subject: Laying loft insulation - the best type of loft insulation to use [print this page] Laying loft insulation - the best type of loft insulation to use
It's widely acknowledged that around 25% of your home's heat is lost through the roof. However, installing loft insulation can hugely reduce this, and could subsequently save you a considerable amount of money.
The Energy Saving Trust maintain that, if each house in the UK installed 270mm of loft insulation, it could save at least 500 million every year, not to mention nearly 3 million tonnes of CO. In fact, if you compare your old fuel bills with those after installing insulation, you'll be quite amazed.
So what are the available methods of loft insulation?
The most common method is to use blowable or loose fit' insulation. The blown' material is predominantly mineral-wool or cellulose fibres and, because of the way it's installed, it's great for reaching awkward parts of the loft. The down side is that it's a dirty, uncomfortable and potentially unsafe job.
The main reason is that the mineral wool tends to irritate your skin and throat, and because of this you really must wear protective clothing and goggles at all times. In my opinion, this kind of insulation is really a specialist task and should ideally be left to professionals.
The new and recommended method of insulating your loft is to use a type of insulation called blanket loft insulation, There are several advantages it has over the other method but the main one is the fact that the insulation material is totally encapsulated inside the blanket. This means it's a completely safe method of installing loft insulation and the product is virtually itch-free. It also means there's no need to wear any protective clothing or goggles. None of the insulation material can escape and this makes it odourless, rot proof and environmentally friendly.
Another distinct advantage is that blanket insulation is much simpler to install than the previous method. Look online and you'll find plenty of easy to follow loft insulation installation guides. Because of the simplicity of this method, there's no need to hire a professional to do the job. So you benefit from a double saving.
