Solid wall insulation

If, like 56% of London’s homes your house has solid walls, the chances are that the external walls are made of solid brick. While good solid London brick is excellent at staying upright, it’s not good at insulation.

This means that heat is leaking out of your house through the walls. Considering that there are around 1.7 million uninsulated solid walls in London, that’s a lot of heat.

The only way to stop this waste is to insulate the walls. As well as reducing this heat loss, insulation will help create a more even temperature in your home, prevent condensation on the walls and ceilings and keep your home cooler during summer hot spells.

There are two types of insulation for solid walls: external and internal. Though this investment doesn’t come cheap – and installation costs can vary – you’ll soon see the benefits in your heating bill and the value of your property.

External wall insulation

This is usually installed where there are severe heating problems or when the exterior of the building requires some other form of repair work. The installation involves adding a 50-100mm thick decorative insulating treatment to the outside of your walls.

It could save you around £300 a year on your energy bills, and if you undertake the work with other wall repairs to mitigate the costs, it will pay for itself in around six years.

A three bedroom semi-detached house could save nearly 2.5 tonnes of CO2 a year.

Internal wall insulation

The most usual types of internal wall insulation are insulation/plasterboard laminates, or a wooden/metal framework in-filled with insulation. The laminates consist of plasterboard backed with insulating material to a total thickness of up to 90mm, which is attached to the inside of your external walls.

Internal wall insulation can be cheaper than external and could save you around £300 a year on your heating bill. Given that a three bedroom semi-detached house could save around 2.5 tonnes of CO2 a year, this is definitely something you should consider the next time you think about decorating your property.

Further information:

Energy Saving Trust Home Improvements: Solid Wall insulation