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How much should i have up there?
I know there is a point of diminishing returns, but if I am putting completely new insulation in the loft how much should I put in? 200mm, 250mm, 300mm 350?? 😯
owt over 300mm would be a waste.
270mm is recommended i think.
200mm is available at B&Q for £3 per 5.5 m2...that would decide it for me...
Given what I can see for sale it's probably going to be closer to 200mm otherwise I have to do it in 2 layers which requires a lot more time and money.
Have a look [url= http://action21.co.uk/existing_buildings.html ]here[/url] and [url= http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/In-your-home/Roofs-floors-walls-and-windows/Roof-and-loft-insulation ]here.[/url]
British Gas are doing it for [url= http://www.britishgas.co.uk/energy-efficiency/free-insulation.html ]FREE![/url]
Even doubling up from the minimum 70mm to 140mm made a massive difference to our gas bills in two houses where we've done it. I now have closer to 300mm in my house as the stuff is so damned cheap.
British Gas are doing it for FREE!
Yeah, right! 😉
I live in Denmark and also in a bungalow so the insulation alone is going to cost me about £1000. Not that cheap !
I *think* building regs recommended is now 300mm minimum (can anyone confirm, I've 370 in the back of my mind though).
We have 370 in ours as we have 100 between joists and 270 laid cross-joist on top of it. It's so cheap you might as well (here!).
Can you not import it from the UK? It's like £3 for 15m of 270mm space blanket here.
Where can you get it that cheap?
I'm looking at about £30 per roll for 150-195mm thick stuff
B&Q have it in pretty much continuously from october onwards. They have it in at £3 for 3x4mx200mm rolls now in my local store. When I got mine they had apparently mis-priced it, the 3x4mx270mm rolls were marked as £7 but rang up as £3. I got a fair few of them in about 5 car journeys with roof rack installed!
At varying times all of the diy stores have an offer on. Last stuff I bought was by one get three free from wickes. States on it, not for new builds but bollix to paying 25/30 a roll from the merchants. I once fetched 65 rolls from b and q because they didn't state a maximum amount per customer in their ads!
Yeah, right!
They're doing mine for free in a couple of weeks. Something to do with government quotas they've to meet, or something.
Someone's paying for it.
B&Q were doing it for £3 a roll. I bought 4 rolls recently to top the insulation up in our loft.
There was a bloke in there at the time who was buying loads to take back over to France for the house he owns over there. He was saying that insulation in France is massively more expensive so while he was over here, he was going to get a load to take back with him.
I think around 300mm is a decent amount. I think that Edukator on here mentioned 370mm being in some government spec. recently but I think that was for those houses that don't require additional heating.
Its bulky stuff so I'd be surprised if the cost of of shipping it to Denmark would offset any savings from buying it in the UK
Someone's paying for it.
Not me. At least, not directly.
The BG offer finished on the 22nd December if you read it 🙂
I just used the B&Q stuff, cost me about £50 to put 3 layers of the stuff in our loft 2 layers of the stuff made a huge difference, not too sure whether the 3 has made much if any more...
maybe so, but I'm not, they're doing my wall cavity insulation the same day too.Someone's paying for it
Just be careful! Any pipes in the loft will be subject to a lot colder temperatures if you suddenly bung 300 mm of quilt up there! Make sure they're insulated too because after last winter a lot of people realised their mistake in a costly way!!
maybe so, but I'm not, they're doing my wall cavity insulation the same day too.
That's all tickety boo then.
i got 170mm rockwool for a pound a roll inc delivery from npower recently, so 15 quid delivered for 15 rolls. bargain tastic. Just need to lay the stuff, although i'm dreading that itchy feeling 🙂
*fulfilled by build center i think.
iirc the £3 a roll thing was wrong and it actually went through at 1 a roll.
Thank you all for making me feel so much better about the £1000 I am apparently going to have to spend to sort my loft out which a potential of saving about £100 a year!
Thank you all for making me feel so much better about the £1000 I am apparently going to have to spend to sort my loft out which a potential of saving about £100 a year!
It's not just that 100 quid a year, is it? Think about the comfort factor too.
I suppose another option is to leave the existing insulation where it is and simply roll some new over the top and see how much that helps... then I don't need to buy as much
iirc the £3 a roll thing was wrong and it actually went through at 1 a roll.
Just found my receipts frm B&Q - £3 for each "tube" containing 3 rolls of 4m, at the time priced at £7.49 per "tube".
Who's paying for it? Energy users - they're subsidised by (generally) the power industry who need to do so to offset their carbon output (some sort of government mandate I think) - their way of paying for their damage is to offer subsidy on insulation. Which means that all of those not taking up the cheap offer are paying for it (more so than those who do use it). It's a bit like the solar FIT system, if you're not doing it you're paying for it through higher bills, so you might as well if the numbers work out.
Incidentally, you'll get better effect from laying your insulation cross-joist if you can - you reduce the number of thermal bridges between the outside world and your ceilings.
I suppose another option is to leave the existing insulation where it is and simply roll some new over the top and see how much that helps... then I don't need to buy as much
That's the obvious solution (and the one I took).
iirc the £3 a roll thing was wrong and it actually went through at 1 a roll.
i should have said CK that related specifically to the npower deal at the time i used it 🙂
i would also leave existing stuff there and lay over the top.
I just got in touch with someone who will deliver it cheaply as they often come here from the UK with an empty truck. Result 🙂 Bring on the £3 per roll insulation for a 91% saving 🙂
You could flog it on at that rate and make it a business.
coffeeking - Member
You could flog it on at that rate and make it a business.
The bloke I mentioned above taking it back to France for his house was thinking of doing the same.
I think he had a 4x4 with a big Ifor Williams trailer he was going to use (he was one of these blokes who wants the world to know what a great saving he has made and what a great plan he has).
So many mis-informations
http://www.diy.com/nav/build/insulation/loft-insulation/triple_roll/Knauf-Saver-Value-Triple-Loft-Insulation-200mm-11127503
the £3 a roll thing at B&Q is right I bought a load over the xmas holidays.
I layed between the joists then topped up over the top in the opposite direction to the joists. overall there is now 400mm of insulation in the attic.
I'm currently in the process of using the same insulation under the floorboards on the first floor. The two rooms I've done have made a massive difference interms of heat retained in the rooms below and the first floor room.
at £3 is seems silly not to, I've just got the front room, the bathroom and the landing to do.
Thank you all for making me feel so much better about the £1000 I am apparently going to have to spend to sort my loft out which a potential of saving about £100 a year!
you're looking at about £24 for 8 rolls its worth doing!
What's the best thing to do with recessed lighting when fitting loft insulation? I've heard of things called loft caps, but they're a tenner a time... Wouldn't a plant pot do?
Don't see why a plant pot wouldn't do (ceramic, not plastic!). Or switch to LED lamps instead.
Or switch to LED lamps instead.
A previous owner has loose laid mdf boards over our existing insulation. Would it be OK to just lay the extra 200mm over the top?
no take it off then lay ontop.
It'd be "ok" but not optimal. You're trying to remove any trace of a route for the heat to come through via conduction or convection from the warm space below to the cold space above. Ultimately the wood layer, assuming it's totally covered, won't do much to your insulation (may indeed help by reducing air movement) but if you leave any bits uncovered it'll pass the heat around itself quite well until it finds the uncovered area to lose it and begins. Depends on your returns to input effort requirement I guess.
great, thanks. I'll have a good look tonight to make an effort judgement!
Insulating materials are cheaper in the UK (where they are government subsidised) than in France but they aren't the same quality. Isover glass fibre stuff is in a textile cover to reduce irritation and inhalation. It's still foul as soon as you cut it though so I've started using recycled polyester which has an A+ health rating.
The thicker the better. The passive house standard in Sweden is 500mm in the roof but Denmark is milder so aim for 350 - 400 mm. Roll the layers in different directions to cut losses along the joins.
When I did my loft a couple of years ago I put down 200mm between the joists, then ran 4"x"2 batons across the joists with another role of 200mm between them with flooring over the top of the lot. I now have loads of storage space and a nice warm house.
We used the B&Q offer when it was on a couple of years ago. It was well worth the work and the cost. Our house is now able to be heated just by the wood burner now.
If you are stuffing your lofts full of fluff, remember to leave ventilation gaps between the rafters at the eaves. Otherwise you may get condensation in the roof space, which will make your insulation damp and less effective (and eventually all your timber rotten too).