A well insulated home is the best way to save energy, lower energy bills and give the environment a little helping hand at the same time.
But with so many different forms of insulation available, it can be difficult to know the most effective way to insulate your home in order to save energy.
In this article, we asked the expert energy saving team at Danford, Brewer & Ives how to save energy with insulation.
Why Is Energy-Saving Insulation So Important?
Insulation is the best way to save energy because an effectively insulated home is able to trap heat and stop it from escaping. Energy-saving insulation allows you to keep your home warm in the winter, for longer periods of time and without running up huge bills that are detrimental to your wallet and the environment.
Insulating materials allow heat to be saved, rather than it being lost to the outside world. This ensures that your central heating system – whether gas or electric – doesn’t need to expend as much energy to keep a room at a constant temperature.
Take the insulation away, and heat can be lost through the walls, floors, roof and any draughty areas of the home. To keep a home at the same temperature, the heating system needs to burn through much more energy than it would otherwise.
Saving energy through insulation not only saves you money in the long run, but it helps to promote a greener, more sustainable style of living in your home.
What Are the Different Types of Energy-Saving Insulation?
There are a variety of different methods and types of insulation that can be used to save energy. The type of insulation your home needs in order to save energy will depend on the existing insulation in place, the age and size of the house, and the size of your budget.
But while the most effective insulation is almost always going to be the most expensive, saving energy stands to save you money over multiple years and even decades. Think of energy saving as an investment, rather than an upfront cost.
The most common forms of insulation that save houses the largest quantities of energy are:
- Solid wall insulation
- Floor insulation
- Loft insulation
- Draught proofing
Let’s take a look at how these forms of insulation save energy in more detail.
Solid Wall Insulation
Older houses that predate the 1920s were commonly constructed using solid brick or stone walls, rather than modern cavity walls. Solid walls consist of just one layer of material, so heat is easily lost as cold spots form due to a lack of insulation.
Solid wall insulation adds an extra layer of wall either internally or externally, creating a space (or cavity) that can then be filled with insulating materials. The insulation traps heat, thereby stopping it from escaping, and saving energy.
Floor Insulation
Floor insulation works in much the same way as solid wall insulation, as often floors are constructed from solid concrete or timbers.
Creating a cavity space that can be filled with insulating materials is the best way to stop heat from being lost through the floor, or if a cavity space already exists this can be filled with insulating materials.
Loft Insulation
Large quantities of heat escape through the roof, so it’s crucial that a loft is insulated if you’re looking to save energy.
Lofts can be insulated simply by being filled with insulating materials. If you wish to use the loft space for storage, then an extra layer of flooring can be laid down which can be filled with insulating materials.
Draught Proofing
Draughts cause heat to be carried outside the home, so draught proofing a building is an important step towards saving energy.
Draught proofing is as easy as closing doors and windows when the heating is on, but it can also involve sealing up gaps in the masonry, windows or doors that allow air through, or fixing shutters or brushes to letterboxes and chimney openings.
How Much Energy Can I Save Through Insulation?
Installing the best and most effective insulation in your home can save large amounts of energy that would otherwise be lost to the outside world.
The exact quantity of energy that any individual household stands to save depends on a number of factors, such as the size of the home, the amount of energy currently expended, and the type of insulation being fitted.
A few key figures to consider include:
- Up to 50 per cent of heat can be lost through walls
- Up to 25 per cent of heat can be lost through the roof
- The remainder is lost through the floor or through draught spots such as open windows or gaps in the masonry
Insulation helps to cut these figures down drastically, ensuring that heat stays inside the home rather than being wasted as it escapes to the outside. The better and more effective the insulation, the lower the percentage of heat lost.
Energy-Saving Surveys Can Identify Key Areas to Insulate
To better understand how to save energy through insulation and to better estimate how much energy can be saved with effective insulation, we always recommend having an energy-saving survey carried out by a professional.
Energy-saving surveys highlight the best places to focus on around the home in order to save the most energy for the most cost-effective investment. For example, an energy-saving survey could identify the loft space as a key area to insulate or it could identify problem areas you didn’t know existed, such as an unsealed window or doorframe.
Energy-saving surveys and insulation projects can also be combined with other important household maintenance or improvement projects – particularly damp and timber surveys, and damp proofing – thereby saving you time and money in the process.
Contact Danford, Brewer & Ives to Find Out More About Saving Energy With Insulation
For more information and advice on saving energy through insulation, then please contact our friendly team on 01765 804050 or fill in our online contact form. Our experienced specialists will be on hand and ready to offer expert advice tailored to your needs.