How to insulate yourself from energy bills that are going through the roof | Household bills

Britain’s old houses leak – and cost us a lot of money. As gas and electricity prices rise this weekend there is renewed focus on Insulation of our homes to prevent heat loss and avoid unnecessary energy expenditure. But where can most consumers start to get a handle on soaring bills?

What is the problem?

The UK housing stock is the oldest and least energy efficient in Europe – more than half of it was built before 1965. And 20% before 1919. As a result, many houses are poorly insulated and owners pay a premium for their energy. This could be avoided if measures were taken to prevent heat leakage.

Will Hodson, founder of switching site Look After My Bills, launched a campaign last week to highlight the need for isolation at a time when switching providers is not enough to protect consumers from soaring prices. Nearly 15 million homes in the UK require attic or cavity wall insulation, he says.

“Our old houses are part of our cultural heritage. But retrofitting and upgrading them should be part of our future,” he says. “We should all consider insulating our homes as a natural process as feathering our own nest. Energy prices have never been higher and the fact is that the savings associated with energy efficiency investments have never been higher either.”

Hodson advises homeowners to start by looking at their home’s EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) rating, which provides an indication of how energy efficient a property is when it comes to things like floors, lighting, roof, walls and plumbing. It recommends what measures could be taken to make the property more efficient, from draft control to external wall insulation.

However, the EPC is for typical households and may not be tailored to how you use your home.

Look at the attic

Attic insulation will be the first step for many as it is affordable and easy to install. Uninsulated homes can lose up to 25% of heat through the roof, according to the Energy Saving Trust (EST).

Installing 270mm of insulation in a house with no buildings can cost between £455 and £640, depending on whether it’s a terraced house, detached building or bungalow, says the group.

It is possible to do this yourself and save on labor costs, using rolls of mineral wool between the beams of the attic. Savings range from £330 to £590 a year, according to the Trust, so the work will soon pay for itself.

Where there are moisture issues or a flat roof, a professional will need to do the job. Rafters can also be insulated with material panels or special foam, but this is significantly more expensive. Installers can be found through the National Insulation Association.

… and on the walls

It is estimated that a third of the heat in uninsulated homes escapes through the walls. So the first thing a homeowner needs to do is identify the type of wall in their property that will dictate how it can be insulated.

Insulating materials such as mineral wool and Styrofoam balls are injected into hollow walls through boreholes and then sealed. The EST puts the cost – this must be done by a professional – at £580 for a mid-terrace house and up to £1,800 for a detached house. Savings range from £235 a year for a terraced house to £690.

Solid walls can have insulation boards on the inside or a layer of material on the outside, which is then clad or plastered. The cost is significantly higher, according to the EST. A typical three bedroom semi-detached house will cost around £12,500 for external insulation and £8,500 for internal insulation. Savings are estimated at between £315 per year for a mid-terrace and £930 for a detached house.

Cutting costs, or at least controlling them, is possible by insulating when you have other work done, such as renovations, new windows, or installing solar panels. Consumers are advised to obtain three quotes before beginning.

Floors come in different shapes. In newer homes, they are usually made of solid concrete that can be insulated if the floorboards need to be replaced. Insulating panels or boards are used, the thickness of which is kept to a minimum, to avoid having to modify the doorways due to a shift in floor height. The Center for Sustainable Energy says costs start at around £1,000 and save up to £70 a year.

Older houses tend to have suspended wooden floorboards. These can be lifted and mineral wool insulation placed between the joists. The cost is between £1,600 and £2,900, according to the EST. Suspended floors can also be insulated by robots that spray on the insulation. Savings range from £60 to £155.

A more advanced approach

For homeowners on a larger budget, a more elaborate plan is recommended. This should start with hiring a surveyor for the retrofit (at a cost of between £250 and £400). You will create a plan to reduce your energy use and carbon emissions and improve comfort and health, says architect Sara Edmonds, who chairs Architects! Climate Action Network, a group dedicated to addressing climate and environmental issues in construction.

A retrofit coordinator (at a cost of around £500) can then oversee a project to modernize the property from start to finish.

Edmonds says EPC ratings don’t go far enough to understand what it takes to properly retrofit a home. This includes ventilation, the condition of the building, the insulation that is in place, and whether the owner uses it to dry their clothes.

Getting the insulation wrong can lead to more problems, she warns.

“For example, if you replace a broken old window in a bathroom with a new, better-performing window, or close drafts or leaky openings in the walls around the toilet drain pipe or other pipes without also improving ventilation, you may find that you are preventing the formation of Condensation worsens mold growth, which can harm your health and the building itself,” she adds.

“Individual measures – like replacing windows or applying external wall insulation – should not be carried out in isolation without understanding how the entire building works.”

… but the material costs are constantly increasing

The cost of insulation materials has been impacted by the current economic instability, with some prices up 50% year-on-year and delays in equipment procurement reported.

One installer, Craig Stewart, from Mersey Eco Grants, tells the story observer The price of the special material for filling cavity walls has halved in the last 12 months.

He also says some items, like boilers, had to be ordered up to two months in advance. Consumers are facing rising material and labor costs and increased demand in the wake of the pandemic.

Government figures show materials are up 26% across the board for the year to June.

The pandemic has also resulted in shortages of electrical components from China, where production has slowed due to Covid.

“Last year we could go to dealers and pick up a boiler, but now you have to order in advance,” says Stewart. “They just don’t have them on hand.”

Wood, cement and plasterboard have become more expensive due to energy price hikes, hitting producers of building materials in particular, which are large consumers of oil and gas.

Homeowners doing their job have been warned that estimates are subject to change as material costs fluctuate constantly.

This is exacerbated by the shortage of skilled workers, both to do the work and to transport the materials around the country.

In addition, the construction industry is warning that new building codes to improve energy efficiency, introduced in June, will increase the price of extensions and loft conversions.