Insulating my walls

Spies

I have a property built in 1996 which uses white wool fiber in the cavity, I feel like a lot of this has dropped in the walls where its got damp from water tracking across the cavity in places, the house really struggled to maintain heat in the winter and it takes a lot to heat to a comfortable temperature.

As I don't believe it's possible to Retrofit solid insulation and also remove the existing insulation in its entirety I feel like I have 2 options.

Those are internal insulation or cladding, I fear that both of these options are going to be somewhat costly and require a lot of modifications, for example, internally light switches, plug sockets and radiators will all have to be brought forward slightly, similarly externally, it will change the character of the property and windows will be inset more. 

Am I missing any other obvious options here? I don't really want to endure another winter burning 70-80kwh of gas to keep warm! 

QrizB

Can you get someone in with an endoscope (or buy your own) to inspect your cavities and confirm your thoughts regarding the insulation?

If your wool has slumped to the bottom of the cavity, you might be able to top it up with blown insulation (the same stuff used for cavity wall insulation retrofits)?

EcoScruples

That’s what I would do too, get it checked out, you might even find that a reputable company will do a free survey. Having it topped up would be the most cost effective solution.

Spies

I should have said I had it completely removed from one wall as it was allowing moisture to track through to the inner wall, this took several days of them removing a couple of external blocks and pulling it out by hand, this did solve the issue with damp tracking through on that wall. That gable end takes the brunt of the weather in winter, no other walls have been affected in the same way. 

What makes me think it's sunk in my other walls is there is only a small delta between the known voided wall even in very low temperatures. 

DougMLancs

I’d say you could borrow my Flir One to check for slumped insulation but you’ll be needing an answer long before it’s cold enough to get a decent contrast!

EricMears

Shouldn't the 'wool fibre' have been waterproofed to prevent such tracking ?

Spies

Well evidently something went wrong