It’s already become a well-established fact that insulation can help cut home heating bills, particularly in homes with sold walls, reducing your environmental footprint at the same time. However, many people are put off insulation by the upfront costs, in spite of the long-term savings.
Now though, thanks to changing legislation, it’s possible to receive help with the costs of insulating your home or even have the costs covered altogether.
External Wall Insulation Grants
Solid walls in a home of any kind can cause heat to be lost twice as fast as through cavity walls. 35% of all heat loss from U.K. homes is conducted through solid walls.
Given that solid walls are a particular issue, there are a few key factors by which a sold wall can be identified:
- If a wall is 260 mm or thicker, it likely has a cavity
- If bricks are laid in an oblong fashion, it likely has a cavity
- If bricks are laid and some have the square end facing outwards, the wall is likely solid
- Most homes built before 1920 have solid walls
The Potential Savings
Besides the environmental benefits, home insulation carries huge potential savings in energy bills.
The Energy Savings Trust estimates that an annual saving of £460 can be achieved in an average detached house where insulation is installed.
These can be broken down further:
- Loft insulation: between £115 and £215 per year
- Floor insulation: between £25 and £65 per year
- Wall cavity insulation: between £65 and 250 per year
Courtesy of potential savings such as these, insulation will pay for itself over time, even if it takes decades to do so.
As such, if you are planning on remaining in your current property for some time, insulation is a particularly worthwhile investment.
Insulation Grants and Schemes
While the potential savings on insulation can be huge, for some the initial financial outlay can make it seem out of reach. However, courtesy of relatively new government legislation, it is possible to receive grants towards the costs of insulating your home or even to have the costs covered entirely.
This funding comes from energy companies and is made legal under the Energy Company Obligation Scheme. Further to this, those who receive certain types of benefits may be eligible for an insulation grant or for a new boiler, under the Affordable Warmth Scheme.
Those who are not eligible for grants or funding are left with a number of other choices. Smaller, simpler insulation jobs such as loft insulation or draft-proofing can be carried out by the homeowner at a relatively low cost.
Larger jobs, requiring professional installation, will be more costly in the short term but also likely yield greater savings.
At Gaffney & Guinan, we specialise in providing market-leading external insulation and cladding. External wall insulation provides the perfect solution for those with solid walls, coating the outside without the need for extensive building works.
Find out how much you could save here.
Learn more about our expert insulation solutions here.