Cavity Wall Insulation

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussion' started by Fat Controller, Nov 15, 2012.

  1. Fat Controller

    Fat Controller 'Cuddly' Scottish Admin! Staff Member

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    Immediate permission given by the letting agents/landlord, so I got straight on to British Gas who have booked an appointment for a survey to get it installed - in March of next year! Apparently, they are really busy.
     
  2. Phil A

    Phil A Guest

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    Yep, I didn't mean to suggest we all shrink the insides of our houses, just pointing out that building regs don't care where its put, as long as its there.

    Cavity is the best place in most situations.

    My gaff, being timber framed, couldn't have it in the cavity, that had to remain ventilated to the outside, then I had to build a new frame on the inside to take the insulation. Which sounds like it would shrink the place but all its done in reality is give me window sills.

    [​IMG]

    The original windows were flush within the 4 inch external framing.
     
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    • Phil A

      Phil A Guest

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      Cool, well at least you will be till March:sad:
       
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      • Jenny namaste

        Jenny namaste Total Gardener

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        Well done FC. I can't afford to try and heat the world outside from within anymore than you can. Your Landlady is fortunate in having very good and worthwhile tenant ;):blue thumb:,
        Jenny
         
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        • Fat Controller

          Fat Controller 'Cuddly' Scottish Admin! Staff Member

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          The chap on the phone said to ring back next week in case they had any cancellations, but even if they don't, I am not overly bothered to be honest - its not anything like as cold as our last house was, I am simply looking to make sure that it is the best it can be to keep the bills as low as possible.

          Thanks Jenny :)

          We're hoping to live here for some years to come, so its in our interests to look after tha place. Besides, I am a great believer that if someone is good enough to let you rent/borrow/use their property then you should look after it as you would if it were your own, and return it to them in as good or better condition than you got it in.
           
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          • Jungle Jane

            Jungle Jane Starved Of Technicolor

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            Bet you they won't show up. They had a habit of doing that for us, three times.
             
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            • Fat Controller

              Fat Controller 'Cuddly' Scottish Admin! Staff Member

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              I might see if I can find another company to do it in the meantime, and then just cancel with them.

              Can you recommend anyone?

              EDIT - I see Tesco are offering it too; I might give them a ring tomorrow and see if they can do it a bit quicker.
               
            • JWK

              JWK Gardener Staff Member

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              You won't regret having cavity wall insulation done FC, we noticed an immediate effect when ours was done years ago. Our house went from being rather cold most of the time to nice and snug plus our heating bills went down significantly. As I said it was a good few years ago, before full grants were available, it cost us about £200 but I reckon we recouped that in the first year.

              Also no need to worry about damp bridging the cavity, the modern materials that are blown in (Rockwool) won't cause any problems. In the bad old days (1970s), when cavity wall insulation was first tried, several companies used nasty chemicals (expanding foams for example) that were responsible for damp and even worse problems. These are no longer used but people still have bad memories of house outer walls being taken down to remove the offending nasties.
               
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              • ARMANDII

                ARMANDII Low Flying Administrator Staff Member

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                Just as a note, we've all paid for the insulation ten times over as there is a government premium on all energy bills [it is listed on your bill] for the Green policy.
                I paid £99 for the cavity walls to be done when upgrading the house and the guy who inspected the house to see if it was suitable grinned when I said it was cheap and pointed out that I'd already paid for it, and still would be, on my gas and electricity bills:snork:
                 
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                • Jungle Jane

                  Jungle Jane Starved Of Technicolor

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                  I can't recommend anyone tbh. They all seem to be cowboys in my eyes.The best one we dealt with and the most honest was the Mark Group. But online reviews disagree with my thoughts on them being honest.

                  I wouldn't go with Tesco either. A few companys offer cavity insulation then actually pass it on to Energy Care UK. Who are real cowboys and WILL mess you around.
                   
                • pete

                  pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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                  Thanks Jane, you jogged my memory, it was The Mark Group who finally did mine after lots of hassle from Homewarm and Miller Patterson.
                   
                • Scrungee

                  Scrungee Well known for it

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                  It's the people who live in houses with solid external walls that have paid the most (in their higher fuel bills) towards the cost of enhancing the insulation of those who live in houses with cavity walls, when the former are the most in need of additional insulation but are unable to get anything back.

                  Where's the sense (or 'greenness') in that?
                   
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                  • Pixie

                    Pixie Gardener

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                    Hi, I got loft isulation 2 years ago and noticed the difference instantly. Last year i got wall insulation and have noticed the difference - always had cold feet before, but not anymore. :) The only problem we have come across, is in the bathroom. Our ceiling curves, but the flooring in the loft does not, so it has created an air gap. The hot air is hitting the cold air, only in that curve and this is causing condensation, and therefore, damp, so we have to go up and try and get into the gap and stuff insulation in to stop this happening. We also could do with more ventilation, but are worried about it making the house colder.
                    Otherwise, it's definitely worth the £99 i paid.
                     
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                    • clueless1

                      clueless1 member... yep, that's what I am:)

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                      In our bathroom we had an extractor fan. It malfunctioned and switched itself on one night and wouldn't go off. Not liking the idea of going to sleep knowing there was a malfunctioning mains appliance in the house, I took it out. This left a hole in the bathroom wall straight out to the outside world.

                      This was a while ago, when we had the very cold winter. To conserve the heat, I stuff a sponge into this hole, figuring a sponge would be a good insulator of heat but would catch moisture. We had mould forming on the walls within days. I took the sponge out, and the problem went away, and not that much heat was lost through the hole.
                       
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                      • shiney

                        shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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                        It's over 35 years since we had insulation done. In those days they recommended 2" of insulation in the loft :hate-shocked:. Then they changed it to 4" and I got the extra 2" free but had to put it down myself. I remember having to cover up very well and wearing a face mask. We were also instructed not to run it completely to the edge of the eaves in order to allow heat to escape in very hot weather! There was a noticeable difference in our heating bills that winter.

                        Some years later I put down flooring in the loft but the 4" was lower than the rafters so there was no problem. I don't think I shall bother with more insulation and I reckon that in a few years they'll start to recommend that you fill the whole loft with insulation :heehee:.

                        One thing I did do in recent years was to drill holes in the flooring above where I had just installed ceiling lights below. This may have been an unnecessary precaution but I don't know!

                        I had cavity insulation put in 35 years ago, a year or two after the loft insulation, and that made a fantastic difference not only to the heating bills but to our comfort. Prior to that we used to get downdrafts on the walls which made it colder around the outside of the rooms. We also used to get mould forming in the upper corners of the rooms. All this went away when we had the cavity insulation done. We were able to use all of the room in comfort. :blue thumb: That was the pumped foam insulation and we have never had a problem with it.
                         
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