I would like to insulate my loft with recycled plastic rather than that horrible itchy Mineral wool stuff that is in itself energy intensive from what I read.
But it seems so much more expensive;
http://www.screwfix.com/p/thermawrap-eco-wool-loft-insulation-40m/56550
Here it works out at £10/sqm whereas the mineral wool stuff can be bought for a fraction of that - less than £1/sqm!!
Does anyone know of a cheaper source for similar stuff?
Flip that IS EXPENSIVE!
I bought a van load from B&Q before Christmas on "special offer" - buy one get two free or something equally dubious. I dont have the exact price to hand. But - anyways - I suspect that price is the mandatory requirement to list for 28 days in stores before it becomes a sale item.
You'll pay a premium because of the added value of being 'green', the added value of not being particularly itchy, and probably because its made in smaller volumes. Personally I'd need convincing of how plastic would behave if a fire - molten polythene rain doesn't really appeal to me.
However I'd look the performance of the insulation and the resources that save over its lifetime rather than how green it is in its manufacture. I had to buy an awful lot of insulation for a film set last year and the best deal I could get (for what I needed specifically - i needed batts of a very particular size) was through [url= http://just-insulation.com/ ]Just Insulation [/url]. The plastic stuff is there and I'd imagine that they'll be pretty much as cheap as you'll find. The stuff I used was 'Earth Wool' which is made from recycled glass bottles.
They are brokers rather than mail-orderers, so you deal with them but the delivery will actually come from someone local to you.
Seeing as the insulation is normally behind a plasterboard/plaster ceiling, I think smoke would sort you out far before there was a problem from burning plastic.
When I got my insulation, the green plastic stuff was only marginally more than the fibreglass, and it was on one of those 3 for 1 offers. It really is great, you could sleep on it and wake up itch free 🙂
just as an additional to help you track down deals online- plastic insulation is marketed to diy punters on its 'eco' credentials, but its marketed to tradesmen its 'non-itch' qualities so the 'YBS eco wool' you linked to is also branded as 'YBS non itch'
Thanks, those are helpful points. Seems like a big factor in price is what is on a deal at any given point. Think I need to skim the DIY stores to check - if I can I would also like to get it delivered as it will represent several (potentially itch inducing) loads in a car.
Pretty sure I paid £3 a roll at b+q before Xmas. £21 for enough to do both attics and have some left over.