the government would be better insulating everyones homes

[ivykaty44]

thus reducing the fuel bills year on year and effectively giving everyone ££££ every year than just once

Well yes , insulation would help for years , not just one

But they don't like that , cash giveaways are great generosity and probably get more votes and clearly no one in the government is mates with anyone in the insulation trade

My (solid 1950s ex council) flat doesn't get that cold tbh. In winter I don't need the heating on all day. Our 'energy' bills really are more about the gas that heats the water and the hob on the cooker and the electric bill which...well powers everything.
I suppose yes people in badly insulated homes should get some help - or the government should insist on new builds not being built with thin walls and they should actually force councils to maintain the properties they own.

There was a big drive here on cavity wall insulation with subsidized costs a few years back and they came to my street. A number of the houses turned out not to be suitable and couldn't be done, and several of the ones who could are now seeing a drop in its effectiveness as time passes, so a big investment for limited return. This is going to be a big problem with affordable (cheaply made) newer housing stock.

I know lots of people who got it done for free a few years back as they were on tax credits. No idea if it’s still offered though.

Some houses aren’t suitable for additional insulation. It can cause condensation and mould if done improperly or installed in the wrong kind of property.

It’s the electricity that seems to be killing us rather than the heating. I’ve no idea why our useage has more then tripled in the past 6 months and our fuel company EON when we can contact them say it must be right because that’s what the meter says. Why our use would triple after 12 years of the same uses, behaviours and practices in the same house is beyond us but we’re stuck with what they say goes and a huge bill we cannot afford (even on our fixed before all this kicked off last year tariff)

For many homes it would make a huge difference, particularly loft insulation, a huge improvement would I imagine be if many rental properties had work done, thats where issues often are.

Our home isn’t really insulated, solid brick walls, single glazed metal windows. However as its a flat and the roof of each flat is well insulated, it isn’t too hard to heat and keep warm.

Heating isn’t really a problem for us, its general day to day power use, we can’t for example reduce our washing machine use, or turn off the fridge freezer.

I agree. It looks like external insulation would work best for our house but we would never break even on the cost basically as its very likely we will move before the cost of doing it had been covered by savings in fuel, and it wont really add value to our house so we wouldnt cover the cost that way either. we would be bearing the cost of the next person to own our homes better fuel economy.
I know its the right thing to do for the environment but it a big ask of individuals to find money they dont have for someonevelse to benefit.

I appreciate not everyone has to move but very few homes are forever homes.

This would really help the renters who cannot do anything to reduce their bills other than usage.
most landlords go for cheap appliances and boilers, that are not necessarily the most energy efficient. they aren’t going to fit solar panels and insulation.
this isn’t a landlord bash. It’s just facts, why would you?
in the same way tenants aren’t going to spend thousands on an improvement when they may be kicked out in 2 months.

i know the government are bringing in the rental energy cap, but that’s not going to help this year is it

I think that we should have a MASSIVE project of insulating homes in the UK. But, the first thing that we need to do is -

(1) Train up tens of thousands of people to PROPERLY assess houses so that we know how much money can be saved, what is worth doing, and MOST IMPORTANTLY not do all the numerous things that can couase MASSIVE problems. Very very few people are properly qualified to advise (and I am sure that most people that the government says are qualified to advise are not at all qualified).

(2) Get people to accept that they might need to make their rooms smaller by having thick layers of internal wall insulation if they are serious about saving money.

FWIW I work in property (and I have reasonable insight into some of the issues) and I would be incredibly reluctant to have any insulation done (loft insulation excepted) unless I was reassured first that it would not cause more problems than it sold. I am not aware of anyone that I would be willing to trust!

In our area the take up of the grant scheme was too high so several ended up disappointed.
We also had rogue solar panels company operating with people left well out of pocket and unmortgageable.
it shows the appetite is there for upgrading efficiency we need some sort of national scheme.

clearly no one in the government is mates with anyone in the insulation trade

of course...

Some houses aren’t suitable for additional insulation. It can cause condensation and mould if done improperly or installed in the wrong kind of property.

so is the answer to not do anything as some homes can't be done?

Our home isn’t really insulated, solid brick walls, single glazed metal windows. However as its a flat and the roof of each flat is well insulated, it isn’t too hard to heat and keep warm.

so you're losing heat through the glazing and walls but think its not hard to heat and keep warm? if your heating bills were reduced by better glazing and internal insulation would that not be better? 25% loss is stopped through the roof but 45% loss through the walls and windows

Yeah I don’t want a damp house thanks. It’s mouldy enough without making the problem 10x worse.

Our heating in winter increases our electricity use by about £25-30, hardly a great deal to heat a whole flat. Certainly cheaper by custom built double glazed metal frame windows so they’re like for like with the ones we have now.

Try living in a flat where you cant walk from one room to another without breaking a sweat in the summer. Some places have been over insulated.

Our heating in winter increases our electricity use by about £25-30, hardly a great deal to heat a whole flat.

is that for the entire winter? how many months? it'll obviously increase this winter as fuel has increased and will again in October

Not much housework gets done this time of year. Its too hot. Before the insulation we didnt have mould either.

Insulation only keeps the heat in if the place is warm to begin with. And it's going to be affording to get it warm in the first place that people are going to be struggling with this winter.

I wouldn't turn down the government instructing the landlord and paying to completely replace the concrete floor the house has been built with and then install thick insulating underlay, warm fitted carpet, adding underfloor heating to the wet room and kitchen - but even then, if I can't afford the gas and electricity to put the heating on, it's still going to be cold. Cold and damp.

Didn't they offer grants for that for years and people didn't take them up on it?

If something was offered for free now to reduce your fuel bill for years to come do you think people would ignore it now @TheWayoftheLeaf people that are worried about eating or heating would surely jump at the chance?

Per month, we generally have it set to 21 in the day, flats about 1,300 square foot.

There have been government subsidies for insulation in the UK since the 80's with many people being entitled to free or very nearly free insulation. I worked for a company back then who installed it. My job was to fill in the claim forms to get the money back from the government. The company was still going a few years ago when I last saw the boss.

Per month, we generally have it set to 21 in the day, flats about 1,300 square foot.

so you'll be happy to pay £50-60 per month for your heating each month this year? For many that money would put food on the table

I had my house insulated a few years ago. I didn't notice any change in the warmth of the house. Insulation as a solution to our energy issues seems to be massively overplayed.

We got our cavity wall done 3 years ago, it's really not made any difference whatsoever.