, inspection we can have to help us cut down on energy waste ? I have been told by a friend we can.

Thankyou.

Furts

I think, but have not checked it out, that if you have less than 50mm roof insulation then a FOC top up can be applied for.

Regardless, it is difficult to comprehend how people have so little insulation. Combine the cost of heating with the enormous amounts of roof insulation given away over the years and I am left at a loss for words!

Were I in OP position I would have been monitoring the offers available from Homebase, B&Q etc. and snapping up the insulation at the right time. Indeed, I still have roles that were given away that I have little use for.

I am resolved to topping up my top up insulation. I have to use the stuff somewhere. Currently, one roof has 500mm depth, and the others are following suit. The impact on the heating bills is staggering!

hubb

A lot of the floor of the loft has board nailed down over it. Also a lot of stuff stored up there. If it makes that much difference it still could be worth it. I have also thought of using a huge roll of bubblewrap.

Anyway, have just applied for a free survey to see if I can get the grant as my insulation isn't that thick otherwise it would be making a difference.

Furts

hubb wrote: »

A lot of the floor of the loft has board nailed down over it. Also a lot of stuff stored up there. If it makes that much difference it still could be worth it. I have also thought of using a huge roll of bubblewrap.

Anyway, have just applied for a free survey to see if I can get the grant as my insulation isn't that thick otherwise it would be making a difference.

Two points come to mind. Insulation is based on trapping air - this is what fibreglass, Rockwool, Celotex, Kingspan do. Your loft boards may be trapping air beneath them giving better insulation than you imagine. This would depend on how well the boards are sealed together and at the edges. If this is good, then the trapped fibreglass underneath is not contributing a great deal. This sealing could be improved, and the insulation to an extent, by underlay, and perhaps old carpet. You can then store your items on this.

The other concern is your double glazing. Even if old it should not feel too bad. Is it properly and thoroughly ealed to the walls, on both the outer face and the inner face? If you have trim strips on the inside face and you remove a few to investigate, you may have be surprised with the gaps that you find.

hubb

The whole loft isn't boarded at all, just some of it. There is also a bit of carpet down on top of that but again not all over. I'll see what the inspector says when they come.