Solid wall insulation

If the external wall of your house is made up of one single solid wall, then chances are it was built before 1920 and costs you a fortune to heat.

Solid walls lose even more heat than cavity walls as the solid wall acts as a conductor, conducting heat from the house straight outside. The only way to reduce this heat loss is to insulate the walls - either on the inside or the outside.

Outside

Insulating the exterior generally 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.

Insulating the outside of your home can be expensive so it is often done only if you are going to be renovating or repairing the exterior of your walls anyway.

Inside

It is generally cheaper to insulate a house from the inside. This can be done using either:

i) Ready made insulation / plaster board laminates - fitted directly to the wall. Generally around 90mm thick - the thicker the board, the better the insulation.

ii) wooden battens infilled with insulation - wooden battens are attached to the wall, insulation is placed between the battens and then the whole is covered with plasterboard.


There are grants available under the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) to contribute towards the outlay cost.

Once only of interest to a small minority, green is the new black as far as self-building is concerned.

With the effects of global warming becoming increasingly apparent, more and more people are seeking greener ways to provide the energy needed to run a home.

Whether it's solar panels, heat pumps, high specification glazing or eco-friendly wool insulation in the loft space, there is little doubt that it is self-builders who are setting the standards for a greener future for the building industry and the way we live our lives.

Underfloor heating for example, has been available for years but, by and large, the self build market has been the industry's bread and butter - with large scale property developers still opting for standard, less efficient radiators.

But it's not all about saving the planet. Incorporating green ideas into a home can lead to reduced running costs and save you money in the medium to long term too. And when you come to sell your home in the future, you can guarantee that the greener it is the more attractive it will be to prospective buyers.

There is a greater sense of purpose from the government to promote green alternatives too with a stick and carrot approach in place.

Building regulations now demand far better energy efficiency while government grants are available for loft insulation right through to solar panels, heat pumps, wind turbines and other microgeneration technologies.

Self-builders are leading the way as far as greener homes are concerned and greenselfbuild.co.uk will be with you every step of the way towards a greener future for you, your family and the wider community.