How should you Insulate your home

Cold calling salesman - home insulation!

I was a little annoyed the other week on my way out and cold caller knocked on my door. Yes, we all hate cold callers don’t we?! Double glazing, drives resurfacing or insulating your home.... and this was one of those insulating your home, with a coating???

I’m in the trade and made it known to them. When they told me about insulating my home with a coating I sent them away after they tried to give me the hard sell saying "it does work!"

But it got me thinking... why are these people selling this to well properties that clearly will not benefit from it? How many people are wasting their money?

OK I didn’t listen to the cold callers, so I maybe doing them an injustice but I guess it went something like this:-

An an external wall coating based on a resin, big names like Dulux, Crown and Johnstones make paint based on this pliolite system, which is a rubberised resin made by dunlop or goodyear...... has a 15 year guarantee conforms to BS 5750 and ISO 9002, flexible breathable, cannot cause damp but will improve your walls thermal performance. 

or

A revolutionary internal paint system increasing the insulation value of a room by reflecting the heat back into the room and cutting down energy use, increasing a room temperature by 2 to 3 degrees and staying warmer for longer... again to BS 5750 and ISO 9002

Now, Let’s think about it, an unpainted brick wall is breathable with pores in the bricks and mortar. If you paint the wall you block some of the pores making the wall less breathable, therefore any damp in the wall is trapped and could cause another problem! This does very little to improve thermal performance of the wall even on a dry wall.

If you have a problem with damp penetration through the walls this may be a solution, but this type of problem is rare and only can become a problem in solid walls. I would recommend an independent Surveyor, Architect or Technician inspect and suggest a course of action rather than a salesman or the salesman’s surveyor.

An internal paint layer place on a wall can offer very little in terms of insulation no matter what the make-up of the paint system is. The internal paint salesman will say it reflects the heat into the room preventing heat loss. However, there is no independent scientific reportsto confirm this. Instead the companies rely on customer testimonials which are very subjective. As such these paints are sometimes  recommended in conjunction with other insulation methods as part of a built up system rather than a singular quick fix.

How should you Insulate your home?

Fabric first is the recommended rule.... Floors, Walls and Roof.

1) Loft insulation being the easiest recommended 250mm (10 inches) to 300mm (12 inches). When we have a covering of snow if your house is the first to be snow free, then you have the least insulation and most heat loss. (insulate now)

Walls are a little more difficult. 

Firstly you have to find out whether your house is a cavity or  solid wall.

2) Cavity walls with a cavity of 50mm or greater can be injected. 

3) Solid wall insulation is more tricky and costly. You can either internally insulate or externally insulate, externally being the least intrusive and can achieve the best results. Not everyone wants to change the appearance of their house however, and if you live in a conservation area this may require planning permission. You can of course do both internal and external insulation. However, all solid wall insulation techniques require full details specific to your property with any damp problems rectified first and a dew point study done in conjunction with the detailing. A standard detail for one house may not work for your house. Always consult a professional Surveyor, Architect or Technician.

4) Draught proofing is always a good idea. Replacement windows and doors can be expensive and the payback on these are very low, so try cleaning seals replacing perished seals and ensuring doors and opening windows fit snuggly.

5) Floor insulation is very difficult. Unless refurbishing this is not worth considering.  You can help by providing a good quality underlay with joints taped to all ground floor coverings will help.

Both 1&2 solutions are done with very quickly with little disturbance and a few hundred pounds and will produce a good saving in your heating bills. A good investment, as is the draught proofing Item 4 and easily done now.