How much does Loft Insulation Cost UK?

If you live in an uninsulated house, about a quarter of your heat goes out through the roof. But there is a simple way to remedy this: add loft insulation or blown attic insulation to hold that heat in during the winter. With fuel prices reaching record highs, you don’t want to buy one drop more than you need, and minimizing your need for heating fuel is what loft insulation is all about. There are several options for loft insulation, and depending on where you live and other qualifying factors, you could be eligible for a government grant for installing insulation or substantial tax credits for doing so.

The way insulation works are this: heat naturally flows from a warmer place to a cooler place. During the winter, the heat from all your heated living spaces moves toward the outdoors and unheated garages, attics, and basements because these areas are naturally cooler during the winter. In summer, the opposite occurs: heat moves from the outdoors to the indoors.

In order to keep your house comfortable, the heat lost through the attic and walls of your home has to be replaced by your heating system, and the converse is true during the summer. Best loft Insulation in walls, ceilings, and floors helps keep heat where it is, rather than leaking out through unheated areas of the house. In other words, insulation helps block heat from traveling out in the winter and traveling in the summer.

In the UK, new homes being built must have 270 mm (or 10.5 inches) of insulation above the ceilings on the top floor. The question is: can you get better results from 270 mm of one product over another? Actually, the 270 mm figure is based on fiberglass, which is the cheapest insulation material. This much fiberglass insulation will cost about £5.30, or US$8.60 per square meter.

One problem with insulation this thick is that most ceiling joists are only 100 mm deep so that the insulation stands out above the joists. And you can’t mash down the insulation by boarding it up without removing the air spaces, and those air spaces are what give fiberglass its insulating properties.

So if you want to have thick loft insulation cost with boarded floors, you’ll have to deepen the joists or install the insulation between the rafters instead. The good news for those who have dealt with scratchy fiberglass insulation is that it is now available in encapsulated form, wrapped in metalized polythene “space blanket” film that covers the scratchy surface. But you’ll have to install two 150 mm layers, which would cost around £12, or $19.50 per square meter.

If it’s within your budget, the most efficient insulation material is polyisocyanurate (PIR), which comes in lightweight foam boards by companies like Celotex. Only 175 mm of PIR does the job of 270 mm of fiberglass, but it is expensive: £21 ($34.00) per square meter. Additionally, since it is rigid, it has to be cut precisely to fit between the joists (or rafters).

Eco-Friendly Insulation

Some people are looking for eco-friendly loft insulation, and one of those products is sheep wool. It’s used to make loft insulation rolls that are similar to mineral wool fiber and is 20% more efficient. This means that you can use 225 mm of wool to replace 270 mm of fiberglass. Additionally, it is non-irritating, and is claimed to absorb moisture when it’s humid and release moisture when it’s dry, which can go further to keep temperatures consistent in a home or building. However, at £20 ($32.50) per square meter, it’s too pricey for many people, though it is longer lasting.

So, beyond cutting your energy bills, what are some reasons for installing loft insulation? For one thing, using less heating fuel and electricity cuts carbon dioxide emissions, which have been strongly associated with climate change. With good insulation, you can keep 800 kg of carbon dioxide out of the air each year. Loft insulation lasts for 40 years or more and pays for itself several times over during that period. And installing rolled insulation is a project that most competent DIY enthusiasts can do themselves, saving the installation costs.

Most homes are well suited for loft insulation as long as the loft is accessible and free of dampness and condensation problems. Lofts with difficult access can use blown attic insulation instead of rolls. While blown attic insulation must be professionally installed, rolled insulation can be a DIY project as long as you have safe access to your attic. It is largely a matter of cutting the material to length and laying it between the joists or rafters.