Home insulation has been around for many years, however there are still millions of homes across the UK that are not insulated to the recommended standard¹ and are unnecessarily leaking heat. And with the rise in awareness of innovative sustainable solutions, such electric vehicles, solar panels and heat pumps, insulation is often at the bottom of the list for home improvements.

However, the fact remains that insulating your home is one of the most fundamental ways you could become more sustainable at home and save money on your energy bills.

So, here is our guide to everything you need to know about home insulation.

We’ve already mentioned that with a fully insulated home it’s easier to maintain the perfect temperature all year round, whether that’s keeping the heat in during winter or the heat out over summer, but there are other significant benefits to insulation too.

Insulating your home is one of the simplest ways you can become more sustainable at home and take action for climate. By reducing heat loss from your home, you’ll need to use less energy to heat your home, helping to reduce your carbon footprint and your energy bills.

What’s more, insulation is typically one of cheaper ways to improve your home’s sustainability. Costs to install vary depending on the type of insulation required in your home, however the payback compared to upfront costs is high. For example, by ensuring your walls, roof and floor are fully insulated you could save up to around £850 a year on your energy bills². So, it’s definitely worth investigating to find out what you could be saving.

Finally, home insulation is also a great way to reduce excess noise in your home, so if you live near a main road and want to reduce the amount of traffic you hear, consider insulating your home as well as double glazing your windows.

As part of the Great British Insulation Scheme, E.ON has launched the offer of free cavity wall insulation to eligible households across the country.

The offer of free insulation is available to people who meet certain eligibility criteria, including their home’s Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) ratings and council tax banding and that they, or someone they live with, is on certain qualifying benefits. There are offers available for E.ON Next energy customers in addition to people not supplied by E.ON Next.

There are also a number of other energy saving schemes available for people to get free or partially funded insulation, so make sure you check to see what the options are.

Cavity walls

If your home was built after the 1920s it’s likely to have cavity walls, which are made up of two walls with a gap in between, known as the cavity. These types of walls can be recognised by the regular pattern of bricks laid on their long side.

Insulation is pumped through small holes in the wall to fill the gap so heat can’t escape from your home. Insulation in cavity walls is generally quite straightforward, however a professional will need to do the job for you.

Costs for installing cavity wall insulation will vary depending on the size and style of your home, but typically you should be able to make the installation costs back within five years. It's also worth checking if you're eligible for a cavity wall insulation grant to bring costs down.

Solid walls

If your home was built before the 1920s, it’s likely to have solid walls. Homes with solid walls can lose up to twice as much heat as cavity walls.

Solid wall insulation must go on either the outside or inside of your home. Installing insulation on the outside requires much more work, including perhaps scaffolding, and once the layer of insulation material has been fixed to the exterior of your home, would need cladding or plastering.

Internal wall insulation is done by fitting rigid insulation boards to the wall, or by building a stud wall filled in with insulation material. Once this has been installed, the wall would require redecoration.

Therefore, it’s a good idea to think about solid wall insulation if you’re already planning on redecorating inside your home or recladding your home on the outside.  

Floor insulation

It’s important to remember that heat can escape through floors in a home too and insulating under your ground floor could save you around £110 a year on your energy bills⁵.

Whilst you only need to ensure ground floors are fully insulated, it might be that one of your upper floors is over a garage or an unheated space and heat could be escaping.

The type of floor insulation varies depending on what your floor is made of, but there are a number of options available to suit different flooring types so do some research when you know which type you have.

Rugs and carpets can also help your feet feel warmer, which might mean you don’t feel the need to put the heating on as often during the colder months.

By having a fully insulated home it’s clear to see that you’ll be able to reduce unnecessary heat loss from your home, helping to cut your energy bills, take action for climate and making you more comfortable in your home all year round. 

For more energy advice to help you take action for climate, Luke - one of our smart meter installers - shares energy saving advice to help lower your energy use and spend in this blog.

^{1. BBC News: UK must move faster to insulate homes - climate chief}

^{2.  Costs calculated based on insulating a gas-heated, semi-detached house with an uninsulated loft, cavity walls and suspended timber floors. Figures taken from the Energy Saving Trust and are based on fuel prices as of October 2022.}

^{3. Energy Saving Trust: Cavity wall insulation}

^{4. Energy Saving Trust: Roof and loft insulation}

^{5. Energy Saving Trust: Floor insulation}