Home insulation is essential for protecting your home from extreme weather conditions. Before you call painters and decorators in London to paint or decorate your home, you should upgrade the thermal performance of your home.
Home insulation helps prevent the cold air from entering the interiors of the house and restricts the warm air indoors. This can help regulate the temperature in the house. Utility bills can be greatly reduced if the thermal performance of a house is at its optimum.
What is home insulation?
Air leakages, which are usually caused by inadequate insulation, can increase your utility bills. If you are building a new home, insulation can be included during the construction and can cover all parts of the home. If you are renovating your home, you may want to include insulation in certain parts of the house such as walls, attics or basements.
The thermal performance of your home can be upgraded using materials such as cellulose, spray foam, fibreglass and foil. It is recommended that you call a thermal insulation expert to inspect your home for upgrading the insulation.
Reduction in utility bills
It goes without saying that the thermal performance of your home has a direct effect on your utility bills. When the house is not properly insulated, the utility bills increase and you spend more money. This is because the heating and cooling systems in the house must take on additional loads to keep the living conditions stable in the house.
However, a well-insulated house can reduce the use of heating and cooling systems and help in reducing the utility bills you pay month after month.
Time taken for home insulation
Depending upon the material you use for insulation and the extent to which you want to carry out insulation for your home, the time taken could vary from a couple of days to a couple of weeks. Getting an insulation contractor to give you the estimates will help you plan the time taken to get your renovation work completed. This will help you when you talk to painters and decorators in London for completing the job.
Methods of home insulation
Loft insulation is the most cost effective method of reducing energy bills. There is a wide range of materials used for this purpose: Thermal Insulation foil roll, Mineral wool, rigid insulation boards and others. Most local builders merchants sell these.
If your loft is already insulated it is a good to check whether you have the recommended thickness of insulation for maximum saving. A very popular product for loft insulation is mineral wool. The recommended depth for mineral wool insulation is 270mm. Laying this can be done by most competent DIY-ers, too. The first layer of insulation should be laid between the joists, and then another layer should be cross-laid to cover the joists and make the insulation up to the required thickness. Care should be taken not to squash the mineral wool as this will reduce its insulation value.
To prevent cold drafts coming from loft hatches it is a good idea to fit an insulated loft hatch and even fit draft proofing strips around the edges of the frame.
Naturally insulating the floor of the loft space is not always possible, especially if it is used for storage, living space, but it is possible to insulate the roof of the loft in this case by using rigid insulation boards cut to size to fit between roof rafters. The insulation boards should fit snugly between the rafters. In most cases you will need to fit a ‘’bellow rafter’’ layer of insulation as well to achieve the required performance. This consists of mechanically fixing another rigid insulation board to the face of the rafters, which in turn will be boarded with plasterboard in preparation for the decorating. Depending on the depth of the insulation board required, it is possible to get insulation already bonded to plasterboard, which will speed up installation times.
There are many other ways to improve the energy efficiency of your home such as replacing single glazing with double glazed windows, draft proofing windows, cavity wall insulation, but it is always good to consult a professional – such as a qualified energy assessor – who can advise on the most effective methods for your circumstances.
A badly insulated home can have condensation problems and damp, which can be damaging to your health. Consulting a professional will help avoid these problems.
When is it necessary to upgrade the thermal performance of your house?
Many homeowners feel insulation for the house is not really that important. On the contrary, the thermal performance of your house can affect the everyday living of your family and your guests. A very warm or a very cold home can completely wreck your health and also lead to unnecessary trips to the doctor.
The right time to check if your home’s thermal performance needs an upgrade is to look out for high utility bills. Are you spending more on the heating systems? Are you constantly repairing or upgrading the gadgets and appliances in your house? It is then time to seek a good insulation contractor.
Before you call painters and decorators in London, you must have your home ready with the insulation in place. This will save you a lot of trouble in terms of cost, labour and time.