The Costs To Insulate The Average UK Home & What Support Is There For Households
Insulating your home is a very good way of helping to ensure that it is as energy efficient as possible. It can help to reduce your utility bills in the winter by making your home feel warmer and allowing you to turn down your heating by a few degrees. This may not seem like much but the cost savings of doing this can be significant, and with the cost of living continually rising, these little steps can make all the difference. It can also be beneficial for the environment, and with everyone wanting to do their bit this is another reason to look into insulating your house.
Read on as we look at how much it costs to insulate the average house in the UK and what grants and government-backed schemes might be available to some families to help achieve this.
How much does it cost to insulate the average home in the UK?
The average home in the UK is a three-bed semi detached property, so the costs that we mention here pertain to that type of property. Costs will, of course, vary depending on the size of the property and also type, but these figures will hopefully give a good guideline of the costs that homeowners might be looking at.
It is also important to note that when we are talking about insulating a property the main types of insulation that people talk about are cavity wall insulation, solid wall insulation and loft insulation. These are the types that will make the biggest difference to your energy bills. There are, however, other types of insulation you may want to consider, including windows, doors and suspended floors. Windows are the largest insulation cost for an average house, coming in at around £15,000 and giving an annual saving on your energy bills of £165.
Cavity wall insulation
If your property is post-1920s then it is most likely that this is the type of wall that you have. There is a small gap, or cavity, between the internal and external walls of your property, and this is filled with insulating material. The cost of cavity wall insulation for the average house is £2,700 and can save around £280 on energy bills per annum.
Solid Wall insulation
Most common in buildings from pre-1920, these are walls which have a single layer of brick and often need internal or external wall insulation. Internal insulation costs around £7, 500 and external around £12,000. The saving for either of these is around £380 annually.
Loft insulation
There are four main types of loft insulation and thus four varying costs. Each type of loft insulation has its own benefits. The average cost is £930 and will save you around £270 each year.
What help is available?
The government understands the importance of insulating a property and also that for some households the cost of doing so is beyond their budget, which is why they offer two key insulation grants. These are ECO4 and the Great British Insulation Scheme. They are available to help qualifying low-income and low-efficiency households with the installation costs of insulation. Those households that qualify may get partial or full coverage on their home insulation projects.
If your property is not yet insulated and you would like to get this sorted then it is a good idea to start by checking if you are eligible for any help from the government. You may not be entitled to much help but even a small amount will help you towards the costs of insulating your property, which will benefit you in the long term. By using our handy eligibility checker, you can find out if you are eligible for support from the ECO4 funding scheme in just a few clicks.