Cavity Wall Insulation
Cavity Wall Insulation Grants are available to completely cover the cost of installing Cavity Wall Insulation.
Cavity Wall Insulation - Preventing Heat Loss
Up to 35% of the heat lost in your home escapes through the walls. Cavity
Wall Insulation will help to prevent this heat loss and save you money on
your heating bills. Cavity Wall Insulation also has the opposite effect
in the summer by keeping you cooler.
What is Cavity Wall Insulation?
In most houses built after 1930, the external walls are made of two layers with a small air gap or 'cavity' between them. If your home has unfilled cavity walls, a considerable portion of your heating bills will be spent warming the air outside. Cavity Wall Insulation can help prevent this.
Injecting the gap between the two walls of a house with an insulating material decreases the amount of heat escaping through the walls. Cavity Wall Insulation is quick, clean and FREE or inexpensive to install. It is injected into the cavity from the outside, typically taking two or three hours. All cavity wall installations are backed by a 25 year independent guarantee from CIGA, The Cavity Insulation Guarantee Agency.
The Savings
Around a third of all the heat lost in an un-insulated home escapes through the walls. If you have cavity walls, installing Cavity Wall Insulation could save you between £130 and £160 a year on your fuel bills. It will also cut CO2 emissions by around 1 tonne. These figures are provided by The Energy Saving Trust and are based on an average size property heated by gas. Greater savings can be made in larger properties or those heated by coal or electricity.
Is Your Property Suitable?
When considering Cavity Wall Insulation, the main point to consider is whether your walls actually have a cavity. In general, if your home was built after 1930 using traditional brick construction, then a cavity should be present. You can check for yourself by making sure the walls are at least 10" thick and no 'brick ends' are present:
From 1982 onwards, most homes had cavity wall insulation installed from new. Unless you know for sure that it was not installed, it is not worth applying for a cavity wall insulation grant.
A surveyor will check for other problems but Cavity Wall Insulation cannot be installed if:
- The walls have already been filled. If you can see signs of any holes about the size of a 10p piece in the T joints of the mortar, then it is likely that they have already been filled. You cannot 'top up' Cavity Wall Insulation.
- There are any signs of damp. Cavity Wall Insulation can help to prevent condensation but all other damp problems must be cured before it can be installed.
- The cavity width is less than 50mm or 2".
- The property is timber or steel framed.
- The cavity has any rubble inside.
- The damp course has failed.
- Ventilation is inadequate and a vent cannot be fitted.
If you are unsure of the suitability, please continue to apply.
Cavity Wall Insulation - More Information
Cavity Wall Insulation raises more questions than any other type of insulation. This is why CIGA have produced a question and answer fact sheet to help put your mind at ease. You can click here to download it. This document requires Acrobat Reader, available from the Adobe web site. Click here to get Acrobat Reader.
