Does Cavity Wall Insulation make your home warmer ? Will it make your home damp ?

Question

Thinking about having cavity wall insulation in my brick built bungalow. Is it worth it, will it keep my home warmer ?

Can it cause dampness ?

Also the floor is very cold even through carpets - Any ideas ?

Dont want to install underfloor heating.

Answer 1

Yes, cavity wall insulation keeeps the heat in. Filling the gap between the two walls of a house with an insulating material massively decreases the amount of heat which escapes through the walls. It will help create a more even temperature in your home, help prevent condensation on the walls and ceilings and can also reduce the amount of heat building up inside your home during summer hot spells.

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Answer 2

You are right not to install underfloor heating. The only people that could do that sucessfully in any room bigger than a bathroom were the Romans. But, if you have a useful slave who can stoke your hypocaust then go ahead and install it.



Cavity wall insulation does not in itself make a house warmer. The temperature is determined by the setting on your CH Thermostat. What it definatley does do is to retain the heat so that the house does not cool down so fast when your heating is turned off. This means that you can shorten the ON hours for your CH timeswitch and save loads of money that way. The house is also nice and snug all night. It works even better if you reduce internal draughts by keeping doors closed.



The benefit is lost completely if you (or the wife) tend to leave doors to the outside world open unnecesarily, even for a few minutes.



It does not cause dampness unless you have rooms or a loft that rely directly on the cavity for a draught. This is not likely for your rooms, but check anyway, especially if you have a gas fire.



It is very likely that your loft relies partly on the cavity as well as some soffit vents to prevent condensation. When the cavity walls are filled the air flow through the loft will reduce. You may need to have some supplementary ventilation tiles fitted. Do not underestimate this risk. It took nearly a year for the condensation effect to be noticable in my loft but there was real damage to some items up there.

Get an estimate for this when the insulation man comes to survey your house.



When you're thinking about the loft, put down at least 30cm of insualtion. B&Q and Wikes sell rolls of the stuff very cheaply these days. It's a doddle to install yourself (wear long sleeve shirt and gloves though).



The bast way to keep warm with concrete floors is to put in a thick layer of carpet underlay. Thick felt is better for this than rubber tubular stuff. You may have to fit rising hinges to your internal doors to get them over the thicker carpet.



Do all this and you'll be nice and toasty for the winter. Change all your bulbs for energy savers and you can forget to turn off the kitchen lights with an easier concience too (joke).

Answer 3

I had cavity wall insulation done about 10 years ago and I noticed the difference immediately. Before I had it done, I could tell within minutes when the heating went off, now the house is always warm. It does not make a house damp - that's lack of ventilation. I also have concrete floors downstairs but do not have a problem with cold floors, perhaps my underlay and carpets are thicker than yours, maybe a rug or two over the carpets would help

Answer 4

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RE:

Does Cavity Wall Insulation make your home warmer ? Will it make your home damp ?

Thinking about having cavity wall insulation in my brick built bungalow. Is it worth it, will it keep my home warmer ?



Can it cause dampness ?



Also the floor is very cold even through carpets - Any ideas ?



Dont want to install underfloor heating.

Answer 5

I personally think that cavity wall insulation doen't make as much difference as it should. Loft insulation is better.



That said, the Government make it cheap to get done and the work can be done inconspicuously so I would spend the money!



I do find that double glazing helps to seal a house and the windows should be opened as often as possible to prevent mould.



You could use a dehumidifier if things get bad but.... that kind of defeats the energy saving objective :-)



Regarding cold floors - apart from where you have tiled floors, have you considered thicker underlay for your carpets?

Answer 6

Cavity wall insultation will help keep the heat in.



Is your floor floorboards? My whole ground floor is concrete and it can be soooo cold it's horrid. If you have floorboards they could be gappy and letting too much air whistle through - you need some air to prevent damp but you could seal some (never all) of the gaps with silicone sealant. Also, it could be the old underlay has broken down overtime or if you have a foam-backed carpet, the foam has eroded.



Also you can buy rolls of sticky backed foam which you stick round gappy door and windwo frames, these really help with little 'whistling' gusts of breeze.





Along with the sticky back foam, I've also stuck silver reflective foil sheets behind my radiators (cost about £9 for a massive roll from most DIY shops) and I also bought a Chimney balloon which goes up our open chimney and prevents the nasty massive gusts! Oh, and a draft excluder too!!