Cavity wall insulation is a cost-effective way of reducing the amount of heat lost through the walls of your home. In the majority of homes, the ‘outer wall’ actually consists of two separate walls with an air-filled space of around 5cm between them. Air is a poor conductor, and this helps keep houses warm by preventing heat from travelling across from one wall to the other. However, by replacing this air with a specially-developed insulating material the amount of lost heat can be reduced by up to 35%, which can dramatically reduce heating costs.
In new buildings, this can be done during construction. For existing buildings, a special process is used which ‘injects’ the insulating material into the wall’s cavity. This is done by drilling holes in the wall’s outer layer through its mortar joints. The insulating material is injected through these holes and into the space. Once the cavity has been filled, the holes are fixed, and the wall is left looking clean and tidy.
The government awards grants for cavity wall insulation and these dramatically reduce its cost. For people on particular benefits, cavity wall insulation can even be installed for free. The low initial investment of cavity wall insulation is quickly made worthwhile by the money saved on heating bills.
Cavity wall insulation does not just help keep houses warm. In summer, cavity wall insulation can help keep a house cool by stopping outside heat from entering.