How to Insulate Your Home?

It’s all about energy efficiency. Sustainable living is a concept that has gained momentum across the UK in recent years, and many homeowners are now recognizing both the economic and the environmental benefits of energy-efficient homes. Excellent insulation isn’t an option. For responsible homeowners in 2021, top-quality insulation is a must.

Insulation is key to maintaining an even temperature in your home, all year round. And we’re not only talking about those batts in the ceiling: there are loads of ways to protect your home from both the heat and the cold, and significantly reduce your energy bills at the same time.

Are you about to start a home renovation project? Renovating is the perfect time to implement systems for sustainable living, and insulation for houses is top of the list. Wondering what’s the best way to insulate a house? The team at Combit Construction, professional builders in North London, understands what it takes, and we’ve put together this list of points to consider when insulating your home:

Why Should I Insulate?

Let’s get the negative over and done with first: a poorly insulated home can both gain and loose staggering amounts of heat through the roof, walls, windows, and floors. To maintain an even and liveable temperature inside the home, this heat loss (or heat gain) must be combatted using artificial heating, which means higher energy bills and a bigger hole in your budget.

And there’s the eco-friendly aspect of insulation to consider too – burning less fuel means that we’re reducing our impact on the environment and providing a cleaner, greener future for our children.

Insulation Adds Value

It’s not rocket science: installing good quality insulation is an investment. Not only does it reduce ongoing running costs and improve the comfort of your home, but excellent insulation can also significantly increase the resale value of your home! Buyers are on the lookout for energy-efficient homes, so take this into consideration when you insulate your property.

Health Benefits

The health benefits of a well-insulated home are worth mentioning too. Cold, draughty homes are not only uncomfortable, but they can pose health risks to children and elderly people (and everyone in between too!). Draughts allow moisture to enter your home, which can create health hazards for allergy sufferers and people with respiratory disorders.

Ways to Insulate Your Home

There are a host of things you can do to protect your home against heat gain and heat loss:

• Insulate the ceiling:

  As we all know, heat rises and therefore a lot of heat from the inside of the home is lost into the ceiling space. Installing high-quality insulation of about 27cm depth in the ceiling will help to ensure that the heat from the inside of the home doesn’t disappear into the empty roof cavity. Likewise, when it’s hot outside and the sun is beating down on the roof, the insulation in the ceiling cavity will help to prevent this heat from being transferred into the inside of the home.

• Insulate the walls:

  A certain amount of heat transfer also occurs through the external walls of the home. Insulating the walls is key to maintaining an even internal temperature inside the home.

• Install double glazed windows:

  Replacing your old windows and glass doors with modern, double-glazed ones is another great way to improve the energy efficiency of your home. Double-glazed windows/doors are available in a host of different styles, so there’s no need to sacrifice the aesthetics of your home to improve its function.

• Insulate underfoot:

  Do you have suspended floors? Installing new insulation under suspended floors can be an expensive project, but it’ll certainly improve the energy efficiency of the home. Alternatively, rugs or carpets are another way to slow the transfer of cold from the floor into the room.

• Protect against draughts:

  Do you have outside air leaking in around the doors, windows, or chimney? Protecting your home against draughts isn’t as hard as it might seem – silicone or foam strips can be purchased from your local hardware store and used to block those nasty gaps where the cold gets in.

• Hang drapes or curtains:

  Window furnishings are an opportunity for another layer of insulation in your room, so think carefully about what you install. There are plenty of energy-efficient window treatments on the market, so why not choose something that will enhance both the insulation and the style of your home?

Igor and the team at Combit Construction, North London, can ensure that your renovation project ticks all the boxes.  Energy-efficient, comfortable, and stylish, we craft homes that live up to (and go beyond) your expectation.