Insulation makes an instant difference

With the winter conditions returning again - those in poorly insulated properties will have been reminded of the impact of heat loss.

In the last blog I spoke of finally sorting out the insulation problem for a property on Skye.

These infra-red pictures show what the property looked like before any insulation was put in. We have still to take the 'after' pictures. The more white/yellow the pictures have in them - the more heat that is being leaked. You can see this is a very leaky place - with the walls even worse than the loft!

I've asked Drew - who lives in the property and fitted the insulation - to describe his experience of doing this.

"One of the problems with older houses, especially stone-built houses, is their failure to conform to modern standards of efficiency. In a quest to improve this we are currently engaged in a number of improvements which should see us warm and cosy through next winter as well as costing us much less and reducing our carbon footprint considerably.

The first and easiest task took us to the roof space to improve the loft insulation. The old loft insulation was very threadbare and rather patchy, indeed, there were some parts of the loft with no cover at all. What existing insulation there was consisted of ancient rockwool type which was beginning to de-nature and was nowhere deeper than 50mm. This was covered with a layer of dust and vermin droppings.

The loose fibres and dust make a good quality respirator essential. Other essentials for putting new loft insulation in an old house: a pair of big, sharp scissors, overalls and illumination (I found a head torch to be the most useful). A few boards are also very useful and knee pads make the job much more comfortable. If you don’t like cobwebs in your hair, wear a hat!

Tip of the day – put a large dust sheet under your ladder – the amount of mess which falls from the hatch is remarkable!

When installing, apart from it being a pretty unpleasant job, there are very few pitfalls. The two main things to watch out for are the electrics and airflow.

To make sure your electrics stay safe all cables must be put on top of the insulation and that you must cut around light fittings to allow any heat to escape. If the cable is too tight to get the roll of insulation under simply cut the roll at the cable and start rolling out again.

Airflow is critical in an older house so that you don’t get a build up of moisture. Make sure your insulation roll end does NOT butt up to the roof. Always leave a gap to allow air from the walls to circulate. If you don’t, extreme cases can lead to dry rot.

It’s not complicated, even if it is hard on the knees and it makes an instant difference to your comfort levels and fuel bills. Insulate your loft today, there are a number of grant schemes running and some very good offers at the major DIY stores."

DIY is not for everyone. For many older people ( over 70) it is free to get insulation put in through the Energy Savings Trust check first though and call 0800 512 012. Communities who organise to have insulation installed across an area can usually get a better deal. Energy conservation is the most effective way to reduce our carbon footprint so save yourself some money and make your heat go further if you have not already done so.

insulation, insulation, insulation

You may recall me moaning about the trials and tribulations of trying to source insulation for two properties on Skye.

Well the journey continued and this included the tenant of one the properties getting an energy audit done through the Energy Savings Trust.

The recommendation from them was that it was cheaper to do it yourself.

Before deciding whether to go down the DIY route or get someone in - I checked out a suggestion from North Harris to contact the company that worked alongside TEAS the Energy Advisory Service for the Western Isles.

Last year the Scottish Government announced a Home Insulation Scheme where 10 areas across Scotland were to be targetted for improving insulation for householders in a focused way. The Western Isles was one of the designated pilot areas. A tendering process then got underway and contractors were appointed. What used to be a local set up with a Stornaway based company working closely with TEAS had changed:

The company appointed comes from Sheffield. Yes that place that is a quick hop, skip and a jump to the Western Isles. Essentially the bar is set so high for insulation contracts that only the big boys get to play. To be in the frame at all you need to be accredited. This effectively makes it impossible for a small company to compete as we are talking thousands of pounds to achieve this. What is lost in the process is the local knowledge and willingness to work on the more difficult properties.

The evidence is clear that the big insulation companies go for the easy fix properties: I attended a meeting of three communities in Perthshire of Comrie, Letham and Alyth who have been down this route working from a bottom up rather than top down basis. They tried desperately to appoint local contractors and are now picking up the peices from being forced into using one of the big boys. The big companies motive is profit so they look for the quick returns. Smaller companies look for profit too but when they are local so the imperative to do a good job is stronger and the willingness to be flexible is greater as it is their long-term livilihood at stake. There is a suggestion that this message may be starting to percolate in government quarters. The second round will soon be underway for the Home Insulation Scheme. Will they have listened? Who knows.

Meantime - the choice for insulating properties on Skye was either to get a company from Sheffield in to do the work or do it ourselves. We opted for the latter and bought insulating material from a local company on Skye.

More of this in the next blog.

Good for the pocket, good for the planet

The nights are drawing in and across the country boilers and stoves are getting lit for the winter, so it’s not surprising that October 1st was Central Heating day. It’s not surprising either that this is the time of year when energy bills start to stack up.

Reducing heating costs is not only good for the pocket, it’s good for the planet, and there are lots of things you can do to keep warm without spending a fortune on fuel through the winter.

According to the Energy Savings Trust turning down the thermostat by one degree Celsius can shave eight per cent off heating costs.

If you are not brave enough to turn down the heating down a full degree or two in one go, try reducing the heat a small amount every day, you probably won’t notice the difference – at least until the utility bills come in. And if you have a timer, try setting it to come on half an hour later than last year.

Of course everyday energy efficiency is not just about central heating. Green Footsteps have a load of handy hints on how to keep your home cosy without impacting on your energy usage. For example, making use of thick curtains and soft furnishings for insulation, and some great ways to keep your kitchen nice and warm.

The search for installers continues

Well today has proved interesting. I thought I'd go back to basics and do as recommended by the government and check out the Energy Savings Trust information. On their website I put in the postcode for the area on Skye I'm trying to find insulation for to see what grants might be available.

That was easy it came up with British Gas. I phoned their number, as on the website, and got through to Scottish Gas Wall and Loft Insulation. Good, I'm on the right track, press the correct number, listen to the dreadful music then speak to a human being. Then the fun begins.

"The Isle of Skye? Do you know if that is part of the British Isles? I'll just go and check."
My affirmation that it was part of the British Isles is ignored - back to that music. Clearly I am no longer speaking to someone from Scottish Gas as surely they would know that...

"Yes madam, it is part of the British Isles and we can help. We have a special offer on - prices have just been reduced from £250 to £199 for a typical 3 bedded semi detached property!"

Excellent I think - that is just what I'm looking for.

"We just have to fill in a form"

Piece of cake I think. As I suspect, a survey will have to be done first so I enquire as to where someone will come from to do the work. My British Gas man thinks it will be someone from Glasgow and asks innocently how far away that is. He sounds a little stunned when I inform him that this is a round trip of 400 miles and ventures that maybe there is someone closer than that.

"What was your postcode?" he enquires with a change in tone " I'll need to check this out."

More music...........

That was enough to halt proceedings.

"Oh, we don't cover there at all. You could try the Mark Group based in Glasgow."

I have already spoken to them. They, like pretty well everyone else on the list of accredited installers are part of a big chain. In this case I was told to phone their head office in Leicester to get information about a quote to Skye ( which of course would require a visit).

Meantime I had found an installer who would quote without a survey - at last a little common sense. This company, based in Stirling gave me a quote for between £650 and £750 depending on the type of insulation material used for a 3 bedded semi-detached property. How is that for an incentive to line your loft!! I wonder what the payback period would be for this easy measure.

When I enquired as to why the cost is so high, I got the answer I expected. It is primarily because of the cost and length of time required to travel from Stirling to Skye and back again. Imagine if there were local people who could do this using locally available materials...........it takes 1-2 hours to line your average loft.

On the plus side - if a community organsied a campaign for insulating lofts - it is likely they would be able, with assistance from Energy Savings Trust Scotland to get a much better deal i.e. in the region of £200 and free to some householders. Check out who can advise locally tel 0800 512 012.

Galson Trust and North Harris Trust will likely benefit from the announcement by the Government that they will insulate some homes in specific areas including Lewis and Harris but that is about as far as it goes for most of the Highlands and Islands. Isaly have successfully been down the road of getting insulation - though not with out difficulty so I'm away to find out about their experiences. The search continues....

Warm Homes - value for money

In this credit crunch climate - value for money takes on a new imperative. How to make that pound go further? Saving energy in the home is one place to start. In doing so we not only reduce our carbon footprint but we get lower energy bills. One council in England - Kirklees has taken on the need to do this is serious way. EVERY household is being offered FREE insulation through their warm homes initiative .

The Green Party has called for a similar initiative in Scotland. This has the support of the John Muir Trust. This video link on youtube brings the Kirklees initiative to life as well as telling you more about the Green Party Proposal. The is vote is tomorrow - so maybe we too will all soon have warm homes!

Do you know what percentage of the total carbon emissions in the UK come from our homes?

Our homes in the UK are responsible for some 28% of the total UK carbon emissions. Staggering but it is possible to significantly reduce if not eliminate emmisions from homes.

According to the Energy Savings Trust simple energy saving measures can reduce the emissions by two thirds (from six tonnes to two tonnes). Of course we are talking averages here and many houses in the Highlands and Islands are 'not yer average'. Solid walls, no loft to insulate... The technical term is 'hard to heat' and when the wind is blowing - that becomes very clear.

Meantime some communities have decided not to wait for wholesale Government action and are pressing ahead and tackling issues for themselves ( often supported by the Climate Challenge Fund - which is Government money) .

A number of communities are looking at doing energy audits as a starting point for taking action and working out how best to produce carbon savings. So what does an energy audit involve?

With help from the Energy Savings Trust, each household can complete a form and get a report on how energy efficient their home is and what measures can be taken to make the home more energy efficient. This is marked on a scale from one to ten. This is a FREE service.

I took part in an event recently and heard about three different approaches from three different communities to energy auditing. One community was going for delivery of Energy Savings Trust forms to every home with the offer of help to complete it, another community was going to have fun events and approach people to get their interest first and the third community was going to devise their own form to suit their community.

And tackling those 'hard to heat' houses? Changeworks (who have the local Energy Savings Trust contract for the Highlands area) have produced helpful information on resolving some of the problems including underfloor insulation. Historic Scotland also have more helpful information.