Homeowner Solutions
Solid Wall Insulation Solid walls lose even more heat than cavity walls; the only way to
reduce this heat loss is to insulate them on the inside or the outside.
External insulation
Insulating your solid walls will help stop heat being lost
from your home and help to prevent condensation on
the walls and ceilings. It’s not cheap, but you will soon
see the benefits to your heating bill and it’s another
way of playing your part in reducing CO2 emissions.
There are two types of solid wall insulation: external
and internal.
How external wall insulation works
This involves adding a decorative weather-proof insulating
treatment to the outside of your wall. The thickness of the
insulation needs to be between 50 and 100mm and is usually
installed where there are severe heating problems or the
exterior of the building requires some form of other repair
work providing the opportunity of adding insulation.
The savings
External wall insulation is more expensive than cavity wall
insulation but it could save you around £400 a year on your
energy bills every year. A three bedroom semi-detached
house could save around 2.1 tonnes of CO2 a year.
If you are going to be renovating or repairing the exterior
walls of your house then it would be a very good time to
consider installing solid wall insulation. In this case, the
marginal cost of external solid wall insulation (i.e. the material costs
and labour when other wall repairs are being undertaken) will be
lower than the full cost of installation.
Internal insulation
Solid walls can also be insulated by applying internal wall insulation.
Types include ready made insulation/plaster board laminates or wooden
battens in-filled with insulation.
How internal wall insulation works
Insulation/plaster board laminates usually consist of plasterboard backed
with insulating material, typically to a total thickness of up to 90mm.
The construction of the laminates reduces the amount of heat which
would otherwise pass through into the wall and outside.
The savings
Internal wall insulation can be cheaper than external wall insulation and
you could save around £380 a year on your energy bill. A three bedroom
semi-detached house could save around 2 tonnes of CO2 a year.
How is it installed?
The boards are fitted directly to the inside of the wall. The thicker the board
the better the insulation. You can also attach wooden battens in-filled with
insulation to a wall. This involves attaching battens to the wall, filling the
spaces between the battens with insulation and then covering them using
a plasterboard finish.
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