Cheap(ish) ways of insulating a room

tomp2494

Are there any ways of cheaply ish improving the insulation of the walls. I live in a fairly old building so it doesn't have insulated walls to the standards that exist today. There is no cavity wall and my property is not suitable tor any insulation of the like.

Is there anything I can put over the interior walls (not  insulating paint, tried that, doesn't make any noticeable difference) in the way of boards that I can then paint (and not plaster) over? 
I have purchased a dehumidifier which is on an awful lot! 
There is no draft coming from windows/doors/letterbox. 
 
I live in a small flat. 

How about some insulation on my radiator pipes? 

Any other suggestions welcome!

Thank you

FreeBear

You can get insulating wall paper - Expensive, and doesn't provide much (if any) worthwhile insulation.

Your best bet is insulated plasterboard or Celotex/Kingspan type boards topped off with PB (do a search for "warm batten method" for ideas). Unfortunately, this would require some plastering. To be worthwhile (and meet current building regs), you'd be looking at around 75mm of PUR/PIR, but even 25mm would make a noticeable difference.

Insulating CH pipes - Yes, worthwhile putting a bit of lagging around any pipes running under floorboards. Pipes running along the walls in a room will add a small amount to the overall heating.

Bendy_House

"There is no cavity wall and my property is not suitable tor any insulation of the like."

How old, and what are the walls made of?

I think FBear is referring to products like 'Wallrock' which is, I think, a few mm thick and will add some insulation value. It is probably also suitable for your purposes - ie it'll need to 'breathe'.

I suspect any improvement will be limited, tho', simply because it is so thin. And it ain't cheap.

Worth looking into insulations materials designed for old properties, such as those built from lime and cob. Try a Google. There are rigid insulation batts made from recycled stuff like wood fibre or straw or summat, and these might be suitable - I think they are attached using fixings that are drilled into the wall, a bit like bolts but possibly made from plastic (it's been quite a while since I looked at this stuff!) Possibly it could also be adhered straight on, I don't know.

It's ultimately designed for plastering, but using a lime - breathable - plaster, but quite possibly you'd get away with adding lining paper.

To be clear, I'm not necessarily suggesting the 'proper' method of doing this, and cosmetically at least it's likely to be a compromise unless you have it professionally fitted and rendered. But, warm? I suspect so... :-)

.

FreeBear

Bendy_House said: I think FreeBear is referring to products like 'Wallrock' which is, I think, a few mm thick and will add some insulation value. It is probably also suitable for your purposes - ie it'll need to 'breathe'.

Yup, that's the sort of stuff I had in mind. However, it is not breathable as it is little more than polystyrene with a few embedded fibres.

Any suggestions made regarding IWI is based on the assumption that the walls are solid brick or stone. If breathability is a requirement, then complexity and cost goes up - Woodfibre, cork, and other eco-materials do not come cheap, neither does lime plastering.

Bendy_House

FreeBear said:

 Woodfibre, cork, and other eco-materials do not come cheap, neither does lime plastering.

And yet, they should be!

Mark_Michalowski

What sort of budget were you thinking of - and what kind of fixings can you use (permanent or temporary, for a rental property for instance)?

DRP

is it a draughty room? This is often the bigger problem. Plenty of chep fixes  you can do to stop drafts