We’re having a lot of building/renovation work done in a new property and need to do something in the loft (the usual grubby & poorly insulated example), so we’ve been chatting to the builder about this.

Options discussed with the builder so far are 2x50mm Celotext layers in the rafters creating a ‘warm space’ below, meaning we can board on the joists, with a very finger in the air estimate of circa £2k…or, raise the rafters by 200mm and put roles of the fibreglass stuff down and board on top of that at, again, very approx £1k.

Before we consider either of the above any further I’d like to know a little bit more about the subsidised insulation offers from the energy companies. Are these fairly basic/rigid offers where they come out and do a standard job, roll out the recommended insulation and leave it at that? Or do they offer a sliding scale of quality vs cost with subsidy knocked off?

Who’s looked into this and what did you find out?

Ta,
R

My experience is that it’s all subcontracted to people who will check down a few rolls of rock wool type insulation.

If you want something nonstandard you’ll be best to do it yourself I reckon.

yep..

we got a good thick layer of the fluffy itchy stuff a few years back.. laid straight over the top of any items that we had overlooked in the attic, laid over the top of pipes, rafters, water tank, it was quite awesome.. about 3 feet thick in places too 😯

I think mine cost me £95 and they put 300mm of Rockwool over the whole loft, they did a good neat job including stapling notices in various places telling you how deep it is etc as you cant see the joists to walk on any more.

Live in an apartment block,cavity wall blown insulation, we had BG do it for free, bit warmer, and a good big job for them.

Also check your joists can take the extra weight of stored stuff, they may need reinfocing, also measure where pipes and cables run, so if you eve need to find them a gain you know where they are, also dont let them insulate under any cold water tank, as it may freeze, and insulate well any pipes that go above the insualtion.

Bide your time keep look for free or massively subsidised. Got mine free including fitting 12″, Although it was based on low income. Also bought triple rools for 1 pound each. In the latter case it was carbon trading by a electric company. Delivery was free as it happen neighbours a builder says not worth fitting as the savings is minimal. So giving it away to people who ask for it on freecyle.

ps new boiler 3500 pounds worth if yours is crap. Conditions apply. 6000 if not on mains gas. See Money saving expert. you have till this Saturday to apply.

Has anyone got any experience of getting the energy company-sponsored contractors out to insulate a loft that is already boarded? Ideally I’d like to keep it boarded / have it reboarded afterwards…..

SD-253 – not seeing that offer on MSE. Got a link?

Thanks all. It doesn’t look like the grant route is suitable for us…but after further digging it seems like this is probably a moot point – from the Which? website:

What free insulation can I get?
Until recently, most people were eligible for free or discounted insulation.

These offers were funded through a government-backed scheme called the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (Cert). Consumers all pay for this scheme through a levy on energy bills. Find out more in our energy grants from energy suppliers page.

The Cert scheme ended in December 2012, and most offers have already been withdrawn. Some offers still remain but you must comply with certain criteria now to be eligible for free or cheap insulation. See below for details of these schemes.

Be really careful with all the insulation they put in the loft, they MUST not prevent any airflow required to keep your loft condensation free.

The quality of the people doing both the surveys and the work is not great I should imagine (given the low cost of the work itself) and they will probably not really know what they are looking at most of the time.

My Dad had someone to look at his and they were clueless about ventilation and only offered a pittance towards maintaining the ventilation.

We managed to get a whole new central heating system from the Energy saving trust for the princely sum of a 15 min phone call to an 0845 number!

a few things you should know: We live in Wales, the house was considered to be below the national standard for efficiency and I was claiming benefits at the time.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/utilities/2013/01/last-chance-to-apply-for-warm-front-energy-scheme?utm_source=MSE+Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=15-Jan-13&utm_campaign=news