Making the Most of Insulation

Would you like to make sure you save money and energy now that your home has been insulated?

When you insulate your loft or cavity wall, heat will stay inside your home for longer and you will need to use less energy to keep your house warm. There are a few things you can do to make the most of your insulation and maximise your savings.

If you have room thermostats

Your house will be the same temperature as before, but the heating will be on for shorter periods and your bills should fall without you adjusting the programmer. However, make sure that your room thermostat is set appropriately (18ºC-21ºC) and in a suitable location. For instance, if it is in a cold hallway it may make the heating come on when it doesn't need to.

If you don't have room thermostats

The heating will still keep coming on for the same time as before and your bills will be roughly the same, but the house will be hotter. So, to save money and energy you will need to reset your central heating timer and lower the thermostat on the boiler. Try having your heating on for half an hour less in the morning and in the evening and reducing the boiler thermostat by a few degrees. Every house is different so you'll need to experiment to find the right balance for you. If it is summer as you're reading this, why not print out the leaflet version of this information below and put it by your programmer to remind you to make these changes when winter comes.

Ventilation is important

Installing insulation may cut down the amount or air flowing into and around a property. It is especially important to have good ventilation in rooms where a lot of moisture is produced such as the bathroom, the kitchen, rooms where you hang clothes to dry and rooms where an open fire or enclosed multi-fuel stove is consuming a lot of oxygen. Make sure that you regularly open windows, even for a short time, and if this is not enough, then consider fitting a vent or extractor fan in these rooms.

Draught proofing is easy

Less heat will now be escaping from your roof and/or walls, but if you've still got gaps around doors, windows, or in the skirting board you'll still feel cold. Draught proofing products are cheap, widely available from DIY and hardware stores and easy to fit yourself.

Download a leaflet version of this advice below.

NB: The Warmstreets scheme mentioned in this leaflet no longer exists, but this leaflet is still useful if you want to know how to make the most of loft or cavity wall insulation once you've had it installed. For information on the financial help currently available with the cost of installing insulation please visit the ECO Grants page.

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Post Insulation Leafet, May 2012.pdf	597.91 KB