Cavity wall insulation and grants.....anyone understand this?

[Dave7]

The situation is........
Main house is 1950ish. I don't know if it's ever had wall insulation.
Extension/flat....built 25ish years ago** and has always been cold.
**my son worked with the builder and assures me the walls were insulated.
So........
I see lots of ads for FREE cavity wall insulation.
Are these ads genuine ?
How would I choose a good company ?
Lots of questions but these would help.
Thanks

 

[Sterlo]

The situation is........
Main house is 1950ish. I don't know if it's ever had wall insulation.
Extension/flat....built 25ish years ago** and has always been cold.
**my son worked with the builder and assures me the walls were insulated.
So........
I see lots of ads for FREE cavity wall insulation.
Are these ads genuine ?
How would I choose a good company ?
Lots of questions but these would help.
Thanks

I've read this before from Which? as I don't think mine are. Looking into if I can get a grant of some sort.

https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/ins...ity-wall-insulation-installation-arnH44k0K4gA

 

[T4tomo]

Yes there re lots of grants for insulating homes, as indirectly it helps the government meet is carbon emission targets but you using less gas / elec to heat it. and tehre are lots of companies keen to organise this for you and get a small slice of the grant.

We came across this when letting out OH's house, which needed an EPC, and before Gov shelved it there was going to be a need for that to be rated C or above. The chap who came round to do the cert said you're at a D but we can do this that and the other and it will be a C. That involved having cavity wall insulation put into a couple of places it wasn't originally done and individual thermostat vales on a few rads that didn't have them etc. All of this he organised and was done for free. It took a little bit of chasing up, but generally hassle free.

edit to add he did a survey where they stick a camera in the wall to check its suitable to do. the material they use now is much better than previous, where you could get issues with cold spots and thermal bridges.

 

[vickster]

Get in touch with your council, eg East Cheshire
https://www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/housing/private_sector_housing/help-with-heating-your-home.aspx
or West https://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/residents/energy/home-energy/council-schemes
Believe it's means tested so if you have lots of savings, aren't in receipt of benefits etc, may not apply, here some of the qualifications

• you receive an income related benefit (for example, Universal Credit, Pension Credit Guarantee, Council Tax Support, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, or Tax Credits)
• your total combined annual household income before tax, National Insurance and other deductions is no more than £31,000
• your total combined annual household income before tax, National Insurance and other deductions is no more than £20,000 after your housing costs have been deducted (by housing costs, we mean mortgage payments, rent payments and Council Tax)

As your family now live in the house and presumably on electoral roll/council tax, presumably the household income level may well rule you out but worth applying via the council (don't do it through a 3rd party)

 

[Slick]

Think very carefully before going ahead, most houses have cavities for a very good reason.

 

[oldwheels]

We got cavity wall insulation put in along with most other houses in the area. This was a government scheme and cost us nothing. The installers were a bunch of cowboys and made a hash of the whole thing.
Upshot was that another firm were employed at no cost to us and removed the original filling which had sunk and put in new stuff. This has been in situ now for about 10 years and there seems no problems. It did seem to keep the house warmer but that impression was a long time ago and nothing recent to compare with.

 

[CXRAndy]

It really depends on the material they inject. Newbuilds use a cotton wool type material. Obviously it's not cotton. It's extremely fluffy.

Recent house builds and extension projects I always had 100mm fibre glass batten panels placed in the cavity as the walls were being built.

New regulations this year now requiring 150mm cavity minimum width. This means increased foundations footings from 600mm wide to 750mm.

 

[dicko]

We had cavity wall insulation installed in 1980 by British Gas, paid for it each quarter with gas bill, made our 1930s home lovely and warm compared with similar. Again in 2001 when we moved home had full cavity wall in a 1987 built home for £90 subsidise by Gov along with our loft full insulation for £30. Then we had a new W Bosch gas boiler from B Gas with big discount as we were oldies. Now we have our last home fully insulated and cheap to heat this time no grants but paid for by sale of last home. If there is a grant or anything like money off take it it’s there to benefit you, don’t wait and complain you missed it.

 

[Slick]

It really depends on the material they inject. Newbuilds use a cotton wool type material. Obviously it's not cotton. It's extremely fluffy.

Recent house builds and extension projects I always had 100mm fibre glass batten panels placed in the cavity as the walls were being built.

New regulations this year now requiring 150mm cavity minimum width. This means increased foundations footings from 600mm wide to 750mm.

I haven't seen the cotton wool type being used in new builds ever and certainly not for 10 years or more. Its all polystyrene type balls now then glue being pumped in to make sure they don't attract damp or at least break that capillary action that causes damp. Hate the stuff.

 

[Bazzer]

I would suggest a starting point would be to see if you have any insulation already in situ. My Mum's former house was a large early 20th century property. She applied for a grant, only for it to be knocked back on the grounds that when inspected, there was already some insulation in part of the cavity.
Other than possibly being installed by builders during some damp remediation work, we have no idea how it was partly insulated. It certainly hadn't knowingly been during the time of her and my step father's occupation, but it effectively killed the work going ahead.

 

[CXRAndy]

I haven't seen the cotton wool type being used in new builds ever and certainly not for 10 years or more. Its all polystyrene type balls now then glue being pumped in to make sure they don't attract damp or at least break that capillary action that causes damp. Hate the stuff.

This is a photo from August this year from daughter's newbuild, came from around the meter box after I requested some extra conduits. My son's newbuild used the same material

 

[dicko]

I haven't seen the cotton wool type being used in new builds ever and certainly not for 10 years or more. Its all polystyrene type balls now then glue being pumped in to make sure they don't attract damp or at least break that capillary action that causes damp. Hate the stuff.

We have that cotton wool type and it’s very efficient. I paid a local self employed installer £1k for our home cavity wall insulation he made a superb job took all day right up to the top of loft too. It’s made duch a difference compared to the people in our street that said we are wasting our money😂

 

[presta]

Think very carefully before going ahead, most houses have cavities for a very good reason.

I'm willing to risk cavity insulation, but not whilst CIGA have a well-earned reputation for not honouring the guarantee. The cost of remedial work if something goes wrong is about 500 times the annual energy saving (£60,000 cf £114).

 

[Slick]

This is a photo from August this year from daughter's newbuild, came from around the meter box after I requested some extra conduits. My son's newbuild used the same material

Can't believe there are cowboys out there still pumping that crap into peoples homes. Mental

 

[Slick]

We have that cotton wool type and it’s very efficient. I paid a local self employed installer £1k for our home cavity wall insulation he made a superb job took all day right up to the top of loft too. It’s made duch a difference compared to the people in our street that said we are wasting our money😂

At some point, either you or someone coming behind you will have to pay an awful lot more to remove it.