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Loft insulation, squished or not squished?

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  • ashe
    ashe Posts: 1,574 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    100% loft legs
  • ohdarn
    ohdarn Posts: 200 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Me: 'Can I save a bit of money on reusing loft insulation?'
    Forum: 'No, spend hundreds of pounds on stuff you say you don't want'

    mOnEy SaViNg ExPeRt
  • You (the week after a 54% rise in energy prices is announced): Should I change from an already inadequate 200mm of roof insulation to a frankly pitiful 100mm?

    Others: No, there are inexpensive things called loft legs which are specially designed to allow you to keep the 200mm insulation you've already got - or even improve on it - and still get the storage space you want.

    You : I don't trust them. Based on nothing more than gut feel, I'll dismiss all the experience of hundreds of thousands of people who are using them perfectly happily, because I reckon they'll just break randomly. I shouldn't think anyone's ever tried walking on them before. What a stupid idea! You're all idiots!
  • Eldi_Dos
    Eldi_Dos Posts: 2,130 Forumite
    Fifth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Seem's the regiment is out of step but what do you expect when they started loft leg first.
  • There seems to be plenty of sites/forums that say you need a gap between the loft boards and the insulation, to prevent condensation, and about as many saying you don't. As usual, you can find a answer to fit your preconception.

    Personally, I left a gap.
  • ComicGeek
    ComicGeek Posts: 1,653 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    ohdarn said:
    Unsquished insulation will be better. The air is the bit that does the insulating.

    No comments on loft legs from me, except to wonder what they have to do with covering up the electrics. Wouldn't they be covered up anyway, when the boards go down?
    Thanks, but I've found an American site now that suggests there may be not really much of a  difference after all.
    Thank god you found the one website that doesn't agree with basic science, that must put your mind at rest....
  • ohdarn
    ohdarn Posts: 200 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    ComicGeek said:
    ohdarn said:
    Unsquished insulation will be better. The air is the bit that does the insulating.

    No comments on loft legs from me, except to wonder what they have to do with covering up the electrics. Wouldn't they be covered up anyway, when the boards go down?
    Thanks, but I've found an American site now that suggests there may be not really much of a  difference after all.
    Thank god you found the one website that doesn't agree with basic science, that must put your mind at rest....
    Thankfully there were more links to scientific research than the dross that's been presented in here.
    Of course it will require more reading of the links they provided to make sure they're accurate, but it's certainly more useful than 'jUsT sPeNd MoArE MoNeY'.
  • Section62
    Section62 Posts: 9,755 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Fourth Anniversary Name Dropper
    ohdarn said:
    ComicGeek said:
    ohdarn said:
    Unsquished insulation will be better. The air is the bit that does the insulating.

    No comments on loft legs from me, except to wonder what they have to do with covering up the electrics. Wouldn't they be covered up anyway, when the boards go down?
    Thanks, but I've found an American site now that suggests there may be not really much of a  difference after all.
    Thank god you found the one website that doesn't agree with basic science, that must put your mind at rest....
    Thankfully there were more links to scientific research than the dross that's been presented in here.
    Of course it will require more reading of the links they provided to make sure they're accurate, but it's certainly more useful than 'jUsT sPeNd MoArE MoNeY'.
    As @casper_gutman pointed out a few posts ago, with rising energy costs it is more important than ever to insulate homes properly.  Removing or reducing the effectiveness of loft insulation will cost more in the medium to long term than you save by not spending a trivial sum of money (in the context of home ownership) on doing the job properly.

    Saving money isn't just about the avoidance of spending any.  Money can be saved by spending wisely.

    On a site called 'Money Saving Expert' you can't expect advice from people who deal with this stuff on a professional basis to be "Bodge it and save yourself a few quid" when the evidence and legislative framework (e.g. Building Regs, EPCs) require or support the opposite approach to be taken.

    The question in your first post is a false dichotomy - 'Is bad idea 1 better or worse than bad idea 2?'  - you are clearly unhappy with the advice various posters are giving, but that doesn't make them wrong.

    If you want to save money then follow the advice you've been getting here.  If you want to do it your way then nobody here will stop you... but don't be surprised if your heating bills go up and you get a poor EPC rating when you come to sell your house.
  • ashe
    ashe Posts: 1,574 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    If squished was better surly everyone would just use squished because it would be space saving and easier for pipework and electrics. 

    Just use loft legs 
  • Chickereeeee
    Chickereeeee Posts: 1,286 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 12 February 2022 at 6:22PM
    For those interested, OP is probably referring to something  like this page:

    https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/compressed-fiberglass-insulation-really-so-bad/

    TL;DR - compression INCREASES the R-value of a material such as fiberglass or rockwall insulation.

    Although air is removed, there are still plenty of air pockets, and being smaller, convection is reduced. 200mm of uncompressed insulation is better than 100mm of uncompressed insulation, but (apparently) 200mm of insulation compressed to 100mm is a lot better than 100mm uncompressed. (Okay, this last bit is incorrect!)

    ( And I imagine covering that compressed 100mm with 18mm of board would reduce convection and heat transfer still further. What it does to moisture transfer I have no idea).

    Edited for stupid mistake!
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