Effective wall insulation is a must-have for homeowners looking to create an energy-efficient house that’s both environmentally friendly and has low-cost gas and electric bills.
Older homes dating back to the Victorian era (and sometimes more recently) were built without cavity walls and wall insulation to keep in the heat. Therefore they’re incredibly inefficient when it comes to energy efficiency.
Don’t worry though, because older homes can be upgraded with new wall insulation. As we’ll explain in the following post, the effects on energy efficiency are exceptional.
What Is Wall Insulation?
Before we look at how wall insulation affects energy efficiency, it’s good to know what we mean when we’re talking about wall insulation.
There are a variety of methods for installing wall insulation using a range of different materials. The overall goal of wall insulation is to keep heat and energy inside a home by forming an insulating barrier that traps heat and stops it from escaping.
Wall insulation can be as simple as a plyboard wall that’s filled with foam insulation, and there are different types of wall insulation for inside and outside the home.
How Does Wall Insulation Work?
Modern homes have wall insulation installed as standard. These usually take the form of cavity walls, which create a double layer of wall (an inner and outer) leaving a gap in the middle that traps air and is filled with insulating materials.
Older homes don’t have this. Victorian homes were built with solid brick or stone walls. There’s just one layer of wall, and that’s bad for insulating. Rather than hot air being trapped between the walls and in the insulating material, cold pockets easily form and hot air simply escapes.
Wall insulation aims to replicate cavity walls. A second layer of ‘wall’ is constructed either internally (inside a room) or externally (on the outside of the wall). This second layer creates a gap that can be filled with insulation.
Does Wall Insulation Improve Energy Efficiency?
There’s no doubt that wall insulation improves energy efficiency. If your home has a single, solid wall, then you are guaranteed to be losing massive amounts of energy that could otherwise be saved.
Installing wall insulation allows you to effectively trap heat before it leaves the building. Once installed, the insulation stops heat from being lost through the walls, which therefore saves energy from being lost, too.
Ultimately this helps you, the homeowner, to save money on your energy bills (despite the upfront cost of installing wall insulation, you save money in the long term). Perhaps more importantly wall insulation allows you to reduce your energy consumption, which is fantastic for the environment.
Contact Danford, Brewer & Ives for More Information on Wall Insulation
For more information and advice on wall insulation and energy efficiency, 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 resolve your problem.